• Sox dreams dashed: No return trip to World Series as Rays win, 3-1
• End of the line: Rays survive Game 7, stop Red Sox run
• Just raise a toast to Tampa Bay
• Lester says he only wants one pitch back
• Francona: Opportunities lacking
• Pedroia just couldn’t find way in 8th
• It’s tough to eliminate a number of thoughts
  

(Original image here.)

• Never say die: Sox are alive after improbable comeback
• Champs recover October magic
• Champions won’t go quietly
• Familiar refrain: Drew came through
• Crisp went to higher power for strength
• Strong statement is made by Ortiz
• Sox faithful revel in return from the brink
• Tampa Bay’s turn to tune out negativity
• Magical journey has hit a bump in the road

(Original image here.)

• Waking nightmare: Staggered Sox knuckle under in another rout
• He was a broken knuckler
• Sox relievers knuckled under, too
• This time, hard to find a ray of hope

• Deep trouble: Homer-happy Rays pound Lester, Sox
• For Lester, two poor pitches lead to disaster
• Rays bring Sox and fans down to earth
• Scuffling Varitek catches a few boos
• Ellsbury hasn’t quite hit on a solution
• Tampa starter Garza kept Red Sox at bay
• Momentum has yet to swing Ortiz’s way
• It’s been a dream sequence for Baldelli
• Wakefield, Cash will be charged-up battery

• Up, up, and away: Rays endure in 11 to gain split in series
• A Nation worries about its ace
• Beckett received shot
• Result aside, it was smashing entertainment
• Early on, quite a blast: Hitters had a ball trading homers

• Dice-K sparkles as Sox take Game 1
• Matsuzaka’s outing out of left field
• Sox shut down Rays in opener

• Halo, goodbye: Sox walk off with it
• Red Sox roar into ALCS
• Squeezing out all the drama
• Lester rises to the challenge
• Looking for curve shaped Lowrie at-bat
• Angels’ momentum had short shelf life
• Angels went down when bunt didn’t

(Oh, and not that it even matters anymore, but just for the record: these guys started their vacation even earlier this year.)

P.S.: We’re all in agreement that Tito (who I rarely second guess; the guy’s record kinda speaks for itself) pretty much screwed the pooch by not trotting Lester back out in the 8th, right? I spent three innings listening to the announcers marvel at how he was getting stronger with each passing inning, and suddenly Justin Masterson is out there hucking balls over Varitek’s head and coughing up the lead.

If nothing else, Tito should have at least had Lester go out to the mound to start the 8th and then pulled him once the inning started so that Lester could get some love from the crowd on his way back to the dugout.

Thoughts?

• Heaven can wait: Angels survive by getting to Sox in 12
• 12-inning loss spoils the party
• Twelfth of never: Game a real drag
• Pedroia quick to take hit for his poor stats
• Wobbly Beckett grits it out
• It finally fell into place for Angels
• Game photos

• Drew’s back in the swing
• Another big shot for Drew
• Surging Sox shuffle off to Boston
• Bay’s debut a suitable replacement

(*See, there’s a baseball movie titled “Angels in the Outfield.” Yeah, I know, I know: if you have to explain a joke, it probably isn’t funny. Sorry. Best I could come up with; I’m kinda tired from staying up all night twice in three days to watch baseball.)

• Make room for the new ace
• Fallen Angels: Lester comes up aces
• Ramírez’s replacement turns tide
  
• Lester is The One: The man who ended it in ’07 gets it started in ’08