ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Evan Longoria woke up feeling much better about Tampa Bay’s chances of rebounding against the Boston Red Sox.
Not that it will be easy to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-5 AL division series matchup that resumes tonight at Tropicana Field.
But to have any chance of succeeding, the Rays star said players can’t dwell on being on the brink of elimination yet again.
It took winning three consecutive elimination games just to get into the division series. And now, it will take three more to beat Red Sox and reach the league championship series against Oakland or Detroit.
“I don’t think we let our guard down at all. I think we just got outplayed,” Longoria said after an optional team workout Sunday.
Alex Cobb, who beat Cleveland last Wednesday in the AL wild-card game, will carry the Rays’ hopes to the mound in Game 3. Righthander Clay Buchholz will start for the Red Sox, who outscored Tampa Bay 19-6 in the opening two games at Fenway Park.
History doesn’t favor the Rays. Of the previous 22 AL teams that have lost the first two games of a division series, only four rallied to advance.
Boston has won 14 of 21 games this year between the AL East rivals.
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