Entries Tagged 'Red Sox Games' ↓

It’s over, thanks to Jonathan Papelbon and co.

It’s over, thanks to Dr. Double Mike Lowell’s home run checkup. And Bobby Kielty’s off-the-bench pick me up. And Jason Varitek’s game-calling.

It’s over, thanks to an overwhelming performance from rookie lefty Jon Lester, the man who was on chemotherapy a year ago, yet now got through nearly six innings of shutout ball to thwart the Rockies.

It’s over thanks to unbelievable fan support, even in the Rocky Mountains.

It’s over, despite multiple attempts by the Yankees to steal thunder with a managerial and A-Rod announcement.

It’s over after a complete whitewash in Colorado, which suddenly went from unstoppable force to National League also-rans.

It’s over, thanks to Terry Francona, who is the first manager in history to win his first eight World Series games.

It’s over, thank God, with all the drama, or lack thereof in half of the World Series.

It’s over, and God bless Boston … and the Red Sox.

– Cameron Smith

First off, here are the specifics: David Ortiz is going to start at first base, leaving Kevin Youkilis and his OBP near .700 on the bench. Jon Lester returns to start Game 4, his first game since the final throws of the regular season. And Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury will try to follow up on one of the most dominant performances by rookies batting 1-2 in the order since, well, just about ever.

The Red Sox are a win away from a World Series title. Jon Lester could close out it tonight, and there’s little doubt he knows what’s at stake.

Oh yeah, the Sox can win the World Series with a victory, too. Probably worth mentioning.

With last night’s impressive outing from Daisuke Matsuzaka, hit-and-miss evening from the bullpen and savior act by the Red Sox bats, Boston moved within a win of its second title in four years. But despite all the good things that happened, the win also exposed the Red Sox for problems today. The bullpen is taxed, proven by Hideki Okajima suddenly becoming hittable, at least by Matt Holliday. And in a strong pride factor for Colorado - this is a team that DOES NOT want to get swept - and the Rockies should be favorites tonight.

Of course, that doesn’t take Lester into account, or Colorado starter Aaron Cook, for that matter. Both are former cancer victims, recovered to continue impressive careers. Lester has youth and a left-handed approach that differs from all the other starters the Rockies have seen from the Sox. Cook, meanwhile, has moxie but has not pitched in well more than a month. Try and get your head around a prediction from that matchup. Who knows what’s going to happen?

Then again, who ever knows what’s going to happen? Who saw that performance from Ellsbury and Pedroia coming? Good, sure. That good? Come on.

It was almost as hard to see a 3-0 lead coming too, which should give Sox fans a good feeling entering tonight. As always, that hardly means a win tonight and potential sweep is going to happen. But it has to be a good feeling.

– Cameron Smith

If tonight’s matchup scares you a little bit, it probably should. The Rockies may be reeling, down 2-0 in the best-of-seven World Series, but they’re coming home for Game 3, and they’re coming home to a crowd with an appetite for intimidation and winning streaks, not necessarily in that order.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will get a chance to hold a bat a couple of times, but it’s what he does to Colorado players wielding them that will chart the latest chapter in his postseason biography tonight.

Look, it’s no secret that Denver isn’t exactly St. Louis or Philadelphia, let alone a true baseball haven like Boston or New York. These aren’t your father’s Rockies because your father didn’t have Rockies. Colorado fans aren’t long suffering because they haven’t been around long. Only by Marlin and Diamondback circumstances can they be considered unlucky, and to that extent they deserve some credit. The Rockies may not sell out every game, but they do have loyal fans. The Red Sox are likely to discover that tonight.

Then again, neither the Rockies or their fans have discovered Daisuke Matsuzaka, either. The Japanese ace turned American waffler enters the World Series after batting an even .500 in the ALCS. He turned in a lackluster outing in Game 3 which put a severe damper on Boston’s expectations and, eventually, required their second near-miraculous comeback in four years. Yet he atoned for that bad, or at the very least, poorly timed, outing with a strong Game 7, 2 runs across five innings and a win in the team’s biggest game of the season. As a performance, under those circumstances, Dice-K’s Game 7 was worth a lot, and it went a long way toward quieting the critics that have attacked Theo Epstein and the Boston front office for over bidding on the Japanese star with five - or arguably six - pitches.

Still, despite his last game out, this is Dice-K’s chance to truly put a stamp on his season. A Win tonight would put the Rockies in a chokehold, their backs firmly against the wall. A bad Matsuzaka outing aloss, meanwhile, would give new life to a team that hardly needs room to breathe to resurrect a season, as they’ve proved time and time again. Ask the Dodgers. Or Diamondbacks. Or Padres. Actually, don’t ask the Padres, that might push them over the edge. We don’t need any suicides on our heads here.

While the attention may focus squarely on David Ortiz’s latest maiden voyage at first base, cameras cocked waiting for the lightest misstep, the real gleam will come from Matsuzaka or be extinguished by him. After all, as pitching goes, so goes the series. So far, Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling have gone very well. If Matsuzaka goes well tonight, all will remain well back in the Fens, a place as cold and damp as Coors Field, yet much cheerier, at least at the moment.

– Cameron Smith, AP Photo

That’s a huge win, no matter when it comes.

Don’t get us wrong, it doesn’t hurt that Curt Schilling’s dream-weaving through 6+ innings came in the World Series, and that it was enough to get Boston a very significant 2-0 advantage heading to the Rocky Mountains. That makes it even bigger.

But at the end of the line, the game would have been a big one if it happened in late June or early July, too. Hell, it would have been a great win in April. Between Schilling’s deft work around a rocky first inning - he hit leadoff man Wily Taveras and looked as if he might give up a lot more than an RBI-groundout to Todd Helton - and the bullpen fire fighters like Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, who combined for one of the most dominant relief appearances in nearly a decade of World Series’, Thursday’s win set a strong tone for the Sox.

Whether that tone will continue is another question, with weather, parameters, and all kinds of motivational factors in the balance - think Matt Holliday wants his eighth inning on the basepaths back? - but they have something they didn’t have in the ALCS: control.

– Cameron Smith

You know the scene from Field of Dreams where Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) finally brings Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) to his corn field, and and Mann turns to him and says: So, this is what heaven is like? The Sox are four wins away from feeling that euphoria. Again. For the second time in four years.

Your Game 1 starters ladies and gentlemen. Let the soul patch attest to which one thinks he’s a bad dude.

Granted, those four wins aren’t going to be easy. But is there a better way to start at them than pitching ace Josh Beckett on full rest? We can’t think of one. Sure, Rockies first baseman/sentimental “he deserves to finally be here” candidate Todd Helton hits .333 against Beckett across his career. Then again, Helton has never tried to hit him in October, and as Sox fans are rapidly learning - and Florida fans (are there really any Florida fans? We’re not sure) already know, hitting Beckett in October can be a lot harder than hitting him in June.

While most of the attention has fallen on Beckett, the absence of longtime playoff presence Tim Wakefield and Colorado’s extended layoff, there’s legitimate reason to ponder the drastic affect a Game 1 loss could have on Boston’s World Series chances. Make no mistake, like all series, Game 1 is the most important contest in terms of setting a tone for a longer stretch. Then, when you consider Beckett’s status in comparison to all of the other starters in the series, for both teams for that matter, it amplifies the game that much more.

Naturally, a loss isn’t necessarily the end of the world, so long as Curt Schilling comes out and takes care of business in Game 2. But as the ALCS showed, that’s not as certain as it was in 2004 and before, so a big game and win from Beckett would go a long ways toward securing some modicum of security heading back to the mountains, where all sorts of craziness could set in.

What does that mean? Well, for starters, it means that all Sox fans need to be hoping to see Beckett cruising along early tonight, then see Hideki Okajima and, later, Jonathan Papelbon warming in the pen. It also means that the Boston lineup has to be patient with Jeff Francis, working him for long counts and eventually making contact.

Finally, it means that, regardless of weather, the Boston defense has to be more reliable than it was in the Cleveland series, where both Julio Lugo and Kevin Youkilis - in a complete aberration from tradition - had costly errors. After all, Colorado has the best defense in baseball … ever (at least statistically).

How it’ll all turn out, who knows. But it sure feels exciting to start off with, doesn’t it?

– Cameron Smith

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Paps isn’t just a world class closer, he’s a world class partier, too.

The Red Sox exploded for the ALCS crown. They didn’t just win, they took a close game and blew it up to the tune of a nine-run victory. And five of those runs came from Boston’s newest favorite son, Mighty Mite Dustin Pedroia.

Manny knocked in the first run, but that was it from the big boys, Ramirez and Big Papi. The rest came from Pedroia, sudden star Kevin Youkilis. And naturally, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon was there to close the door.

Of course all of this is to overlook the job done by Daisuke Matsuzaka. He wasn’t great, but was pretty close through the first three innings. The fourth and fifth were shaky, a run given up in each, but the Dice-Man flexed everything he had in the first three, striking batters out with high heat, darting cutters and a screwball that almost looked gyro-ish.

Now, as Sox players prepare to recover from a night when they all deserved their own Rachel Boston, they have a moment to breathe before what is almost sure to be a very chilly World Series. And guess who’s starting Game 1 Wednesday?

Yes, there is a gorgeous actress named Boston. We didn’t make it up. Check her imdb page here.

That’s right, Mr. F-bomb himself: Josh Beckett. Time to dial up the drama. Again. But let’s finish the celebrating first shall we?

Glasses up everyone, you know Papelbon’s was.

– Cameron Smith

Well folks, this is it. Like it or not, an entire baseball season comes down to one night for the two teams that shared the best regular season record.

This window shot was mighty lucky last night. Let’s see if it does the trick again for Game 7, eh?

For two historic baseball cities, tonight will be the difference between a trip to the World Series and an offseason made a little longer, and much tougher. While the Red Sox enter the game on a two-win surge, the Indians are reeling. Their twin aces - C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona - were both knocked around. Their No. 4 pitcher - Paul Byrd - is suddenly under investigation for HGH. Their closer - Joe Borowski - gave up hits and runs in last night’s blowout.

What does Cleveland have going for it? Jake Westbrook. The team’s No. 3 starter tossed a gem in their key Game 3 win, forcing Boston batters to drive liners into the ground and using a fantastic sinker ball to do exactly what Daisuke Matsuzaka couldn’t for the Sox: Get through six innings.

Really, that’s the $103 million question in tonight’s Game 7: Will Dice-K show up and be the pitcher Boston and Red Sox fans are ready to believe he is? Matsuzaka built up a resume worth $100 million by weaving magic throughout Japanese postseasons at all levels. He was brought to Boston to shore up a pitching staff and evolve into a true ace.

So far, he hasn’t quite done it. Matusuzaka’s Game 3 was good enough to possibly earn a win, but as with so many of his season starts, he found himself in trouble early, and then again later. By the second time Cleveland started racking up baserunners, Terry Francona couldn’t sit by anymore, pulling the Japanese ace for Manny Delcamen.

After the game Matsuzaka was inconsolable in the locker room. Days later he was telling the Japanese press that he wanted revenge. He gets that chance tonight, and with a little help from some Boston batters, it could make for the season’s best night yet. Or it could be the worst.

That’s up to Dice-K.

– Cameron Smith, Globe photo

How else can you describe last night’s Game 6 throttling of the Indians? A 40 year-old starter who showed up to spring training bigger than a blimp came through with a gutsy, seven-inning performance. The most maligned man in Boston hit a first inning grand slam and tacked on another RBI in his second trip up. Even Eric Gagne pitched a perfect inning.

J.D. Drew got a full swallow of redemption in the first inning last night.

Indeed, for all involved - especially Curt Schilling, J.D. Drew and Gagne - Game 6 was a true redemption song. And by singing that tune, the team added a sudden swing to the 2007 ALCS, forcing it into a do-or-die Game 7.

With plenty of doubts swirling around the starters for both teams, it was the old man pitching next to the sea who proved sturdy in the pressure-packed postseason game. Where Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona stumbled, forcing his manager Eric Wedge to lift him in the third inning, Schilling strode confidently on, getting out of a nasty third-inning jam after allowing the first two batters to reach, then watching his teammates erupt for six more runs that truly put the game away.

It was exactly the kind of performance that Sox fans used to expect of Schilling, a playoff prima dona of the highest degree, but a showman who’s always known how to turn his tricks at just the right time. Now, after a Game 2 stumble, it appears he may have hedged his bet right again, coming through at home when Boston needed it. With a similar crap shoot of Game 7 starters - Red Sox and Rising Son ace Daisuke Matsuzaka is determined but has been shaky while Cleveland’s Jake Westbrook has been feast or famine - momentum is firmly on Boston’s side. They have a bullpen that is fully rested and loaded for bear. They have a lineup which has seen its bottom half awaken, to the tune of 12 runs from the likes of Drew, Lugo, Dustin Pedroia and the recently promoted Jacoby Ellsbury. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz combined for only one hit Saturday night, which just seems to indicate they could explode Sunday.

And, just to add another ace in the hole, they have Josh Beckett mentally ready to pitch in relief on only two days rest if needed.

All of those things could become major factors in Game 7, and any factor could swing the entire series. The pressure is finally even, and Boston doesn’t seem to be feeling it. Yet.

If that trend holds on for one more day, there may be a whole handful more days in the season, and they’re the best ones to have.

– Cameron Smith, AP Photo

This is it. Again. And if things go well, we might even get to write that one more time this week.

The fans and the faith are there. The question is whether the Curt Schilling of old will make an appearance, too.

Still, it’s clear that Terry Francona thinks this thing is going in the right direction. By getting by Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia with the over-powering Josh Beckett, the Sox got back home. Now the manager is officially throwing his typical “pro-player” manager approach out the window. Coco Crisp is sitting the bench with his horrendous ALCS on base percentage. Jacoby Ellsbury is playing center and batting eighth to try and provide some juice.

Still, the man at the center of it all, again, is Curt Schilling. Traditionally, that’s exactly where he’s wanted to be. Schilling loves the attention. He loves the pressure. He loves the chance to perform on the biggest stage.

So why do so many Sox fans have serious indigestion? Clearly, because Curt hasn’t been himself through much of this year. Gems like his near no-hitter and ALDS Game 3 aside, there have been plenty of mediocre starts thrown in there. Somehow, he has to dial up past brilliance if the Sox have a chance to keep going.

And if they do keep going, suddenly things could change drastically. Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose first American postseason has clearly been the worst of his career so far, has already gone on record saying he wants a shot at revenge. With his past results and his stuff - dialed up with extra determination - we’d be hard-pressed to bet against him if things got to a Game 7. With him pitching on extra rest, of course.

But that’s a big “if”. And while a lot of it may be up to Big Papi and Manny Being Himself against Fausto Carmona, most of it will probably revolve around Senor Schilling.

That’s your cue Curt. Here goes nothing. And everything, of course.

– Cameron Smith, Globe photo

That’s what Cleveland gets for trotting out one of Josh Beckett’s former girlfriends, just one among many in a group that could grow after yet another impressive postseason win last night.

Danielle Peck is a looker, but her former boyfriend was the one breaking hearts last night.

What happened on the banks of Lake Erie last night was more than just survival. It was a case of salvation for the Red Sox, a second life heading back home, needing two straight wins at Fenway to advance. While that may seem a mightly troubling task ahead, it’s significantly more palatable than what faced the team heading into the evening, when Boston needed a Beckett win just to make sure they’d see the inner confines of Fenway Park this year.

And the credit for that goes to, not surprisingly, Beckett himself.

Another eight innings with just one more run. That with the brimstone battle between himself and 86 year-old Kenny Lofton, who just fired Joshie up even more, if anything. From there out it was a perfect storm. David Ortiz hit like he has so many times in clutch playoff situations. Manny remained peeved that his first inning single, already being called the longest one-bagger in baseball history, wasn’t a homer and Dustin Pedroia’s shots finally started finding open grass. By the time it all settled down, Jonathan Papelbon was pitching the ninth of a very comfortable, 7-1 win.

Now, as Josh can go back and enjoy a little more of Ms. Peck’s time, the Sox shift their attention to Curt Schilling, needing the one-time postseason star to be one again. Will he come through? Hard to tell. His outing in Game 2 was anything but sterling, yet his reputation precedes himself.

That matter is for another day. Last night was all about Beckett, who got the best of Cleveland and the two-hearted Danielle Peck with another outing for the books.

Go ahead and breathe Sox fans. At least for a day.

– Cameron Smith