I apologize for the delay on the posts for the World Series games, but my computer died two pitches before Tek’s RBI double in Game 1 while I was watching the game on MLB TV. I spent the rest of the series without a computer, which meant no means of posting or watching the games at home.
The Boston Red Sox are the World Champions for the second time in four years and unlike 2004, this one comes with significantly less baggage. 2004 was all about curses, comebacks and mystical, “if you build it” mumbo-jumbo. This series was all about baseball, prospects coming of age, and the two best baseball teams in their respective leagues battling it out on the biggest stage in baseball.
This time last year, Jon Lester was undergoing chemotherapy, and now here he is becoming only the third pitcher in MLB history to win the deciding game of a World Series in his first career postseason start. It wasn’t like this was a blowout either with the Sox lead never getting above 2 for more than half an inning. Lester pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings of 3 hit ball, struck out 3 and walked 3 in the biggest game of his career.
As for the offense, Mike Lowell once again rose to the occasion scoring a run in the 5th and homering in the 7th. His performance in game 4 helped to solidify his candidacy for World Series MVP in series full of legitimate candidates. He hit .400 in the Series with four RBIs, three walks and a team-high six runs. Ellsbury, who started the year in Double-A Portland started things off on the right foot with a double on the second pitch of the game. Some good baserunning would later lead him home on a ground ball by Ortiz and the Sox jumped out early once again. The Sox even got some help off the bench in the form of a PH homer by Bobby Kielty in the 8th. It would prove to be the game winner and series clincher all in one neat and tidy package.
Red Sox rookies are leading the way to Boston’s second World Series in four years. Jacoby Ellsbury had four hits and two RBIs while Dustin Pedroia went 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs of his own. Even Daisuke helped himself out by going 1 for 3 and driving in Varitek and Lowell to collect 2 RBIs in the 3rd. On the other side of the ball, Matsuzaka pitched well enough to earn the win. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and fanned 5 in 5.1 innings. The other rookie pitcher, Okajima, gave up a 3 run shot to Holliday in the 7th, but only one of the runs was earned and he fanned two in an inning of work.
Despite the lopsided final score, the game was tight right up to the 8th when Ellsbury and Pedroia combined to put it out of reach with back to back doubles that drove in 3.
Game 3 MVP: Jacoby Ellsbury
Schilling comes up big on the biggest stage, but Mike Lowell and the bullpen tandem of Okajima and Papelbon, dubbed “Pap-ajima” by Schilling on his blog 38Pitches.com, stole the show. Schilling held the Rockies to a single run and four hits in 5.1 innings of work when he eventually handed over the reins to Pap-ajima who completely shutdown the Rockies. Together they allowed 1 hit, no runs, and fanned 6 in 3.2 innings; they were lights out.
Despite the stellar pitching, the Rockies did manage to take and hold the lead for the first time in the series. That is until Mike Lowell scored on a sac fly by Varitek in the fourth to tie it. He would later hit what would be the game winning RBI in the fifth with a double that would drive in Ortiz. After that, the bats went quiet and it was up to Okajima and Papelbon to shut the door, and shut the door they did.
• Bullpen comes up big: The Red Sox got 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief from Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. Okajima entered with two on in the sixth and Boston up 2-1. He retired Garrett Atkins on a grounder and struck out Brad Hawpe to squash the threat and fanned three straight before he was pulled for Papelbon. Papelbon finished the rest of the game to secure Schilling’s win.
Game 2 MVP: Mike Lowell
Josh Beckett continues to build a case for his being the greatest postseason pitcher to ever play the game. He fanned the first four batters he faced and finished the evening with a total of 9 K’s. He lowered his postseason ERA to 1.73; a mark that puts him 3rd all-time behind Mariano Rivera (0.77) and Chris Mathewson (1.15) among pitchers with 70+ innings of postseason work. He held the rusty Rockies to 1 run on 6 hits over 7 strong innings.
The Sox offense was not about to be outdone either. Dustin Pedroia started things off with a lead-off home run in the first and Manny and Drew would each plate a run in that inning as well. Those three in the first would be all the Sox would need, but they left nothing to chance. The lead would shrink to two runs in the second on an RBI double by Tulowitzki, but Youk would cancel it out in the bottom frame off a double by Papi. The third was quiet, but the Sox would add another two in the 4th with RBIs from Youk and Tek. By the time the 5th was over the Sox would score 7 more with contributions coming from nearly every man in the lineup.
The Rockies certainly didn’t look like a team that reeled off 21 of 22 to make it to the World Series and I’m afraid the only logical explanation for that is … National League Baseball. The 8 day lay-off couldn’t have helped them stay sharp, but they didn’t just look a little rusty, they looked terrible.
Game 1 MVP: Josh Beckett
Here it is, game 7 of the American League Championship Series and I’m stuck watching the game on ESPN’s Gamecast. Generally, I’m a big fan of Gamecast and next to watching the game on television or listening to it on the radio, its really the next best thing. (No, I’m not going to pay to stream it over the Internet from MLB.) Anyway, while I’m at the computer working on a few things, I figured why not run a live blog while I’m at it. Can you think of a better use of my time right now? No, I didn’t think so.
Daisuke retired them so quickly, I didn’t even realize the inning was over. I turned my head and “BOOM” its the bottom of the 1st. How long can he keep that up? Yeah, its rhetorical.
Here we go with the leadoff single, nicely done Pedroia. And another single, this time from Youk and Pedroia moves to second. Papi goes down swinging. RBI single by Manny and the score is now 1 - 0 Sox. Lowell singles to left and the bases are juiced for J.D. “Mr. Grand Slam” Drew. Make that “Inning Ending Double Play” Drew. We’ve seen a whole hell of lot more of that Drew than the former.
Daisuke gets them 1, 2, 3 in the top of the second all on infield outs.
Nice double to left by Varitek. Looks like they’re going to get to Westbrook early tonight. That’s quite alright with me. Ellsbury, my new favorite player, singles and moves Tek to third. Lugo grounds in to a DP, but Tek scores and the game is now 2-0 Sox. Pedroia flies to left and the inning is over.
Lofton flies out to right. Guiterrez pops out to second. And Blake has a single to center and promptly advances to second on a WP by Daisuke. Oh god, don’t blow up now. Sizemore goes down swinging and the inning is over.
Youk starts off the third right with a double and the Sox have gotten the leadoff man aboard in three straight innings. Ortiz grounds out, but Youk advances to third. They walk Manny. I can’t really blame them, but Lowell is no slouch either. Sac fly to right and the Sox are up 3 - 0. J.D. flies out and the inning is over.
I got behind on this inning and got brought back just in time to see “R Garko doubled to deep center, T Hafner scored.” Hafner may have been cold for the series, but he sure has made his presence felt tonight.
Varitek is 2 for 2, I certainly hope he keeps this up. Ellsbury on third and Lugo on 1st certainly makes for some serious speed on the basepaths. What an unusual thing to say about Sox base runners. Lot of good all that speed did.
Man, I wish I could have seen Lofton getting gunned down at second. It must have been a good play to catch him. Back to back singles and Sizemore coming to the plate. Hard to imagine the tribe not getting at least one here. Doh! Thankfully it was a sac fly and Cabrera struck out. That was looking scary.
Youk, Ortiz, and Ramirez all go down in order and without too much of a fight. This is not the same Westbrook that started this game.
I don’t have expanded stats available so I don’t know what Dice-K’s pitch count was, but I’m surprised, but happy to see Francona pull Daisuke early. That last inning didn’t look real good from here and in the absence of seeing it with my own eyes, I’ve got to think the visual matched. Okajima seemed to make quick work of Hafner, Martinez, and Garko. We’ll see if he’s back in the 7th.
OK, Westbrook is back and I’m not real happy about it. He made quick work of Lowell, Drew, and Tek and they’ve got to add some insurance quick before the Indians can get to Perez and Betancourt.
Here comes Okie Dokie for another inning. It really is annoying watching the little animation that depicts a ball put in play without knowing what is going on. Was it routine, did Drew make a great play? The consolation is that Peralta is out. Case in point, how bad was Lugo’s error just now? Dammit, I’m a wreck. Damn that Gutierrez. Thank you Blake for the inning ending double play.
Here comes Betancourt. As dominant as Westbrook was looking, I’m not sure I would have yanked him. Ellsbury is one fast dude, I wonder if it was a factor on the error by Blake. Lugo sacrificed to move Ellsbury to third. I’ll like this move if Pedroia can lift one to the outfield or hit safely. OH THAT’LL WORK! Not known for his power, the little guy just helped my blood pressure with that one. Sox up by three on the two run shot over the monster. Youk grounded to short and here comes Papi. And there goes Papi.
It would appear that this series is gonna go small-ball. Sizemore just bunted for a single. Of course when you’re as fast as Sizemore, you can do that kind of thing. Aw crap, Cabrera just singled to center and Sizemore is in scoring position at second. And here comes Papelbon. Hafner goes down swinging and that brings up Martinez. Martinez grounds in to a fielder’s choice and now there are runners at the corners with Cabrera getting forced at second. Garko flies out to center and the inning is over. Damn Gamecast animation showed that one going WAAAAY back and I was waiting for the the scoreboard to read 5 to 5.
Betancourt is back for the 8th and manages to take care of Manny pretty quickly. Lowell doubles to deep center and that brings up Drew. That damn animation got my hopes up this time. God, I wish I had a TV handy right now. Then again, maybe its better I don’t. Gamecast is cycling all kinds of stats about J.D. right about now and none of them are very good. HA! A single to center and Lowell comes around to score. 6 to 2 Sox! I can’t see what is really going on, but this Tek at bat is long. Ground rule double to left and Drew goes to third. It was worth the wait. They’re walking Ellsbury to get to Lugo?! Welcome to the majors Ellsbury, you really have made it. Bases are loaded for Lugo with one out. Will Francona pinch hit for him? Nope. I’d much rather Lugo go down swinging than hit in to a double play. That brings up Pedroia who is hitting 2 for 4 with a dinger. Holy CRAP! A bases clearing double for Pedroia and the score just broke open 9 to 2 Sox. Pitching change and here comes Lewis. Well Indian fans, the wheels are officially off the bus. Youk just homered to left and the score is now 11 - 2. Make me wonder if Papelbon will be back in the 9th. Seems like a job for the Eric “The Janitor” Gagne now. Ortiz goes down swinging. It hasn’t been a good game for him, and thankfully we didn’t need him.
Defensive replacement time. Crisp to center and Ellsbury to left to replace Manny. Sounds good to me. Papelbon is back out and I can only assume to give him some work before the WS starts. Peralta singles to left. Lofton lined out to left. Gutierrez lined out to center. C’mon Blake just line out to right and we can spread it around the outfield and end this nice and quick. Nope, he had to be different and fly out to center. That’s the ball game folks and the Sox are going back to the World Series. I am going to bed, but when the Series starts I will not be going without a TV for any of the games. Sox and Rockies here we come.