Confident Rays prepare to take on Red Sox in ALCS

[October 09, 2008]  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Young, eager and brimming with confidence.

The surprising Tampa Bay Rays spent the entire season dispelling the notion that they were too inexperienced to compete with the Boston Red Sox, and the AL East champions aren't about to stop believing in themselves now that they're four wins from the World Series.

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," left fielder Carl Crawford said, "but we definitely feel good about our chances."

With good reason.

The Rays won the season series between the division rivals 10-8, taking eight of nine meetings at Tropicana Field, where the best-of-seven ALCS begins Friday night. The managers set their pitching rotations Wednesday, with Tampa Bay's James Shields facing 18-game winner Daisuke Matsuzaka in the opener.

"I just have to go out there and pitch my game. I'm one not to change anything," said Shields, who matched a Rays record with 14 regular-season wins. "I've had a lot of success this year doing what I do. I feel pretty good right now. I feel alive. I'm ready to go."

The defending World Series champion Red Sox won seven of nine between the clubs at Fenway Park, but both of Tampa Bay's wins there came in mid-September while the Rays were taking four of six from the Red Sox in a 10-day span.

After spending the last two months of the season chasing the Rays, the Red Sox would be the last to call Tampa Bay's success a fluke.

"I understand some of the story behind this. They haven't had any success going into this year and all of a sudden they went from the bottom to the top. It's a great story for baseball. It made our life a little bit more miserable this year," Boston manager Terry Francona said.

"If you look at their team from top to bottom, there really shouldn't be a surprise," he added. "They have a real good thing going. Our job will be to derail that."

That won't be easy, especially with the series starting at The Trop, where the Rays compiled the best home record in baseball (57-24) and won the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Chicago White Sox.

"We're excited. This is how we envisioned it from Day 1. The two best teams playing for the American League championship," Rays rookie Evan Longoria said.

Tampa Bay isn't discounting Boston's experience. The Red Sox won two of the past four World Series titles, while the Rays - in the playoffs for the first time -- are just four games into their postseason history.

"Although we did well against them here, the time of year it is, I don't see an overt advantage (at home)," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

"They understand how this part of the year works. After that you look at their personnel. Their starting pitching is very good and they match up well with us. We have to equally pitch with them in order to have a chance to stay in these games."

Designated hitter Cliff Floyd is one of the veterans the Rays signed last winter to bring leadership and stability to a clubhouse loaded with young talent. He's one of eight players on the team with previous playoff experience.

Floyd, who won a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins in 1997, sees no reason why inexperience should hold Tampa Bay back.

After all, most people expected the Rays' youth to be a hindrance in holding off the Red Sox in the division.

"It's been a treat to come here every day and watch these guys grow up over the course of the season," Floyd said, adding the club has prospered because every one puts the team before themselves.

"I've been on some teams that were very young and inexperienced and you could see it because everybody wanted to win 20 games, everybody wanted to hit .300 with 30 home runs. You don't have that here. ... We do things the right way on the field. We hustle, we catch the ball, we pitch the ball, we get timely hitting. If you ask anybody in baseball what you need to win, I hope they tell you that."

[Associated Press; By FRED GOODALL]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.