"It's hard not to think about celebrating, especially with me being a young player," Tampa Bay's rookie star said. "But this place turned in a heartbeat."

The Red Sox added a new chapter to their book of miraculous comebacks with a stunning 8-7 victory that ended early Friday morning over the Rays that sent the best-of-seven series back to the Sunshine State.

Boston, which still trails 3-2 in the series, still needs to sweep a pair of games at The Trop in order to earn a date with the Phillies in the World Series. However, this might have been the spark the Red Sox so desperately needed.

It came in the bottom of the seventh. After Dustin Pedroia finally got Boston on the board with an RBI single that made it 7-1, David Ortiz finally showed some resemblance to the player that has made him one of the most feared hitters in the game over the last few years.

Ortiz hit a three-run shot to right field that cut it to 7-4. J.D. Drew followed with a two-run shot in the eighth and after Coco Crisp tied it with a run-scoring single, Drew won it in the ninth with a single over right fielder Gabe Gross' head that scored Kevin Youkilis.

Boston didn't have a pulse for the first six innings. Daisuke Matzuzaka was horrific, giving up five runs and three homers in just five innings. The offense was inept, managing just two hits against Tampa Bay starter Scott Kazmir.

Some fans even left to go home because it appeared to be a lost cause.

But somehow the team that had staved off elimination seven consecutive times in LCS play added one more notch to its belt. The Red Sox pulled off the second-largest comeback in postseason history, ranking only behind the Philadelphia A's Game 4 10-8 win against the Chicago Cubs in which they trailed 8-0.

"We get to live another day," Youkilis said.

"It's unbelievable," added Boston's Game 6 starter Josh Beckett.

Now the Red Sox will head south for Game 6 Saturday night and throw Beckett, who has been knocked around a couple times of late and hasn't resembled the same pitcher that earned praise as one of the postseason's clutch hurlers for his dominance on the biggest stage.

Beckett is fighting an oblique injury and Boston will need — at minimum — a solid start from their one-time ace in order to get to Game 7. He'll oppose James Shields, who was flip-flopped with Kazmir in what appeared to be a masterful move by Maddon.

Tampa Bay would have gladly signed up for taking two-of-three at Fenway before Game 3. However, after squandering away a opportunity of a lifetime, things are different as the Rays head home.

Even if they won't admit it.

"We've still got the momentum," Longoria said. "It's still very much in our favor."

"But this was a tough loss," he added.

Remember, this is a Boston team that has already pulled off two monumental comebacks in the last four years. The Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS and knocked off Cleveland after trailing, 3-1, last season.

The Rays should have been popping champagne instead of answering questions about why they were unable to close out the game with a 7-0 lead.

I'll tell you what went wrong. Manager Joe Maddon, one of the best in the game, made a mistake when he didn't use lefty J.P. Howell in the seventh to face Ortiz.

After Ortiz came through, Boston started to get that look in their eyes. The same one that they had a year ago and in 2004.

Now the franchise that hadn't won more than 70 games in any of its first 10 seasons in existence will have to try and forget what happened on Thursday night and close out a Red Sox team that basically rose from the dead on Thursday night.

"I don't think it's really hit anyone yet," Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay said after the game.

That's not true. Just ask Longoria.