World Series GM 1 Result: Sox hammer Rox as Beckett wins again

Sox 13, Colorado 1
Sox lead series, 1-0
WP: Beckett (4-0)
LP: Francis (2-1)
HRs: Pedroia (2)

RECAP
The Red Sox postseason express steamrolled right through the formerly blistering hot Colorado Rockies, setting numerous team and MLB playoff records in this win as the offense racked up 13 runs on 17 hits while ace Josh Beckett came one step closer to completing one of the most impressive seasons in baseball history, notching his 4th win of this postseason.

Beckett shut the Rockies down on six hits and a run over seven innings while fanning nine batters, including four straight to begin the game, and the Sox exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning to end the Rockies playoff win streak at seven games. Boston extended its Series winning streak to five games.

Every starter except Jacoby Ellsbury had at least one hit for Boston while everyone but RBI king Mike Lowell drove in at least one run. Boston also walked eight times, three times in a row with the bases loaded in the fateful fifth, and mashed a World Series record-tying 9 extra base hits.

Oh, did I mention that they also set an MLB record for margin of victory and runs scored in a series opener?

Now that's what I call a team of destiny.

One down and three to go.

#1 STUNNER Beckett 7IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 9K
We are running out of superlatives to describe what the terrific Texan is doing this season.

Though not as dominant as in some of his other starts, Beckett was impressive for the way he relied on his fastball for most of the early part of the game, then mesmerized the mentally-mismatched Rockies with a knee-buckling curve later in the outing.

20-game winner. All Star game winner. ALCS MVP. {Cy Young.} {World series MVP.}

Pretty nice list of accomplishemnts, huh?

GAGME Jeff Francis 4IP, 10H, 6ER, 3BB, 3K, HR
This guys is supposed to be their ace? Bahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha!

RECAP
Another night, another link complete in the Josh Beckett championship chain.

Beckett took his phenomenal season to a whole 'nother level, treating the pressure of the ultimate postseason series like another sandlot scrum by mowing down the Rockies hitters like British locals infected with the Rage virus, earning his second World Series win in the process.

But as good as Beckett was, his suddenly resurgent offense was even better. For the third consecutive game and fifth time this postseason the Sox scored at least ten runs, and over the last four games Boston has outscored its opponents by a score of 43-6. The beauty of the barrage is that the contributions are coming from every member of the lineup, not just the Big Three of Papi, Manny and Lowell for a change.

The game began under a steady drizzle as the muted crowd watched the great John Williams conduct a stirring rendition of the National Anthem, capped off by a flyover that was hard to see against the dimly lit skies but roared through my surround sound loud enough to rattle the knick-knacks on the shelves.

Shortly after that the ass-kicking began.

Beckett wasted no time establishing his dominance when he started the game off by fanning the first three Colorado batters, Willy Taveras looking and Kaz Matsui and Matt Holiday swinging.

With Beckett's stamp of awe-inspiring authenticity already firmly placed on the game, the offense wasted no time in making sure their horse had enough runs to work with so he didn't have to pitch another shutout in order to get another postseason win.

Dustin Pedroia took care of that potential problem when he nailed Jeff Francis' second pitch of the game off the top of the Monster for a momentum-building home run, and Boston's little dynamo became just the second player in World Series history to lead off a Fall Classic with a homer.

And to think fans were clamoring for his benching early in the season.

The equally hot Kevin Youkilis followed with a scalded double to deep left center, and after Papi's groundout moved Youk to third, Manny knocked him in with a solid single to left over heralded rookie SS Troy Tulowitzki's glove for a lightning-quick 2-0 Boston lead, and juts minutes into the game Boston had all the runs Beckett would need to wrap up another playoff win.

Beckett began the second by striking out Todd Helton for his fourth straight K, a feat olast accomplished by the great Sandy Koufax in 1963, but then he proved he was human by allowing the first (and only) Rockies run on a pair of Wall doubles, a towering scraper by Garrett Atkins and a liner off the scoreboard by Tulowitzki to slice the lead to 3-1.

But the Sox struck back with a single run in the bottom of the inning when Papi drove in Youk, who had walked, with a double over Tulowitzki's glove to push the lead back to three, and things remained that way until the bottom of the fourth.

After Beckett escaped a potential jam (a one-out double by Helton) by fanning the next two batters to end the top of the fourth, the Sox struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, both runs scoring with two outs, a method of scoring that Boston would employ for much of the rest of the game.

Papi () began the rally with a 2-out single to right, then Manny doubled into the right centerfield gap to set up second & third for Lowell. After Francis intentionally walked the RBI king to load the bases, Captain Clutch ripped a double over Tulowitzki's head (that kid better get a ladder) to score both Manny & Papi, and with a 6-1 lead and Beckett on the mound, even the most ardent Rockies supporter had to realize that this one was all but over.

Just in case those bandwagoners didn't get the message, the Sox exploded for seven runs in a 34-minute fifth inning that featured six hits, four walks including three with the bases loaded, and served as a warning to the Colorado team: we don't care how hot you were coming into this series, you're not playing the pussy National league anymore, and this is how we roll here in Beantown.

Saddled with a 13-1 lead after the carnage ended, Tito chose to leave Beckett in to rub it in Colorado's faces, and the righty responded with two more scoreless inning before giving way to Mike Timlin in the 8th.

By then the rain had stopped and the partying had begun, and after the final three outs were recorded by none other than Eric Mop Up Man Gagne, instead of drenching themselves further with more champagne, the all-business Sox set their sights on Game 2, when a rookie hurler will go up against Mr. Curt Schilling before the Series shifts to the West.

By then the Sox should be up 2-0, and we should all be able to get ready for another parade, rain or shine.