Obviously, the Rays were listening, according to CBSSports.com.
“Hopefully,” Johnny Damon said after the Rays took the series opener over the Sox on Thursday night, “like Ortiz said, they’re in panic mode.”
Ortiz’s comment came after Sunday’s loss in Tampa, when he said, according to The Boston Globe, “Hell yeah, you’ve got to panic.”
The Rays have now won six straight games against Boston and sit just three games behind the Sox in the wild-card race. While Damon may be counting on panic, Rays manager Joe Maddon might be relying on some divine baseball intervention.
“You’re always looking for signs, man,” he said when discussing the bizarre broken-bat play that allowed the Rays to open up an early lead. “You’re looking for signs from the baseball heaven and the baseball gods. They’ve got to throw you signs once in a while. They’ve got to give you something to further the belief. And that helps your belief.”
