ALDS 2013: Red Sox beat Rays in 4 games

This was just minutes after the Red Sox clinched and did some mild celebrating on the field:

via @BuzzFeedSports

It was a fleeting jubilation for the Rays, who were fighting to keep their season alive in this game. They were able to hold on to the lead for only the briefest of moments as the Red Sox came back the next half inning to steal the lead away.

• Sensitive Braves boycott Chipper Jones’ first pitch | Call the Party Police!

The game’s closest scoring opportunity in the first five frames came in the top of the second.

The Red Sox scored an insurance run in the ninth with a bases loaded sacrifice fly. Koji Uehara finished the game with a four-out save to secure the win.

Peralta immediately threw a wild pitch, bringing Bogaerts in to score and tie the game. Ellsbury moved to third on the play. Victorino then singled to bring home another run, giving Boston its first lead of the day.

The Red Sox lead the series two games to one and would clinch a berth in the League Championship Series with a victory.

The Tampa Bay Rays caught Daniel Nava taking second base in a failed hit-and-run in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the American League Division Series.

That is the first time a Red Sox player has been caught stealing since Aug. 8, when Jacoby Ellsbury was nabbed taking second by the Kansas City Royals. That was a streak of 44 successful stolen bases in a row.

The Tampa Bay Rays took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. That wouldn’t last long.

With two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the seventh, a wild pitch from Rays’ reliever Jake McGee allowed Xander Bogaerts to come home and tie the game.

Tampa Bay is looking to stay alive in the series down two games to one and facing elimination from the playoffs.

• Sensitive Braves boycott Chipper Jones’ first pitch | Call the Party Police!

Peavy has now thrown 47 pitches through four innings, allowing three hits while striking out two.

• Sensitive Braves boycott Chipper Jones’ first pitch | Call the Party Police!

The line-out double play allowed the Rays to somehow get out of the inning without a run scoring, maintaining a scoreless tie.

• Sensitive Braves boycott Chipper Jones’ first pitch | Call the Party Police!

• Yasiel Puig’s celebration breaks camera | #Lookit

Price’s regular-season numbers at Fenway Park -- 1.88 earned-run average in 10 starts -- are significantly better than what he showed over the weekend, so the Rays have to hope he can return to form should they make it that far.

The Red Sox currently hold a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 starts at 5:30 pm ET on Tuesday at Tropicana Field.

Other than the guy taking the hill, the starting nine are the same for the Red Sox:

Things look a bit different in the Rays lineup:

Jake Peavy will take the mound for Boston as the 12 year veteran pitches in the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

He finished off the season poorly, earning a 5.40 ERA in four September starts as he began to suffer control issues. He has had nearly two weeks of rest since his last outing.

Baldelli, who retired in 2010, appeared in 457 games with the Rays and 62 with the Red Sox across seven big-league seasons. The native of Woonsocket, R.I., put up solid numbers in his first two MLB seasons before knee and elbow injuries caused him to miss all of 2005 and the first two-plus months of 2006.

When he returned in June of that year, it was with a vengeance. Baldelli hit .302/.339/.533 with 16 home runs in 387 plate appearances for Tampa Bay.

Let’s ignore the baseball craziness that is mediocre Rays catcher Jose Lobaton keeping his team alive by hitting a walk-off home run off of Koji Uehara, who didn’t allow any home runs from July onward and had a 1.09 ERA this year and was just so generally good that Baseball Nation was singing his praises just yesterday. That’s so crazy. That’s insanely crazy. What?

Let’s ignore that, and focus on the Rays tank where Lobaton’s home run ended up:

Lobaton, who entered the game in the top of the ninth on a double-switch, took an 0-1 pitch from Uehara and deposited into the fish tank over the wall in right-center. The walk-off blast was the first homer allowed by Uehara since June 30.

• Neyer: Kill the umpire! (But read this first)

Myers appeared to cramp up on a swing that resulted in a foul ball in the bottom of the seventh against Red Sox reliever Junichi Tazawa. Myers eventually struck out to end the inning.

After returning to the dugout, Myers tried to take the field but was promptly removed from the game to receive IV fluids, per Topkin.

Yeah, he was definitely out.

For more on this game, follow our stream or visit Over the Monster and DRaysBay.

• Neyer: Kill the umpire! (But read this first)

• Brisbee: The silver lining of Justin Verlander, ace of aces

• Neyer: Kill the umpire! (But read this first)

• Brisbee: The silver lining of Justin Verlander, ace of aces

For more on this game, follow our stream or visit Over the Monster and DRaysBay.

• Neyer: Kill the umpire! (But read this first)

• Brisbee: The silver lining of Justin Verlander, ace of aces

Alex Cobb made a diving play on a tough grounder, you say? Pshaw.

Boston defense: 2

Tampa defense: 1

A Tale of Two Tampa Bay defenses

Exhibit A:

On the bright side for the Rays, Cobb got out of the inning without further damage. However, it was an inauspicious start to a potential elimination game for the Rays, who will need to turn on their bats against Clay Buckholz and his 1.74 regular-season ERA to get themselves back in this game.