ST. PETERSBURG -- ST. PETERSBURG - Baseball fans in Florida are few in number based on their unwillingness to frequent big-league games. And the Sunshine State doesn't exactly have a long and storied tradition with the national pastime, not like some other places where it is woven into the social fabric like the stitching on a ball.

But when it comes to the World Series, Florida is becoming one of the epicenters of the baseball universe.

The Tampa Bay Rays, laughable losers for the first 10 seasons of their existence, became the third team from Florida in the past 12 years to earn a trip to the World Series, dethroning the defending champion Boston Red Sox on Sunday with a 3-1 win in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

"It's unbelievable," said Cliff Floyd, a designated hitter for the Rays and a member of the 1997 Marlins that won the World Series, in the celebration that followed Sunday's victory. "I won it with the Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays. Come on!''

Only the state of New York, with its Yankees and Mets, has had greater representation in the Series since 1997, when the Florida Marlins won the first of their two Series titles.

The 104th Series begins Wednesday night when the Rays host the Philadelphia Phillies at Tropicana Field.

Matt Garza, named the ALCS MVP, fired a pitching gem and the Rays survived a close battle, squeaking out just enough runs to edge past the Red Sox. Rays manager Joe Maddon used five pitchers - four from his bullpen - in the eighth inning to snuff out Boston's best chance for a rally.

David Price struck out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to kill the threat, and the rookie from Vanderbilt recorded the final three outs to preserve the win and give the Rays the pennant. He got Jed Lowrie on a ground ball to end the game.

It was a $44 million club beating one that cost $133 million to assemble.

It was a club that defied its usual last-place expectations to overcome one that is expected to contend for the title every season.

It was a team that darn near blew it, but didn't. The Rays, up 3-1 in the ALCS, had a 7-0 lead with seven outs to go at Fenway Park on Thursday, only to see everything come crashing down in an 8-7 loss.

And when they lost Game 6 on Saturday, it set up a winner-take-all Game 7.

Only the Rays didn't crumble. They celebrated to the accompaniment of clanging cowbells, the signature instrument of Rays' fans.

Now, after spending nine of their first 10 years watching their Rays finish at the bottom of the of AL East, they'll get to see them perform on baseball's top stage.

"People were happy when we got our [franchise record] 71st win," Garza said. ‘‘People were excited when we got our 81st win, saying you guys have cleared the .500 mark. People kept saying, you guys are going to falter in August and September. You guys are going to falter when you face Chicago [in the division series]. You guys don't match up well against Boston in Boston.

"You know, we've proved doubters wrong the entire time."

Garza, who also won Game 3, gave up a first-inning home run to Dustin Pedroia. But he didn't give up another hit until Jason Bay singled in the seventh, and he exited to a deserving ovation in the eighth after shortstop Jason Bartlett booted a routine grounder by Alex Cora to start the inning.

It was a long night at the plate for the Red Sox, who finished with just three hits. But it started out the same way for the Rays, who had trouble with Boston pitcher Jon Lester.

Lester tossed a no-hitter during the regular season and didn't give up a hit to the Rays until Akinori Iwamura singled to lead off the fourth. That turned out to play a part in Tampa's first run.

After Iwamura was wiped out at second on Carlos Pena's fielder's choice, Evan Longoria looped an opposite-field double into the right-field corner. Pedroia took the cutoff from Drew, but his relay throw was off target and Pena slid past the tag of Jason Varitek to make it 1-1.

The Rays went ahead 2-1 in the fifth after Willy Aybar doubled off Lester and scored on Rocco Baldelli's RBI single. And Tampa took a 3-1 lead in the seventh on a home run by Aybar.

Then it was left to the bullpen to seal it and a rookie to apply the bowtie.

Price, college baseball's player of the year in 2007, registered three of his four outs against former Golden Spikes Award winners in Drew, Varitek and Mark Kotsay, striking out all three.

"We didn't get as far as we wanted," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ‘‘But we got beat by a very good team."

Tampa ended up hitting 16 home runs in the seven-game series.

Boston didn't have another miracle up its sleeve Sunday. It couldn't produce another dramatic comeback like the one in Game 5 when it scored eight runs over the final three innings to keep its playoff hopes alive. Nor could it equal series comebacks like those in 2004 and '07.

The Rays, up from the ashes, refused to allow it.

"We rode the wave," Garza said, "and we're still going."

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