The ALCS outcome was not a favorable one for the Sox, to say the least. Feelings of disappointment and anguish hit Boston fans everywhere. They were so close and even though Tampa performed better than expected throughout the seven games, Boston just thought they were giving them a run for their money. Experts everywhere predicted a ALCS win for the Sox. They thought the World Series would be Sox V. Phillies. Unfortunatly a close game seven proved to be a little more than just a run for their money. There was a definite feeling of optimism and hope in Beantown when the Sox made an incredible comeback in game five. Perhaps the Sox got too ahead of themselves or got overconfident or maybe the Rays were just lucky on Sunday, whatever it was I think most Sox fans have temporarily joined the Phillies fanbase, at least for the next week and a half or so. The standing is now even, and if Tampa Bay wins the Series, which they wont, but if they do, I will loose all faith in humanity, or at least the MLB.

Red Sox Win Game 5

Last night the Red Sox demonstrated the second biggest post-season comeback since 1929 at home at Fenway Park. Down by seven in the seventh inning, the Sox rallied big time to bring the final score against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the ALCS to 8-7. The last innings of the game were filled with cheers from Sox fans and from the looks of it, Fenway was insane. The winning run was scored by J.D. Drew with two outs in the ninth. Up until then the score was an even 7-7 and fans thought the game would go into extra innings. A glimpse of hope was caught when Dustin Pedroia hit an RBI single. David Oritz followed hitting a three run homer against Tampa Bay's pitcher Grant Balfour. Drew hit a two run homer and the eighth and Coco Crisp proceeded to tie things up with a two-out RBI single. The ninth inning was obviously a nail biter. Kevin Youkilis hit a ground ball to TB third baseman Evan Longoria who threw it to first baseman Carlos Pena who almost caught it but it bounced off his glove to give Youkilis a chance to run to second. TB intentionally walked the next batter for the Sox, Jason Bay. The next batter, Drew, ended it all giving Youkilis a chance to run home and the Sox a fighting chance for the World Series against the Phillies on Wednesday. All of Boston will be crossing their fingers while tuning into Saturday night's game 6 scheduled to start at 8:07 in Tampa. 

For MLB, these next few days are going to be hectic and stressful, but exciting all the same. The Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays are gearing up for game one tonight of a seven game ALCS playoff series due to end on October 19th. Stats experts and sports experts alike have been all over this series from the get go and its as close as 48%/52% Red Sox/Rays probable winning outcome for tonight, according to experts. According to a podcast, MLB analyst Tim Kurkjian says the Rays don't have the postseason experience, but they do have a huge home-field advantage, which does matter. The Rays get home-field advantage four out of the seven games. According to polls taken by ESPN Sportsnation's polling center, 80% of the people who were polled think that the Red Sox are going to win the ALCS and venture onto the world series. 59% think that the Sox have better starting pitching but 70% think that the Rays have a better bullpen.The Red Sox and the Rays are set to start the first game tonight at 8:37, EST.

In baseball news, the Cubs surprisingly lost the first two games even though they're expected to win the world series. Teetering on the edge of ending their astonishing 100 year curse, they committed 5 errors through the first two games and the Los Angeles Dodgers jumped on every mistake the Cubs made. The Red Sox beat the Angels' best pitcher even though they used their youngest and most inexperienced pitcher. Jason Bay replaced Manny and hit the momentum shifting home run, giving the Sox the upper hand for the rest of the game. Jason Bay used to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the laughing stock of the MLB. The Pirates are now leading the American sports world as the holder of the consecutive longest losing streak, having had a losing record for the last sixteen seasons. Sixteen. The poor people of Pittsburgh have suffered through these last sixteen years, trying to hold on to the good old days of Andy Van Slyke in the early 90s. Thankfully, they have the beautiful amazingness of the Pittsburgh Steelers to tyde them over.