Game 7: Boston Begins Tea Party
In between games one and seven, the American League Championship Series was filled with twists and turns, peaks and valley’s, high hopes, and broken dreams, but ended the way it began: at Fenway Park, with Boston pounding the Tribe pitching.
The Indians, who held so much promise in dashing Boston dreams, holding a 3-games- to-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, couldn't drive the final stake through the Sox’s hearts, and beginning with Josh Beckett’ s series saving performance in Game 5, their dreams vanished in the thin night air.
Boston uncorked the bubbly shortly after dispensing with the Tribe in a 11-2 scorching in Game 7; and for the second time in 4 years, the Sox stormed back after being on the brink of elimination in a championship series.
The final box score had all the appearances of Game 7 being a laugher, when actually it was white knuckler through 6 suspenseful innings, and came close to being knotted at 3 in the 7th, had Joel Skinner, the Tribe 3rd base coach, not inexplicably held up the stop sign on Kenny Lofton after Franklin Gutierrez ricocheted a drive down the third base line.
If the the speedy left-fielder had been waived around, the game could very well have gone in another direction.
Instead, Boston escaped with the lead still intact, after Casey Blake followed with an inning ending double play, and with it, the Tribe’s hopes of advancing to their first World Series since 1997 faded away
The Red Sox outscored the Indians 30-5 in the last 3 games, a startling statistic, and a telling sign the Tribe pitching never lived up to expectations. C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, the two staff aces, and Rafael Perez out of the bullpen, ran out of gas when their team need them most.
The key for Boston was their $103 million investment; Daisuke Matsuzaka made it through 5 innings for the first time in the post-season, recording his first playoff win.
Though he was nicked for 2 runs, his confidence appeared restored, knowing Sox manager Terry Francona stuck with him in the 5th, when the Tribe threatened, and had runners on the corners, with less than two out, but managed to escape the inning, giving up only a run and the Sox still clinging to a 3-2 lead.
Hideki Okajima pitched 2 shutout innings, to set the table for thunderball Jonathan Papelbon to record his first 6 out save of his career, one better than his 5 out save on April 8th against the Texas Rangers, to put Boston in their 11th World Series.
It was another quiet night for the heart of the Boston lineup, leadoff hitter, Dustin Pedroia homering to left in the 7th with a runner on, and then clearing the bases with a double in the 8th, was all the thunder the Sox needed to secure a pennant on another magical night at Fenway.
Boston will host the World Series beginning Wednesday night, where they’ll meet the overachieving Colorado Rockies, and if the regular season is any guide, Josh Beckett and his troops will have their hands full. The Boston ace was banged around for 6 runs during their interleauge series with the Rockies, when Colorado took 2 out 3 from the Sox at Fenway on June 12 through the 14th
One look at how the Rockies modest payroll compares with high rolling Red Sox, and it’s clear we’re in for another David vs. Goliath series, with the Rockies hoping to come away crowned the ``Miracle Mets’’ of the 21st century
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
The Indians, who held so much promise in dashing Boston dreams, holding a 3-games- to-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, couldn't drive the final stake through the Sox’s hearts, and beginning with Josh Beckett’ s series saving performance in Game 5, their dreams vanished in the thin night air.
Boston uncorked the bubbly shortly after dispensing with the Tribe in a 11-2 scorching in Game 7; and for the second time in 4 years, the Sox stormed back after being on the brink of elimination in a championship series.
The final box score had all the appearances of Game 7 being a laugher, when actually it was white knuckler through 6 suspenseful innings, and came close to being knotted at 3 in the 7th, had Joel Skinner, the Tribe 3rd base coach, not inexplicably held up the stop sign on Kenny Lofton after Franklin Gutierrez ricocheted a drive down the third base line.
If the the speedy left-fielder had been waived around, the game could very well have gone in another direction.
Instead, Boston escaped with the lead still intact, after Casey Blake followed with an inning ending double play, and with it, the Tribe’s hopes of advancing to their first World Series since 1997 faded away
The Red Sox outscored the Indians 30-5 in the last 3 games, a startling statistic, and a telling sign the Tribe pitching never lived up to expectations. C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, the two staff aces, and Rafael Perez out of the bullpen, ran out of gas when their team need them most.
The key for Boston was their $103 million investment; Daisuke Matsuzaka made it through 5 innings for the first time in the post-season, recording his first playoff win.
Though he was nicked for 2 runs, his confidence appeared restored, knowing Sox manager Terry Francona stuck with him in the 5th, when the Tribe threatened, and had runners on the corners, with less than two out, but managed to escape the inning, giving up only a run and the Sox still clinging to a 3-2 lead.
Hideki Okajima pitched 2 shutout innings, to set the table for thunderball Jonathan Papelbon to record his first 6 out save of his career, one better than his 5 out save on April 8th against the Texas Rangers, to put Boston in their 11th World Series.
It was another quiet night for the heart of the Boston lineup, leadoff hitter, Dustin Pedroia homering to left in the 7th with a runner on, and then clearing the bases with a double in the 8th, was all the thunder the Sox needed to secure a pennant on another magical night at Fenway.
Boston will host the World Series beginning Wednesday night, where they’ll meet the overachieving Colorado Rockies, and if the regular season is any guide, Josh Beckett and his troops will have their hands full. The Boston ace was banged around for 6 runs during their interleauge series with the Rockies, when Colorado took 2 out 3 from the Sox at Fenway on June 12 through the 14th
One look at how the Rockies modest payroll compares with high rolling Red Sox, and it’s clear we’re in for another David vs. Goliath series, with the Rockies hoping to come away crowned the ``Miracle Mets’’ of the 21st century
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
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