Rays defense: Kind of Gross

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Don’t be surprised if Rocco Baldelli or even Fernando Perez, the rookie speedster who scored the winning run in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series with a daring dash home on B.J. Upton’s sacrifice fly to shallow right field, start in right field over Gabe Gross for Tampa Bay in Game 6 tonight.

Gross is a left-handed hitter who usually starts against right-handed pitchers, and right-hander Josh Beckett will be starting for the Red Sox tonight. But Gross is hitless in nine ALCS at-bats and is batting .067 (one for 15) in seven postseason games.

And lost in the bullpen meltdown -- and the questionable managerial decisions that may have led to them -- that led to the Rays blowing a 7-0, seventh-inning lead in an 8-7 loss in Game 5 at Fenway Park, were two plays that, had Gross made them, could have prevented the stunning defeat.

The Red Sox had runners on first and third with two outs in the seventh and were still trailing, 7-0, when Dustin Pedroia flared an RBI single to right field. Off the bat, the ball looked like a sure hit, but replays showed the ball hung in the air and had a little more arc than a typical single.

Gross came in on the ball but gave up too early, pulling up and letting it drop about 10 feet in front of him. Had the right fielder been a little more aggressive, sprinted in from the start and kept going, he could have caught the ball to end the inning.

Instead, Pedroia’s single made it 7-1, and David Ortiz followed with a three-run home run to trim Tampa Bay’s lead to 7-4.

Some also thought the J.D. Drew liner that sailed over Gross’ head in the ninth inning for a game-winning ground-rule single could have been caught. After watching several replays, it appeared Gross might have caught the ball with an extraordinary effort, and a leap or a dive, but he didn’t get a good enough jump off the bat to put himself in position for such a play.

-- Mike DiGiovanna