Monday night's game at Friendly Fenway was truly a nail biter. It did not start out well for the Red Sox as they blew a 5 to nothing lead against a tough Tampa Bay team (The Rays won 100 games for the 2nd straight year as they were hoping for another appearance in the fall classic, but that was not the case). Raphael Devers initiated the scoring by delivering a 3 run homer plus Alex Verdugo and J.D. Martinez tallied key hits that brought runners in to score.

Tampa Bay did not give up as Austin Meadows put his team on the scoreboard with a key base hit and Wander Franco smacked a 2 run homer followed by a double from Kevin Kiermaier and Randy Arozerena brought in the tying run resulting in both teams possibly looking at extra innings for the second straight evening in Massachusetts capital city.

Boston had an advantage being they were the home team for game 4 in The American league Division Series and you know the old saying: Last licks are paramount in any ball game. The rally began with singles by Christian Vasquez and Travis Shaw. Kiki Hernandez was the hero in the bottom of the 9th inning as his sacrifice fly brought pinch-runner Danny Santana to home plate and the celebration began for a team who was predicted to come in 4th place in the AL East for 2021.

Red Sox relief pitcher Garrett Whitlock got the key win after pitching a pair of perfect innings to retire six straight Rays batters on a 1-2-3 fashion. Eduardo Rodriguez was the starter and picked up a no-decision in this contest. The roster has yet to be determined for the upcoming weekend. We'll keep you posted

Final score: Boston 6, Tampa Bay 5 as the boys from Bean Town will either play Houston or Chicago in The American League Championship Series on Friday night. As this article is being written, The Astros have a 2 games to 1 lead over The White Sox in this best of 5 series.

Every pitch and every play can be heard on 860 AM and 94.1 FM, WSBS in Great  Barrington, 1420 AM, WBEC in Pittsfield and 94.7 OR 1230 AM, WNAW in North Adams. Joe Castiglione, Will Fleming and Sean McDonough bring you all the live action of Boston Red Sox baseball in The Berkshires ALL season long. Don't miss a minute of the upcoming series which could lead to another appearance in The World Series. PLAY BALL!!

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