The Tampa Bay jRays just refuse to go away, beating the Boston Red Sox 5-4 Monday night in dramatic fashion, playing their fourth elimination game in nine days.
Rays catcher Jose Lobaton blasted a walkoff solo home run off of Boston reliever Koji Uehara, cutting the Red Sox lead to 2-1 in their American League Division Series.
"It's unbelievable. It's something you can't explain," said Lobaton, who came off the bench to catch in the top of the inning. "We never give up. We're going to keep fighting."
The Rays still need two more victories to continue their strange postseason ride that included forcing an tiebreaker game against the Texas Rangers to get into the postseason and eliminating Cleveland in the American League Wild Card game.
The Rays will send Jeremy Hellickson (12-10 with an ERA of 5.17) to start Game 4. Hellickson hopes to ride the momentum of Monday's victory despite struggling in his last 10 starts, going 1-7 with a 7.53 ERA. Hellickson was 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA this year against Boston.
"I haven't really given them a good reason to send me back out there these last few months," said Hellickson. "It's really nice that they still have confidence in me to go out there."
Jake Peavy (12-5, 4.17) will start for the Red Sox - who was acquired via a mid-season trade. Peavy makes his first postseason start in seven years, having previously gone 0-2 with an ERA of 12.10 in his two playoff starts for the San Diego Padres.
Peavy had a rough patch this season, giving up three or more runs, walking 13 batters during the last month of the season, and having not pitched since Sept. 25.
"If you watched (John) Lackey the other day, I think you saw the layoff can affect your feel and command a little bit," said Peavy. "But at the end of the day, it will be no excuse. I'll get out there and figure out a way to get it done just as John did."
TV Schedule
You can catch Game 4 of the Boston Red Sox - Tampa Bay Rays American League Division Series Friday at 8:07 p.m EST on TBS.
Live Stream (video)
Live stream coverage can be seen on MLB.tv (subscription required).
Live Stream (audio)
Live stream coverage can be heard MLB.com Gameday Audio.
Live Score
Live scores could be followed by clicking here.
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