BOSTON — Rocco Baldelli didn’t make it into last night’s game, but the Rhode Island native is still basking in the glow of Tuesday’s three-run blast.

His phone had roughly 40 texts and voice messages after the game, he said.

“I had a lot of people calling me to say congratulations,” Baldelli said, though he hasn’t called many of them back.

“They know that I’m not always the most prompt person to get back to them –– so they leave it as brief as possible,” Baldelli said.

Fellow Rhode Islander Dan Wheeler said that it was much the same for him after he pitched more than three innings in Game Two.

“People were joking, saying ‘What, you’re turning into a starter now?’ ” Wheeler laughed.

Rays on the run

The Rays, the American League’s fastest team, know that speed kills. Last night, the Rays used that speed to steal three bases off strong-armed Kevin Cash and slow-throwing Tim Wakefield, but they spent much of the night trying to rattle Red Sox pitching with the threat of more steals.

In the fourth inning, with Carlos Pena at the plate, B.J. Upton drew five pickoff attempts from Justin Masterson –– and on one, it appeared that Upton might be out, drawing boos from the crowd.

Upton said that it’s part of their aggressive strategy to have the runners try to help out the pitchers.

“Obviously I’m always looking to run, but at the same time, I try to give Carl something to hit. Maybe he’ll concentrate on me a little bit more, he’ll leave something out over the plate," Upton said.

It didn’t work that time, and Pena struck out, but Upton said they’ll keep looking to run.

No deal

The Red Sox won’t be moving to Sarasota, Fla., for spring training.

The city and county said yesterday they have ended negotiations with the club and are giving up the effort to get the team to move its spring home from Fort Myers, Fla.

The city and Sarasota County had been negotiating with the Red Sox for months, after the Cincinnati Reds decided to move its spring operations to Goodyear, Ariz.

In a joint statement, the city and county said they were unable to reach an agreement with the Red Sox and the current economic climate limited the amount of money they had to spend on a new complex for the team.

The Red Sox want to move to better facilities than they have now in Fort Myers, where they have trained since 1993.

A real throwback

Dustin Pedroia has a big fan in Rays manager Joe Maddon. Maddon refers to the Red Sox’ MVP candidate as a “throwback player” whose size does not hint at his plentiful skills.

“I guess one time I saw that show on HBO (When it Was A Game) when they did bits and pieces of old films and there was the Yankees, and I can’t remember, it was Joe McCarthy talking about one of his players and he called him over to be interviewed and asked him what he was hitting. He said, ‘I don’t know.’ What’s our record? ‘I don’t know.’

“The guy walked away, and he said, ‘That’s what I love about him, he just comes here to beat you.’

“I can just sense from [Pedroia’s] attitude that he’s just about beating you. So that’s why I think he plays in every generation, because he’s got all the right perspective.”

An omen of sorts?

Last night’s nine-run margin of defeat is the largest for the Red Sox in a home playoff game since their 19-8 loss to the Yankees in Game Three of the 2004 ALCS. It was after that game that the Sox began their historic comeback, becoming the first team ever to rally from an 0-3 deficit to win the series.

dbarbari@projo.com / kmcnamar@projo.com