Joe Maddon’s veteran relievers were shaken. Most of them were already used as Maddon tried to work through an adventurous eighth inning. The two arms left were Grant Balfour’s right one, which gave up the first three runs in a seven-run comeback in Game 5, and rookie David Price’s left one, which had just 15 innings of Major League experience. Though uconventional, calling on the young lefty was the perfect move for Maddon.

Buster Olney points out that Price was an unknown for the Red Sox, the Rays’ only pitcher left who the Red Sox hadn’t seen and ultimately conquered. But, he was also an unknown for the Rays, who could have never known for sure that he would deliver a dominant, four-out appearance and propel his team into the World Series. Read more »