Despite his best try, Boston's bid for one more amazing comeback fell short as the Red Sox lost 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 7 of the AL championship series Sunday night.

"It's tough," said Lester, who gave up three runs over seven innings. "A lot of the young guys, we don't know this feeling. We know winning. I think that will be something we'll be thinking about this offseason. We'll come back with a new attitude at spring training and go get 'em again."

But this year, no back-to-back titles. No championship parade. The defending champs are finally headed home for the winter.

"We didn't get as far as we wanted. We got beat by a very good team," manager Terry Francona said. "I know our guys will be down for a little while, but they have no reason to hang their head."

Boston started the season with a trip to Japan and withstood injuries to David Ortiz, J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell. Curt Schilling was sidelined all year because of shoulder surgery. Manny Ramirez was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline.

And still, another World Series run appeared possible.

Boston was on the brink of elimination in Game 5 of the ALCS. Trailing 7-0 with two outs in the seventh inning, the Red Sox somehow rallied to win 8-7. Then they won Game 6 at Tampa Bay, too.

But that was it.

Trying to rally from a 3-1 deficit in the ALCS for the second consecutive year, the Red Sox were shut down by Matt Garza, David Price and the upstart Rays in Game 7.

A promising start, in which Dustin Pedroia homered in the first inning and Lester was perfect through three, couldn't stop the young Rays from a comeback of their own.

Evan Longoria's RBI double pulled Tampa Bay even at 1 in the fourth. One inning later, basketball Hall of Famer Dick Vitale, a Rays fan since the expansion season of 1998, was out of his seat near the third-base dugout and cheering wildly when Rocco Baldelli's run-scoring single made it 2-1.

The momentum had shifted, and Boston's season was in jeopardy.

"The injuries that we overcame, the extra month we played last year, and then start in Japan - the grind we just went through - I said to myself: 'I'm proud of what we went through this year and how we overcame things,"' Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon said. "We put ourselves in a situation to win a Game 7."

The Red Sox were the eighth team to force a Game 7 in a league championship series after trailing 3-1. Six of the previous seven - including Boston in 1986, 2004 and 2007 - won Game 7 and advanced to the World Series.

In 2004, Boston became the first major league team to recover from a 3-0 postseason deficit, beating the New York Yankees for the AL pennant. The Red Sox went on to sweep St. Louis in the World Series for their first championship in 86 years.

Last season, Boston overcame a 3-1 ALCS deficit and stunned Cleveland with three straight wins before sweeping Colorado in the World Series.

Going into Sunday night, the Red Sox were 9-0 in ALCS elimination games under Francona. It seemed they had an escape for every jam.

Not this time.

"Of course, we're disappointed tonight," Francona said.

Offensive woes did in the Red Sox, who mustered just one hit through six innings off Garza.

Jason Varitek, who hit a tiebreaking homer in Boston's 4-2 Game 6 win on Saturday, came up in the seventh with two on and two outs. This time, the Red Sox captain failed, striking out against Garza to end the threat.

Down 3-1 in the eighth, Boston tried to rally again, putting two on with no outs. But the embattled Rays bullpen stopped Boston.

Dan Wheeler retired Pedroia on fly ball and J.P. Howell induced a grounder from Ortiz. The intensity reached another level when Kevin Youkilis drew a walk from Chad Bradford that loaded the bases, but Price, who will likely be in the rotation next season, struck out Drew.

Price walked Jason Bay to start the ninth. The hard-throwing lefty recovered and struck out Mark Kotsay and Varitek. A wild celebration ensued after pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie grounded out to end it.

Boston's postseason run had come to an end. At last.

"We never gave up," Lester said. "We still believed down 3-1. We kept fighting. We got to seven and it didn't go our way."