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By Matt Valentine

Heading into the seventh inning of game five of the ALCS it looked like the Red Sox would be headed home and the Rays would be headed to the World Series.

The Rays held a 7-0 lead heading into the inning and were just 9 outs away from making the first World Series appearance in franchise history. Yet, just when most were about to change the channel the Red Sox came storming back to life.

Keyed by big hits from JD Drew, David Ortiz and Coco Crisp the Sox were able to stave off elimination with one of the most historic and unlikely comebacks in postseason history.

Red Sox celebrate their amazing comeback over the Rays in Game 5 of the ALCS

The Rays jumped out to a big lead early on when BJ Upton went yard hitting a 2 run blast a Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria added back-to-back home runs for the second straight game. Scott Kazmir had one of his best outings in a long time allowing just two hits over six innings and never allowing a baserunner to advance past second base.

However, the game quickly went downhill for the Rays as soon as they called on their bullpen. Ortiz who had been slumping during the postseason broke out with a three run homer in the 7th followed by a Dustin Pedroia RBI single. In the eighth Drew hit a two-run homer to pull the Sox even closer and then it was Coco Crisp who provided the drama, tying the game with a two-out, two-strike single off of reliever Dan Wheeler.

The Rays were unable to muster any offense in the ninth and Boston came up and provided the Fenway faithful with another dramatic comeback. Kevin Youkilis grounded to Evan Longoria with two outs, but wound up at second when the throw bounced in front of first baseman Carlos Pena. Then Jason Bay was intentionally walked and Drew stepped up to the plate for the last time. Drew lined a single to right off of J.P. Howell and over the glove of Gabe Gross to bring in the game winning run.

JD Drew's game winning single in the ninth

There was deinitely some questionable decision throughout the Red Sox comeback made by Rays manager Joe Maddon. First, Maddon refused to place his outfielders back stating that they were not playing no-double defense. Obviously the decision did not pay off as the game winning hit was actually a ground rule double that may have been caught had Gross been playing back a few steps.

Second, Maddon seemed to panic with his relief pitchers bringing in closer Dan Wheeler and asking him to make the finally 7 outs, which he was obviously unable to do. Also, Maddon stated that he doesn’t believe in lefty on lefty matchups which is why he did not bring in a lefty to face David Ortiz. Another call which did not pay off.

The Red Sox are beginning to make a habit of postseason comebacks. In 2004 they made postseason history when they came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the New York Yankees. Last season they overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Cleveland Indians, both times they went on to win the World Series.

The series will move back to Tampa for game 6. Scott Shields and Josh Beckett will get the start.