Not dead yet...
The Rays got off the mat and beat Miami in Game 5 to force the series back to St. Petersburg for a sixth game, and they can only hope to do what the Cubs did to the Marlins in the NLCS: win three straight games while facing elimination. The Cubs of course didn't win a game before doing so while a Rays repeat of the feat would mean a World Series triumph thanks to their Game 2 win.
Kevin DiCostanzo was outstanding in his best start since coming back, and
Arturo Gutierrez was a force at the plate, homering to lead off the game, coming through with a big single in front of
Billy Carlow's 3-run homer in the 7th inning rally that won it for them, and then homering again in the 9th to provide some breathing room when
Josh Scanlon and
Eric Lewis crapped the bed allowing 3 runs to make it a nail-biter. Also the speculated move happened:
Kelly Crumpton was benched for rookie
Joe Stack, making his first MLB start. Stack got off to an unfortunate beginning, grounding into a double play with the bases loaded and one out in the first to short-circuit a bigger inning, but he came through later with a sac fly to score the 2nd run and it was his single - his first MLB hit - that began the 4-run 7th. Still undecided whether he starts Game 6 or we go back to Crumpton now that he's had a chance to clear his head, and for those refreshing this thread Game 6 (and 7 if hopefully necessary) will be played tomorrow so I'll have 24 actual hours to think about it. What we do know is that
Ethan McElvain will be starting it on the mound.