Boston 8, Tampa 7

Hey, crazy stuff happens when a tipsy Al Leiter is trying to stab pins in the eyes of his trusty Scott Kazmir voodoo doll and instead bludgeons the fuck out of the right arms of Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler.  My own conspiracy theories aside, Joe Maddon’s decision to start Kazmir in Game 5 worked out great, save for a near historic collapse by his bullpen — and yet another re-write of J.D. Drew’s reputation as a career slouch. But Maddon has Scott Shields taking the hill in Game 6, while the defending champs will turn to the oughta-be-disabled Josh Beckett. That the Red Sox have another 9 innings to play with is something short of miraculous given the hole dug earlier last night, but to pronounce Game 4 the harbinger of a Rays’ choke would be to ignore their body of work since April.