AL DIVISION SERIES

Lobaton’s home run lifts Rays

At a glance AL DIVISION SERIES Best-of-5 MONDAY’S GAMES Oakland 6, Detroit 3

Oakland leads series 2-1 Tampa Bay 5, Boston 4

Boston leads series 2-1 TODAY’S GAMES Oakland at Detroit, 4:07 p.m.

Boston at Tampa Bay, 7:37 p.m.

NL DIVISION SERIES Best-of-5 MONDAY’S GAMES St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh

Series tied 2-2 Los Angeles 4, Atlanta 3

Los Angeles wins series 3-1 WEDNESDAY’S GAME Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 4:07 p.m.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays are still afloat in the American League division series.

Jose Lobaton hit a home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning into the giant fish tank beyond the center-field wall, and Tampa Bay staved off elimination once again by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-4 Monday night.

Evan Longoria had a three-run home run and the Rays averted a playoff sweep, cutting Boston’s lead to 2-1 in the best-of-five series. Game 4 is today at Tropicana Field, with Jake Peavy starting for the Red Sox against Jeremy Hellickson.

“Look at this whole week working up to today, and then this game is even more dramatic than the other games we had already won,” Rays Manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s really an incredible day for the Rays.”

Tampa Bay took a win-or-go-home game for the fourth time in nine days. The Rays did it with an unlikely stroke as Lobaton, who came off the bench to catch in the top of the ninth, connected against Red Sox closer Koji Uehara.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s something you can’t explain,” said Lobaton, who hit seven home runs during the regular season. “We never give up. We’re going to keep fighting.”

Back home after two weeks on the road, the Rays gave a sellout crowd of 33,675 little to cheer until Longoria homered on his 28th birthday. His three-run shot off Clay Buchholz with two outs in the fifth rallied Tampa Bay to a 3-3 tie.

P inch-hitter Delmon Young, who has a penchant for driving home key runs in October, put the Rays ahead 4-3 with an RBI groundout in the eighth.

The Red Sox tied it in the ninth after closer Fernando Rodney issued a leadoff walk to Will Middlebrooks. Dustin Pedroia’s RBI grounder made it 4-4.

With a runner on third, pinch-hitter Mike Carp was called out on strikes to end the inning. Carp batted for Quintin Berry, who entered as a pinch-runner for David Ortiz in the eighth.

Berry stole second on a close play that drew an argument from Maddon. But when Ortiz’s spot came up again in the ninth, Boston’s big slugger was out of the game.

Rodney got the victory when Lobaton golfed a low pitch to right-center. The ball deflected off a fan trying to catch the souvenir and wound up in the 10,000-gallon tank where cownose rays swim around.

Maddon said he was studying his lineup when he heard the crack of the bat.

“Look up and the ball is going towards the tank, which nobody hits home runs there. Nobody does. How about that? It’s incredible,” he said.

Uehara did not give up a home run in his final 37 regular-season appearances. The last time he served one up was June 30 to Toronto slugger Jose Bautista.

“That was an exciting game. Well-played game,” Boston Manager John Farrell said.

The Rays won three mustwin road games in three cities over four days just to get into the division series, so they felt good about their chances of coming back against the Red Sox.

Especially with Alex Cobb on the mound. The right-hander beat Cleveland 4-0 in the AL wild-card game last Wednesday and has been one of the consistent pitchers in the majors since August 2012.

The Red Sox were just as confident about the prospect of closing out the series.

“I’m sure there’s an attitude they have nothing to lose and just let it all hang out,” Farrell said. “That’s what we’ve been accustomed to for years against the Rays. As I mentioned before the series started, we have tremendous respect for them and we know it will be a very similar game tomorrow night.”

Sports, Pages 17 on 10/08/2013

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