Have to give it to the Rays, they showed up to play. No first time jitters in the playoffs.The White Sox, for all the power and experience, did not show up to play.
Although both sides had sub-par pitching from both starters, Tampa was able to provide the offensive power that they showed off all season long.
Evan Longoria started it off with the first pitch in the bottom of the second with a homer deep to left field. The White sox came back in the top of the third with three runs off of four hits. D. Wise homered with A. Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski on base, but Tampa responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, capped off with his second homerun,hitting a 0-1 cantaloupe thrown chest high.
Drama then stirred up in the top of the seventh inning with one out and the bases loaded.Rays reliever Grant Balfour came into the game with the bases loaded and one out to face Orlando Cabrera. Balfour threw a hard fastball way outside for ball one, and then Cabrera kicked dirt towards the mound and appeared to yell at Balfour. Balfour started towards the plate to confront Cabrera, but luckily umpire Joe West was able to settle things down.
Of course this got the Rays pumped, who were able to finish the White Sox off like Senator Biden finished of Governor Palin last night at the Vice Presidential Debate.
Game two is at 6 PM eastern time today in Tampa, where White Sox pitcher Mark Buerle will face off against Tampa Ray pitcher Scott Kazmir.
”We have to win tomorrow,” Guillen said. ”I mean, it’s not a do or die thing, but I’d rather go home with one win than go home with our backs to the wall. This organization has been against the wall a lot of times, but we’ve pulled it out before.”
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