10:22 p.m. ET
Incredibly, David Ortiz's leadoff triple in the seventh was the second triple he has hit off of Andy Sonnanstine this year.
--Jeff Bradley
Rays trying to do what few have done before (10:15 p.m. ET)
The Rays are going to try to duplicate what the Marlins did in 1997 and what the Mets did in 1969. That is, they are going to try to turn their first winning season as a franchise into a world championship season.
--Jeff Bradley
Cash makes history (9:30 p.m. ET)
The Red Sox are taking another beating tonight, but at least they've produced the coolest piece of trivia of the evening.
When backup catcher Kevin Cash homered off Andy Sonnanstine in the third inning, he became the third Boston player ever to homer in his first postseason at-bat.
The other two Red Sox players to achieve the feat: Pitcher Jose Santiago, who took Bob Gibson deep in the opening game of the 1967 World Series, and Todd Walker, who homered in the 2003 Division Series against Oakland.
--Jerry Crasnick
Cash tops Varitek (8:59 p.m. ET)
Kevin Cash now has one more RBI (one) than Jason Varitek in the 2008 postseason.
--Jeff Bradley
The Rays' relay team (8:53 p.m. ET)
Tampa Bay's starting outfield of B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and Fernando Perez must surely rank among the fastest ever (though the early '70s Giants of Bobby Bonds, Gary Matthews and Garry Maddox was pretty damn fast as well). Perez, who scored the winning run in Game 2 on a fly ball to shallow right, said that he isn't sure who is the fastest, but Upton runs so smoothly it's as if someone is pulling him by a string attached to his chest.
--Jim Caple
Rays again beat up Wakefield (8:48 p.m. ET)
Tim Wakefield lasted one-third of an inning longer than he survived in his last outing vs. the Rays. He turned the ball over to Justin Masterson, who has not pitched more than 2 2/3 innings in a game since July 5. Terry Francona has his work cut out for him tonight.
--Jeff Bradley
Useless Info: NLCS Edition (8:32 p.m. ET)
There's nothing like an October off day to give us a chance to reflect on some astoundingly useless NLCS information:
TAKING THE STAIRS: I've decided I want to be
Matt Stairs when I grow up. Come to the park. Hang with the guys. Try to hit 50 balls out of the stadium in BP. Then take the rest of the night off -- unless there's a life-changing, game-winning postseason home run to be hit or something.
I'm still trying to digest the full impact of a guy like this hitting a home run like the one Stairs launched off
Jonathan Broxton on Monday. So let's think about it.
Stairs played in just 16 games for the Phillies this year. Sixteen. He got just 17 at-bats, in fact. Seventeen. And if you take a look back at postseasons past, you'll find that players like that don't hit home runs like this in October. Ever. Until now.
ESPN research guru Mark Simon reports that only three players in history have played fewer games for any team than Stairs had played for the Phillies before hitting a postseason home run. They're Marv Rickert (three games) of the 1948 Braves,
Tom Wilson (nine games) of the 2004 Dodgers and
Turner Ward (10) of the 1999 Diamondbacks.
But none of those guys hit a home run as huge as Stairs' home run. Rickert came close, homering to draw his team within a run in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the '48 World Series -- but the Braves never scored again. Wilson homered in a blowout NLDS loss. And Turner also homered in a blowout NLDS loss.
Matt Stairs, on the other hand, changed this series. And, as one member of the Phillies' front office joked Tuesday, he "guaranteed himself an invitation to the 10-year reunion -- in 2018."
For more Useless Info: NLCS Edition,
click here.
--Jayson Stark
Golden Flash makes good (8:32 p.m. ET)
Andy Sonnanstine attended Kent State University and, according to Baseball Almanac, is the 19th Golden Flash to make it to The Show. Kent State's most famous baseball alumni are former Yankees Thurman Munson and Gene Michael. Here's the entire list.
--Jeff Bradley
Wakefield delivers first-inning stinker (8:25 p.m. ET)
Terry Francona's worst fears materialized in the top of the first inning, when Tim Wakefield exhibited all the signs of a pitcher coming off a 16-day layoff. Wakefield threw two sorry knucklers and Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria knocked them over the fence to give the Rays a 3-0 lead.
When Boston's main right-handed set-up man, Justin Masterson, began warming up in the bullpen a dozen pitches into the game, that was not a good sign.
Longoria, incidentally, is now baseball's rookie record-holder with five home runs this postseason. He had previously been tied with Miguel Cabrera, who hit four homers in the 2003 postseason with the Florida Marlins.
--Jerry Crasnick
Pena at home in Fenway (8:09 p.m. ET)
Carlos Pena, who grew up in Boston, has now hit five home runs at Fenway Park this year, three in the regular season and two in this series.
--Jeff Bradley
Trot tossed first pitch (8:08 p.m. ET)
Tonight's first pitch was thrown by Trot Nixon.
--Jeff Bradley
First '08 start for Wakefield vs. Rays at Fenway (8:07 p.m. ET)
This is Tim Wakefield's first start vs. the Rays at Fenway this season. He had two losses and a no-decision in three starts at Tropicana Field this year. Wake's best performance was on July 1, when he went seven innings and allowed two runs. His worst start was his most recent, on Sept. 17, when he allowed six earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings.
--Jeff Bradley
Perez to get start in right field for Rays (7:35 p.m. ET)
Rookie Fernando Perez will make his first start for the Rays in the American League Championship Series tonight. He'll hit eighth in the order and play right field.
--Matt Szefc, ESPN.com baseball editor
Kemp will be back in center for NLCS Game 5 (7:28 p.m. ET)
Joe Torre said Tuesday he is planning only one lineup change for Game 5: Matt Kemp back in center field. Juan Pierre did go 2-for-3 while replacing Kemp in center for Game 4. Pierre's two hits were his first since Sept. 28.
--Jayson Stark
Drew to bat in leadoff spot for Red Sox (5:40 p.m. ET)
Boston manager Terry Francona is giving the slumping Jacoby Ellsbury the night off and playing Coco Crisp in center field for the Red Sox. J.D. Drew, meanwhile, will take over for Ellsbury in the leadoff spot.
Drew hit only .172 (5 for 29 in eight games) in the leadoff slot this season. But he walked 10 times and had a .385 on base percentage.
Drew isn't much of a base-stealing threat at the top of the order. Then again, nobody runs off Andy Sonnanstine, tonight's starting pitcher for the Rays. Opponents stole a total of one base in four attempts against the Tampa Bay righty this season.
"That doesn't lead you to think we're going to run all over this guy,'' Francona said.
--Jerry Crasnick
Pregame notes (5:35 p.m. ET)
A few notes regarding tonight's starting lineups from ESPN research whiz Mark Simon:
• J.D. Drew will hit leadoff for the Red Sox for the first time since Aug. 14. He hit .172 in eight games in the leadoff spot in this year's regular season.
• The Red Sox have lost three straight home games to the Rays (regular season and postseason combined). The Red Sox have lost four straight to the Rays at Fenway Park only once -- in 1999.
• The Red Sox were 22-20 in the regular season when catcher Kevin Cash started. They were 73-47 when he didn't.
• Players on the Red Sox roster are hitting .262 with three home runs in 103 at-bats against Andy Sonnanstine. But those players are only 8-for-43 against him this season. The best career numbers against Sonnanstine belong to Jason Varitek (5-for-10), who is not in tonight's lineup.
• This season, Carl Crawford has two triples against Tim Wakefield, tonight's starting pitcher for the Red Sox. He has three triples against Wakefield in his career -- Crawford's most against any pitcher.
• Wakefield has given up at least one run in the first inning of each of his three starts against Tampa Bay this season.
