We're back in the World Series and our streak dating back to 2028 of either losing in the ALDS or winning the World Series remains intact after beating Houston 7-2 in the decisive Game 7 of the ALCS. For the second straight day the hero was Andy Ruggles. After walking off Game 6 with a homer, Ruggles delivered a 3-run homer in the 5th to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead after the Rays had squandered several previous opportunities to score and saw Dan Gregory thrown out at the plate. Josh Alexander's RBI double in the 7th provided some insurance, and then Doug Johns became the second Rays pinch-hitter to go deep in as many days after Ruggles' shot last night by hitting a 2-run homer to put it away in the 8th. Jose Mendoza was outstanding aside from giving up an early 2-run homer to Kevin Kane, and with the game still on the line in the 8th Kikuo Kawase came in after Ed Pretty brought the tying run to the plate with two out and got the whiff before closing it out in the 9th for his 27th career postseason save. So now we will await either the Reds or the Giants because....
The Reds have forced a Game 7 in the NLCS after being down 3-1, with former Ray Jordan Perez getting it done today.