Fenway Fables

The Red Sox are going to the World Series after a dramatic comeback in their series with the Indians.  All three of these final games were Red Sox blowouts and Boston put an exclamation point on things last night as they advanced to their second World Series in four years.

The Red Sox scored single runs in each of the first three innings to jump out to a 3-0 lead.  Manny Ramirez singled home Dustin Pedroia in the first, Jason Varitek scored on Julio Lugo’s double play in the second and then Mike Lowell drove home Kevin Youkilis in the third on a sac. fly.  The Indians finally answered off of Dice-K in the fourth when Ryan Garko doubled home Travis Hafner and then the Indians made it a one run game in the fifth when Grady Sizemore drove home Franklin Gutierez with a sac. fly.

That was the closest the Indians got though as the Red Sox piled on the runs.  Pedroia belted a two run homer in the seventh and then the Red Sox scored six in the eighth to make it 12-2.  The inning was capped off by a two run blast by Kevin Youkilis to finish off what’s been a tremendous series for him.

Josh Beckett walked away with the MVP with his two dominating outings but it could have just as easily gone to Youkilis or to Manny.  Game one of the World Series begins Wednesday so there’s a couple of days off to regroup.  Go Sox.

The Red Sox got a ton of offense as they forced a winner take all game seven last night with a 12-2 win.  J.D. Drew got things started with a grand slam and an RBI single to drive in the first five Red Sox runs but the hitters kept piling it on and by the end of the third inning, they had a 10-1 lead which they never looked back from.  Kevin Youkilis and Drew had a team high three hits while the two joined Dustin Pedroia with a team high two runs.

Curt Schilling got it done but he had plenty of help.  He gave up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts in seven frames.  Javier Lopez and Eric Gagne threw shutout frames to close the game out.

It’s game seven tonight and it’s for all the marbles.  It’ll be Dice-K going up against Jake Westbrook.

The Red Sox will get a chance to win two straight games at Fenway Park as they extended their ALCS with the Indians.  Once again, it was Josh Beckett who got it done and he’s still the only Red Sox pitcher to have a win in the series.  He held the Indians to an impressive one run on five hits and one walk with eleven strikeouts in eight frames.  Jon Papelbon pitched through the ninth to wrap things up.

Kevin Youkilis put the Red Sox on the board in the first inning with a solo shot but he Indians answered with a run in the bottom of the first when a run scored on Travis Hafner’s double play.  Manny (who cares) Ramirez broke the tie in the third with an RBI single and the Red Sox never looked back.  The Red Sox began breaking the game open in the seventh when Kevin Youkilis tripled home Dustin Pedroia and then Youkilis scored on a David Ortiz sac. fly.  Then the Red Sox added three more in the eighth to make it 7-1.

Of course now there’s another day off.  This new television schedule is out of hand.  It’ll be a rematch of game two with Curt Schilling going up against Fausto Carmona.

The Red Sox had a tough time getting anything going in their 4-2 loss to the Indians.  Jason Varitek belted a two run homer in the seventh inning but that was the extent of the Red Sox offense.  They outhit the Indians 7-6, they just had a tough time pushing those runners across the plate.

Dice-K didn’t have his best stuff and he was responsible for all four Indians runs.  He did strike out six in 4 2/3 innings but a two run homer to Kenny Lofton put the Indians on the board and then he was tagged for two more runs in the fifth.  The pen did a nice job and three relievers held the Indians scoreless for 3 1/3 innings but the closest they could get was 4-2.

Game four is tonight and it’ll be Paul Byrd going up against Tim Wakefield.  The National League is already wrapped up with the Rockies sweeping the Diamondbacks so they’ll have to wait it out until someone wins this series.

What an ugly inning.  Eric Gagne, Javier Lopez and Jon Lester combined to give up seven runs in the eleventh inning as the Red Sox lost game two of the ALCS.   This was after a rough outing by Curt Schilling but some solid pen work that stopped with two shutout innings by Jon Papelbon.

Manny Ramirez is a man on a mission and he homered and drove in three runs. Mike Lowell also went yard and like Manny, he drove in three.  David Ortiz singled, drew a walk and scored twice but his biggest play at the plate was a fielder’s choice that he legged out to prevent a double play.  Manny Ramirez followed it up with his two run homer that tied the game up but the extra inning debacle made it all moot.

Dice-K gets the start tomorrow.  Jake Westbrook goes for the Indians.

The Red Sox took it to Indians ace C.C. Sabatia last night as the Red Sox took game one of the ALCS.  Travis Hafner actually gave the Indians an early lead with solo homer in the first off of Josh Beckett but they didn’t manage much more then that.  Manny Ramirez singled home a run in the bottom of the first to tie the game before the Red Sox really knocked around Sabathia in the third for four runs.  The Red Sox added three more in the fifth which sent Sabathia packing and then they scored two more in the sixth off of Jensen Lewis to complete the beat down.

Manny Ramirez finished with three RBIs in three different plate appearances and he finished two for two with three walks.  Mike Lowell had just one hit, but he finished tied with Manny with a team high three RBIs.  David Ortiz was just as good with two hits, two walks and two runs.  Kevin Youkilis reached base three times with a walk and two hits and he scored three times.

Beckett lasted six innings and he gave up just one more run while striking out seven.  Eric Gagne got into trouble in the ninth and while he allowed three base runners, he also struck out the side to help himself out.

Game two is going on right now.  Indians are up 1-0 in the third inning.

All of my friends were worried about the Angels.  They had the best balance of hitting and pitching and while a lot of people weren’t talking about them too much, they kind of became the team to beat.  Well, they got beat as the Red Sox routed them yesterday to complete a 3-0 sweep.  Curt Schilling did his job on the mound and the hitters piled on the runs in a seven run eighth inning to close things out with an exclamation point.

Schilling gave up just six hits and a walk in seven impressive shutout innings to pick up the win.  Hideki Okajima threw a shutout eighth and it was until the ninth, with Eric Gagne on the mound, that the Angels finally put a run on the board in the 9-1 loss. 

The dynamic duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez both homered in the win.  Coco Crisp drove in two runs while Ortiz scored twice in a game that saw eight different hitters score and eight different hitters drive in runs.

As of now, the Red Sox opponent isn’t set because the Yankees extended their series to a fourth game with a comeback win yesterday.  Still, we know Friday is the day the series starts and this will give the guys a nice chunk of time to recover.

Manny Ramirez waited until the ninth inning to pick up his first hit of the game last night, but man was it a big one.  His three run walk off homer won it for the Red Sox and now they’re just one win away from getting back into the ALCS for the first time since 2004. 

J.D. Drew put the Red Sox on the board in the first inning with a two run single but the Angels took the lead in the first when Daisuke Matsuzaka was tagged for three runs in the second.  The Red Sox tied it in the fifth on Mike Lowell’s sac. fly and then neither team scored until Manny went yard in the ninth.

Angels pitching stayed away from David Ortiz and to a lesser extent, Manny, as the combined to draw six walks in the game.  Ortiz was a perfect one for one with four walks and he scored two runs.

Dice-K didn’t last through the fifth but the bullpen shined.  Jon Papelbon got the final four outs and he picked up the save.  While you never like to see someone go down, Vlad Guerrero left in the eighth after hurting his shoulder.

There’s another day off today (I hate this game on, game off stuff) and it’ll be Curt Schilling against Jered Weaver.  It’d be nice if the Red Sox could wrap things up.  All of the series are now 2-0 so we could go a few days without a game if everyone wraps things up.

Josh Beckett rose to the occassion tonight and he threw a gem as the Red Sox took care of the Angels in game one of the ALDS 4-0.  Beckett gave up just four hits, all of which were singles, and he didn’t walk a single batter.  He struck out eight in the and while the games took place four years apart, Beckett now has an eighteen inning scoreless streak that goes back to game six of the 2003 World Series.

David Ortiz didn’t put the Red Sox on the board but his two run blast in the third inning was the big blow.  Kevin Youkilis drove home the winning run in the very first inning with a solo homer and both he and Ortiz were the only hitters with more then one hit.

The Red Sox have a day off tomorrow, and Friday night it’ll be Dice-K taking the mound.  The Angels will throw Kelvim Escobar and he’s hurt so I like our chances in this one.  With all of the days off, the Red Sox will only have to use a three man rotation so we’ll see Beckett back in game four (if it’s neccesary).

As successful as the Red Sox have been this year, I’ve been inversely as good with blogging about them.  Make me wonder whether I’m biting off more then I can chew next year with plans for a 1918 Red Sox diary that’s similar to what I’m doing over at the 1967 AL Pennant Race site (at least I’ve kept up with that).  Anyway, as I sit here, the Red Sox are up 1-0 in the second inning.  If the Red Sox win the game, their magic number will now be 7.  And with just 12 games to go after tonight, they can go 6-6 and be guaranteed a tie even if the Yankees win out.  They’re magic number for the Wild Card is six, so they can go .500 the rest of the way and be guarateed a playoff spot.  It’s a much nice situtation then what we had to contend with last year.

David Ortiz is really starting to heat up.  He’s been en fuego in the second half and in September, he’s been even better hitting at a .396/.524/.833 clip.  Here’s a cool stat about Ortiz.  The only month he didn’t hit .300 was April and even then he just missed with a .297 average.  That’s some consistency.  He’s also had a .400 OBP in every month and a slugging percentage above .530.  I know Ortiz’s name isn’t mentioned much these days for the MVP, but he’s the best hitter on the best team in baseball and that’s worth something.

We sure could use Manny Ramirez back though.  I know his homerun numbers aren’t up there, but he’s quietly had a solid season to complement guys like David Ortiz and Mike Lowell.  I’d using him sparingly with a playoff spot in hand and make sure he’s ready for the playoffs though.  There’s no sense wearing him out when we don’t need too.

And Josh Beckett could be the first guy in close to two years to cross the 20 win threshold.  With nineteen, he has sole possession of the major league lead and he has the ERA and strikeouts to qualify for a Cy Young this year.  He’s got my vote but he has to pitch well these last two weeks (maybe two more starts) to lock it up.

After tonight’s game, the Red Sox head to Toronto for three games and then they shoot down to Tampa for three more.  Their last six games are at home, which is nice althouh I could think of a better way to end the season then with the Twins.  Oh well, there’s two weeks of regular season baseball and I’ll be enjoying it while it’s here.