The Rays Tank: Goodnight, Detroit

The Red Sox move on to the World Series, and closer Koji Uehara (3 saves, 1 win) takes the MVP trophy. They'll meet up with the Cardinals this Wednesday, and presumably it will be NLCS MVP Michael Wacha's job to mow down the Sox line up.

Thankfully, Detroit's game can be summed up in one GIF to save me some time: introducing, the Prince Fielder Belly Flop:

Hilarious.

That's Prince failing to return to third base after doing his best to distract Dustin Pedroia from turning a double play. The situation was one out and runners on the corners, and it's possible that Prince was just hoping for an error or a chance to score, but the end result is entertaining nonetheless.

The Tigers scored two runs and allowed three shots off the top of the monster, two home runs over it, and one final victory to slip away. Shane Victorino gave the Red Sox their winning lead on a grand slam that could have been prevented if Jose Iglesias could have turned a double play, which makes for the compelling story arc, but I'd rather watch this some more:

A gif that keeps on giving.

Max Scherzer had a filthy breaking ball this evening, but the likely AL Cy Young winner was credited with three of the five runs who scored -- including two of those involved in Victorino's slam -- and was handed the loss.

In Rays news, the Cubs manager search is finally having some light shed on the situation. Our bench coach Dave Martinez felt his interviews "went really well," while a few other names remain in the mix. Read the full story here.

LINKS

- Last night's game was incredibly slow. I flipped over to the baseball game once FSU v Clemson went into garbage time (so about 3 min left in the second, Go Noles!), and the sixth inning had just started. Insane.

- Beyond the Box Score: Andrew Ball dives into the dollars of international free agent signings | Stuart Wallace wonders at one-pitch pitchers (Jake McGee is not mentioned)

- Player articles: R.J. Anderson summarized the Jose Abreu signing | Jeff Sullivan compares the past and present of Michael Wacha | Buster Olney reports the Dodgers may have offered the likely NL CyYoung winner Clayton Kershaw $300M for a "lifetime" contract

- Felix Hernandez's wife was a victim of wire fraud; her debit card was used to rack up $180K is expenses at Sak's Fifth Avenue by another Mariners player's wife!