6B
SPORTS
MLB
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14; 2008
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tampa Bay Rays 'Carl Crawford runs into Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varkeit as he tries to score on a single by Diner Navarro in the eighth inning in Game 3 of the American League baseball championship in Boston on Monday. Crawford was out at the plate.
AL series: Rays move up 2-1 over Sox
BY JIMMY GOLEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and the rest of the Tampa Bay Rays are bashing their way through their first trip to the play-offs.
Upton and Longoria homered off a suddenly shaky Jon Lester, and the power-packed Rays cleared the Green Monster four times to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-1 Monday for a 2-1 lead in the AL championship series.
Rocco Baldelli and Carlos Pena also sent shots over Fenway Park's famous left-field wall as Tampa Bay tied the ALCS home run record. Behind Matt Garza's pitching, the Rays put the defending World Series champions in a postseason hole for the first time since they overcame a 3-1 deficit against Cleveland last year to win the pennant.
The Rays also hit hard on the basepaths. Carl Crawford bowled over Boston catcher Jason Varitek on a play at the plate — there
was no immediate reprisal in a matchup between teams that have tangled in the past.
Garza, the only Tampa Bay pitcher to lose in the first-round series against the Chicago White Sox, held the Red Sox scoreless through six innings before they made it 5-1 in the seventh.
Boston knuckleballer Tim Wakefield faces Andy Sonnantine in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series on Tuesday night.
Upton, whose shallow sacrifice fly in the 11th inning won Game 2, hit a three-run homer in the third that sailed completely out of the park. Longoria added a solo shot later in the inning.
Baldelli had a three-run drive in the eighth and Pena hit a solo homer in the ninth.
After Garza left, J.P. Howell escaped a jam and pitched two scoreless innings. Edwin Jackson closed out the victory.
Lester, who hadn't allowed an earned run in four previous postseason outings — including last
year's World Series clincher against Colorado — gave up four earned runs on eight hits in 5 2-3 innings. He gave up an unearned run on Varitek's passed ball in the second, then caused his own problems in the third.
Jason Bartlett singled and Akinori Iwamura doubled off the Monster before Upton hit a towering shot that cleared the wall and the Monster Seats atop it — his fifth homer of the playoffs. One out later, Longoria hit his fourth home run of the postseason, tying a rookie record set by Miguel Cabrera in 2003.
A lifetime Ray, Baldelli had never appeared in the postseason before. Pena is well-traveled — this is his fifth team, including the Red Sox — but he somehow managed to avoid appearing in a playoff game until arriving in Tampa Bay.
The four homers tied an ALCS record achieved nine times previously, most recently when the Red Sox hit four on Saturday.
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
One reason for the problem on special teams could be due to Mangino's willingness to give younger players a chance to play. Some freshmen and sophomores, banished to the bottom of the depth charts on offense and defense, have been given a chance to see the field on special teams.
"We've given some guys an opportunity to get out there and play," Mangino said. "You know, give them a chance to get in the game, get a little sweat going, be
a part of it and contribute. Some guys have taken advantage of that and others have not."
In the past, Mangino has played key starters on special teams including Jon Cornish, Brandon McAnderson, Derek Fine and Aqib Talib. While reluctant to do that again, it seems that Mangino doesn't have much of a choice.
"We have had some starters that have played special teams here for years," Mangino said. "And we would have this year, but
we have some kids who have had offseason surgeries and chronic injuries and they are playing, but we are getting everything we can from them at the line of scrimmage on offense and defense ... I think some of those older kids are a little bit upset with the way we are playing on special teams. I told a couple of them to get ready, you're back on special teams, and they were fine with it."
— Edited by Andy Greenhaw
DUFEK (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
and force overtime last week.
Dangerous quarterback Robert Griffin and his Baylor Bears will get a crack at all three undefatted teams before its all settled.
With all these obstacles looming in the Big 12, other conferences have to like their chances. The road for the Penn State Nittany Lions and legendary coach Joe Paterno looks much easier. Having already knocked off Illinois when they were ranked No. 22, the Lions have their most difficult games at No. 12 Ohio State and at home against No. 20 Michigan State. if Penn State can sneak through those two games, a national little spot is theirs for the taking.
Another team always in the national title picture, USC, likes what it sees developing the Big 12. The Trojans were upset by Oregon State only a few weeks ago, but if the Big 12 beats up on itself enough, their odds to compete for another title are good.
Oklahoma State wide receiver Damian Davis catches a 31-yard pass for a touchdown as Missouri safety Hardy Ricks and Oklahoma State's DeMarcus Conner look on during the fourth quarter on Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Oklahoma State knocked off Missouri, 28-23, and muddled the Big 12 outlook.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
No. 6 USC is already ranked above two of the Big 12's undefeated squads, and its schedule looks promising. The Trojans have only one ranked team on their remaining schedule — a home showdown with No. 25 California.
However, this isn't completely new to the Big 12. It has seen conference teams knock each other silly before. In 2002, the final BCS rankings had four teams ranked between No.7 and No.13. Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas State and Colorado all suffered from competing in a well-rounded
conference.
Sometimes not everyone gets a fair shake of things. Just think about overtime in the NFL. In the end, the Big 12 will get the recognition of being one of the top two conferences in college football this season. Some might even truly recognize how difficult
it is and proclaim it as the best in the land.
However, the conference won't be able to claim that any Big 12 team is the nation's best at the end of the year because of it.
Edited by Lauren Keith
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