Red Sox 'Coming Back Hungry' In Game 4
BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Red Sox fought back in the top of ninth on Monday night, only to fall to the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on a walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning as they dropped Game 3 of the ALDS.
But the Red Sox, who own a 2-1 series lead, are not hanging their heads after losing a hard-fought playoff game. They will put the loss behind them quickly, and be ready to give it their all in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
"We knew coming in this would be a hard-fought series," manager John Farrell said after the loss. "We left a number of guys on base, as did they, but we'll be ready to go tomorrow night."
THE WALKOFF: How The Rays Stayed Alive Against Red Sox
Both the Red Sox and Rays left nine runners on Monday night in a back-and-forth affair. Boston took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fifth, but the Rays tied things in the bottom of the frame with a three-run homer by Evan Longoria off starter Clay Buchholz. Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth on a sharp ground-out to first off the bat of Delmon Young with the bases loaded, as Mike Napoli couldn't get a handle on the ball to make a throw home. But Boston fought right back and tagged Tampa Bay closer Fernando Rodney for a run in the top of the ninth to make it a 4-4 game.
But after Red Sox closer Koji Uehara, who has dominated baseball since late June, retired the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth, he gave up his first home run since June 30, a solo shot to Jose Lobaton that kept the Rays alive for at least one more day.
"Somebodies got to win, somebody has to lose," said Shane Victorino, who went 1-for-3 with a run scored. "They're a resilient team and they aren't going to give up either. They said all along they would keep coming. We're still up 2-1, we're in the driver's seat and control our own destiny. We just have to go out there tomorrow and try to win another one."
"It's a tough one, but we'll come out and play tomorrow," said second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who went 0-for-5 with an RBI on Monday. "That's what we do. They beat us tonight, we'll come out and try to beat them tomorrow."
"We're going to go home, forget about this one and come back tomorrow and play like we have all year," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said after the loss. "We made a couple of mistakes, they played a great game and we were still able to stay in there and almost win that one. So we're pretty confident."
"We're coming back hungry, just like we did today. We know this ain't over," said Boston DH David Ortiz. "We know we have to come and play, make pitches, score runs and do whatever we need to win the game."
The Red Sox will send Jake Peavy to the mound on Tuesday, with the Rays countering with Jeremy Hellickson.
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