Former Vanderbilt Commodore David Price officially made his mark on Major League Baseball in a big way on Sunday night.

The Tampa Bay Rays rookie came on in relief during the eighth inning of Game Seven with the bases loaded and struck out Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew to keep the Rays advantage at 3-1.

The golden armed lefty then returned for the ninth inning and struck out two more Red Sox batters before forcing Boston pitch hitter Jed Lowrie to ground into a fielder's choice at second. It gave the Rays their first American League championship in club history and send the worst-to-first organization to the World Series.

Price, who got his first career save, was appearing in just his third postseason game of his young career and just the eighth Major League game overall.

The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native now has a combined professional baseball record of 13-1, a save and an impressive 1.41 combined ERA. He was the winning pitcher in the Rays Game Two victory over Boston and had gone 12-1 this season while playing his first season of minor league baseball.

The number one pick in the 2007 MLB Draft just 16 months ago, Price enjoyed a stellar career at Vanderbilt, leaving the program with several club records and was the National Colliegate Player of the year following his junior season for the Commodores.

Price had been the subject of a lot of national attention earlier this summer as he was named USA Today's Minor League Player of the Year. He validated that recognition with his 24-pitch performance on Sunday night.

Price and his upstart teammates will head to the 2008 World Series to face the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies, with the series beginning on Wednesday at Tampa's Tropicana Field.