BOSTON – The Rays needed a quality start.

They got one by Matt Garza in their 9-1 victory over the Red Sox Monday night in Game Three of the ALCS.

"You talk about the hitting all you want,’’ Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Garza is the main reason why we won the game. I really believe in that. The starting pitching sets the tone. Him doing what he did tonight permitted us to get into the flow of the game, get some runs, and then maintain. He did not permit them to come back.

"That, to me, is always the story line of the game. When you win games like this, it’s normally about your starting pitching, and it was tonight.’’

Yes, it was.

To Garza, it was all about sticking to his game plan, not about any shootout with Jon Lester, any kind of personal challenge.

"He’s had a great season,’’ he said of Lester. "Numbers don’t lie. He’s pitched extremely well in the postseason. I never took it as a personal challenge. My job wasn’t to pitch against Lester. My job was to face nine hitters in that lineup. That was it.’’

So what was he trying to do against them?

"Make them hit my fastball,’’ he said. ``Make them beat my best pitch. Maybe I see them again a week. You never know. So my job tonight was to get as many outs as possible.’’

Dustin Pedroia, the second man he faced, doubled off the wall in left, bringing up the ever-dangerous David Ortiz, even if he’s struggling.

"You can never doubt that guy,’’ Garza said. "He’s such a great hitter. He’s proven himself year in and year out. No matter how much he struggles, it can always be that night that he comes out of that slump, and I didn’t want to be the guy to let him come out of that slump.’’

Maddon said that sometimes Garza makes things more complicated than they have to be, and that the more simple he keeps it the more effective he tends to be.

Garza said that Rays’ pitching coach Jim Hickey is always telling him that there always are a couple of situations that determine whether you won or whether you lose, and it’s how you respond to those situations that make all the difference.

"I told myself let them keep knocking on the door,’’ Garaza said, "keep knocking on that wall, but they ain’t coming home."