Fausto Carmona (19-8, 3.06; 0-0, 1.00) vs. Curt Schilling (9-8, 3.87; 1-0, 0.00)
Fenway Park 8EST FOX
One night after the Sox newest postseason ace gave Boston an 1-0 advantage in this American League Championship series, the Sox last great postseason ace will take the mound to try to lead his club to a 2-0 lead before the series swings to C-Town on Monday.
As we all know, Curt Schilling was the star of Boston's 2004 Series-winning staff, pitching his way through excruciating pain and into the annals of baseball lore when his bloody sock became the inspiration for heroic deeds and blog titles worldwide.
This year, after a season filled with excellence (near no-no) and exasperation (the loss of his fastball, the shoulder pain that forced him to miss a month), that postseason magic returned when he twirled a terrific game in the ALDS clincher, when he allowed no runs on six hits in seven innings in a 9-1 win over the Angels.
Tonight will be Schill's biggest start in a Boston uniform since he won Game 2 of that World Series, and with a 9-2 record and sick 1.93 ERA in his playoff career, you have to think he's gonna get the job done, even though he'll be going up against Cleveland's young phenom and former closing failure, Fausto Carmona.
After Boston ended Carmona's brief attempt at becoming a closer with consecutive walk-off wins last September, the big, quiet righty rebounded to post a terrific 2007 campaign as a a starter, placing second in the AL in both wins and ERA while tossing 215 innings, good for 10th in the league.
Carmona carried that regular season success into his forst postseason start last Friday when he threw nine innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball against the Stanks in Cleveland's 2-1 victory in Game of 2 the ALDS.
So it will be the old stud vs the young buck in a battle for playoff supremacy, and I don't know about you but I'll take my chances with the wily old coyote over the wide-eyed whippersnapper any day of the week.
Even without a bloody sock.
Go Sox!
10.13.2007
ALCS Game 2 Preview: Schill on the hill should mean 2 in the hand
10.12.2007
ALCS GM 1: Sox crush Tribe behind Beckett and boppers
WP: Beckett (2-0)
LP: Sabathia (1-1)
HRs: BOS-None; CLE-Hafner (1)
Perfect 10: As Manny & Papi reach base all 10 times, we are left to wonder, is there no limit to what these two can do?
RECAP
Josh Beckett came one step closer to entering the pantheon of legendary postseason performers with yet another masterful victory, although this time he proved he was human by allowing a couple of runs, and the dynamic duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez reached base in all ten of their plate appearances as Boston throttled the Tribe in the opening game of the ALCS.
#1 STUNNER Beckett 6IP, 4H, 2ER, 0BB, 7K
Boston's All Star ace and 20-game winner once again put his team on his back and carried them to another huge victory. He wasn't as electric as the opener of the ALDS, but he was plenty good enough to get the win tonight.
Let's face it, it's come to the point when he's on the mound, everybody expects him to win.
GAGME C.C. Sabathia 4.1IP, 7H, 8ER, 5BB, 3K
Cleveland's All Star ace failed to get out of the fifth inning as the 19-game winner was got hammered by the relentless Boston attack. The Sox scored one in the first, four in the third and then three more in the fifth against the supposed Cy Young contender, and by the time he left the game Boston was well on its way to its first ALCS win since Game 7 in 2004.
RECAP
On a night when Boston batters bludgeoned a potential Cy Young candidate like he was a rotting pinata, the talk of the town has to be the continued excellence of starter Josh Beckett.
The moody Texan, who saw his postseason shutout streak come to an end at two games, was far from the near-unhittable maestro that he was against the Angels in Game 1 of the ALDS, but there are plenty of hurlers who would think a game like this in an ALCS game was a career achievement.
For Beckett it was just another night at the office.
But besides the brilliance that is Beckett, the other big story to come out of this game is the power surge the offense is experiencing, especially the twin towers of power, Ortiz and Ramirez.
The two amigos reached base 10 times this evening, a miraculous feat for any pair of players to achieve in a playoff game against a stellar starting pitcher, but with both of these guys hurting a bit due to some persistent, nagging injuries, the accomplishment becomes all the more sweeter.
The linescores for the duo went like this:
-Ortiz 2-2, 2R, 2BI, 2BB, HBP, 2B
-Ramirez 2-2, 2R, 3BI, 3BB
As if that kind of damage wasn't bad enough, the rest of the offense would chip in eight more hits and five more walks off five Cleveland pitchers.
Professional Hitter/RBI machine Mike Lowell contributed a trio of ribbies, Kevin Youkilis notched a pair of hits and scored three runs, and late lineup insertion Bobby Kielty made sure Francona looked like a genius again when his two-run single broke the game open and drove Sabathia from the game in the bottom of the fifth.
But that's the kinda shit that happens when your team is rolling at just the right time, an occurrence that isn't experienced too often in the Nation, but one that is certainly savored (and shared) when it does.
Ironically the night that ended so splendidly began on an ominous note as Travis Hafner deposited a 1-0 pitch from Beckett into the seats beyond the Cleveland bullpen for a solo home run with two outs in the first that silenced the rowdy-yet-frosty Fenway Faithful.
But Boston tied it up in the bottom of the inning on three consecutive singles to center field by Youk, Papi and Manny, and even though Lowell grounded into a double play to squelch that rally, the early advantage disappeared from the Indians' side and the Sox soon made sure they would not get it back again.
Julio Lugo led off the third with a ground-rule double into the right field seats, was sacrificed to third by Dustin Pedroia, then stood there while Youk (4-4, 3R) drew a walk and Ortiz was hit on the jersey by a Sabathia fastball, loading the bases with one out for Ramirez.
Instead of living up to the 'GrandSlamManny' nickname my son has coined for him, the second all-time leading slammer added a new wrinkle to his sacks-packed stats: the bases-loaded walk.
Ramirez climbed out of an 0-2 hole to work the free pass from C.C., which forced Lugo in with the go-ahead run, and like the proverbial seal opening after the first piss on a night of drinking, Boston's offensive onslaught would gush forth like an undamed wall of water from there on out.
Three pitches later Lowell (1-3, 3BI, BB) squirted a shot down the right field line and that bounced just out of the reach of Franklin Gutierrez and into the stands for a two-run ground-rule double to make the score 4-1, and after Kielty was intentionally walked to load the bases for Varitek, the Captain grounded sharply to third to score Ramirez with Boston's fifth run.
And the rout was on.
Following a 1-2-3 fourth, Beckett danced into and out of trouble in the fifth when he hit Ryan Garko with a pitch and allowed a double to Kenny Lofton, but a double play and a strikeout of Gutierrez ended any hopes of an Indians rally.
Then in the bottom of the fifth, Boston busted the game wide open when they loaded the bases on a walk by Ortiz, a single to center past the diving second baseman by Manny and a walk to Lowell, setting the stage for Kielty's money shot.
Francona made the decision a day earlier to sit starting rightfielder J.D. Drew in favor of the seldom-used Kielty due to the redhead's moderate success (9-29, 2HRs) against Sabathia from his days with the Twins.
But to the delighted Nation it felt more like a deserved snub of the man who has been the biggest disappointment of the season for the Sox, well aside from Gagne of course.
Except once again Francona proved to be a budding LaRussa, a master strategist whose moves pay off time and time again, when Kielty stepped in against the Indians starter and dropped a solid single into right field to push the score to 7-1 Boston, and even though Lowell got trapped coming around second and was tagged out for the second out of the inning, with Sabathia knocked out of the game and Beckett on the mound, it was all over but the celebrating.
Tek greeted reliever Jensen Lewis with a lined double to right center to make the score 8-1, and when Cleveland got one back off Beckett in the sixth, Boston made sure there would be no comeback thoughts for the Tribe when they turned the game into an official blowout with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.
For the fourth time on the night Boston loaded the bases, this time on singles by Pedroia and Youk and a walk to Big Papi, and for the second time on the night Manny practiced patience and drew the bases-loaded walk, and then Lowell launched a sac fly to deep center to get the Sox to the double-digit mark in runs for the first time since--you guessed it--Game 7 of the 04 ALCS.
Which reminds me, I wonder what Judas Demon is doing about now?
Anyway, the 10-2 lead combined with the chilly temp was enough to get Beckett out of the game, and although Cleveland scratched a run off Javier Lopez in the seventh and then loaded the bases against piece of shit reliever Eric Gagne in the ninth to give us a little scare, anyone who was watching could only come away with one conclusion:
the best team in baseball is playing its best baseball at the perfect time of the season.
The sign in the stands late in the game said it all- "7 more wins."
10.11.2007
2007 ALCS News: Drew out, Kielty in for GM 1; Wake on for GM4
Due to the relative success Bobby Kielty (.310, 9-29, 2HRs) has had against Indians ace C.C. Sabathia and the brief-yet-unsuccessful showing J.D. Drew (0-3, 3Ks) has had against the hefty Cleveland lefty, Drew will be on the Boston bench when the ALCS kicks off tomorrow night at Fenway.
Many people will applaud this move, mainly due to the fact that Drew has been a colossal bust in the first year of his mega deal with the Sox and has been the whipping boy for the Nation, so I am in the minority here in thinking that this move could be one of the few that have come back to bite Francona in the ass this season.
For one thing Drew had finally started to put it together at the end of the season, batting .342 (26-76) in September with 4 homers and 18 RBIs in the month, while Kielty had a whopping 4 hits in 26 at bats (.154) in the final month.
Granted he's hitting .260 vs. lefties this season compared to Drew's .224, but Drew had 26 hits in 116 at bats vs. southpaws this season, while Kielty had 13 hits in 50 at bats; not exactly a staggering enough difference in statistics to warrant such a move.
Throw in the fact that despite his offensive woes Drew has proven to be one of the best right fielders in the league, coupled with the importance of defense during the playoffs, especially in Fenway's tricky right field, and the move seems even more odd.
As has been the case for most of the season, I hope Tito is right with this hunch. But to replace a season-long starter and above-average fielder in the first game of the biggest series of the season for a part-timer who has had slightly more success than the incumbent seems to me like a risky move at a time the team cannot afford to take too many gambles.
Who knows, maybe this hunch will prove to be golden, just like his decision to stick with Dustin Pedroia and utilizing some of his cockamamie batting orders did. But if Kielty doesn't get a couple of hits off Sabathia, or fails to make a key play in the outfield, Tito will experience the full wrath of the Nation for making a questionable decision at the worst possible time of the year.
Wake healthy and ready to go for Game 4
The back and shoulder injuries that have been nagging at Tim Wakefield over the last few weeks have finally dissipated enough to allow the team to add him to the ALCS roster, and the knuckleballer said he has every intention of taking the mound for Game 4 in Cleveland next Tuesday.
The return of the 17-game winner and grizzled playoff vet can only help a team that has already had brilliant performances turned in by two of its starters, and the great part about old rubber arm is that he would be able to pitch out of the bullpen in Game 6 or 7 if necessary, although after what happened in the 2003 ALCS, the team may be leery of soing so.
Still, there is nothing wrong with having too much pitching, as Boston has proven all year, and the addition of wake gives some insurance that should Daisuke Matsuzaka falter in Game 3 (as many expect), the Sox wouldn't have to bring Beckett back on short rest to pitch a Game 5.
The return of Wakefield gives Boston a trio of playoff vets who together have made 39 postseason appearances and have a combined record of 19-9 in fall baseball, along with an inexperienced yet talented rookie who could either throw a no-hitter or shit the bed.
Compare that to the inexperienced Cleveland starters Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd, who have made a grand total of 10 appearances with a record of 4-2 in October, and I like the Sox chances of taking this series even better than before.
Just as long as the tribe didn't re-sign Aaron Bleepin Boone before the end of the season and try to sneak him onto the roster.
Bring it on, bitches!
10.09.2007
2007 ALCS: Rotations are set, and Schill is No.2
In a move about as surprising as Lindsay Lohan falling off the wagon, Terry Francona announced his starters for the first three games of the ALCS, and sizzling Curt Schilling, not disappointing Daisuke Matsuzaka, will get the call to start Game 2 Saturday night in Fenway against Cleveland.
Here are the probable pitching matchups for the first three games.
GM1 @ BOS Fri 7:10 FOX
C.C. Sabathia (19-7, 3.21; 1-0, 5.40) vs. Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27; 1-0, 0.00)
GM2 @ BOS Sat 8:21 FOX
Fausto Carmona (19-8, 3.06; 0-0, 1.00) vs. Curt Schilling (9-8, 3.87; 1-0, 0.00)
GM3 @ CLE Mon 7:10 FOX
Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40; 0-0, 5.79) vs. Jake Westbrook (6-9, 4.32; 0-1, 10.80)
Schilling tossed another postseason gem in the ALDS Game 3 against the Angles, and now owns a 9-2 mark with a 1.93 ERA in the playoffs, and with Dice K struggling with fatigue and command for the better part of the second half of the season, including his short-leash effort in Game 2 of the Angles series, it was an absolute no-brainer to give Schill the assignment.
So the way it stands right now is we've got the two best starters for each team going toe-to-toe in Games 1 & 2 over the weekend, and then Boston will turn to Dice K in Game 3 and possibly Tim Wakefield, who threw today to test his back and might be able to go in Game 4, in C-Town to begin the week.
After that it's back to the aces again, and you gotta figure if Beckett & Schill win the first two, and either Daisuke or Wake can get a win in Cleveland, then it will be up to either Beckett or Schilling to record one win to secure a spot in the Series.
Gotta love those odds.
I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but I can't help it. The Sox are peaking at just the right time after a late season swoon, the weather is starting to cool off (it was only 83 here today), and the hated Stankees and their loathsome fans are blubbering over thier third straight first round loss and the potential loss of the core of the team.
Did I mention the Stankees lost?
Speaking of that glorious topic, there was a great post today on the Awful Announcing blog about that obnoxious gasbag Suzyn Waldman and her tearful recollection on-air of Joe Torre addressing the team after choking to Cleveland last night. listen about 1/4 of the way through the audio to hear the ever-loving epitome of a homer, a woman who cries because a coach might leave a team. Even John Sterling was appalled. Priceless.
And these idiots have the nerve to call Boston fans obnoxious?
10.08.2007
Ding dong the Bombers are dead! Sox will play Tribe in ALCS
Because a near-unprecedented run of good fortune is afflicting Boston sports fans right now, and lord knows we don't want to do anything to jinx it.
The Cleveland Indians just knocked off the Feeble Empire by a score of 6-4 in the Bronx, winning their ALDS series 3 games to 1, setting up an American League Championship Series date with the Sox on Friday night in Fenway.
As if that weren't giddy enough news, Boss Steinbrenner had given Joe Torre an ultimatum before Game 3 yesterday: advance to the ALCS or don't bother coming back next season.
So while the Sox sit and rest, salivating over the prospect of not having to face their pain-in-the-ass nemesis for the fourth time in eight years in the LCS, New York will be worrying about how to replace a Hall of Fame manager, half the pitching staff, and likely league MVP, April Rod.
Not to mention trying to figure out how the hell they came roaring back after a horrible start to the season to own baseball's best record after May 31st, only to see four months of hard work go up in a cloud of Canadian friut flies over the course of five days.
Good luck, losers, and see you in spring training.
All together now: STANKEES SUCK! STANKEES SUCK! STANKEES SUCK!
10.07.2007
ALDS Result: Sox sweep Angels to advance to ALCS
Sox 9, Angles 1
WP: Schilling (1-0)
LP: Weaver (0-1)
HRs: Manny (2), Papi (2)
Two men who played a major part in the ALDS sweep share a big hug after the game. Not that there's anything wrong with that
SUMMARY
The Red Sox made it back to the American League Championship Series for the third time since 2003 with a decisive victory over the battered & bruised Angles.
Curt Schilling was his usual masterful postseason self, pitching seven solid shutout innings, Ortiz & Ramirez went back-to-back for the first time this season, and Boston blew open a 2-0 game with a 7-run 8th to defeat Los Angeles for a record-tying ninth consecutive time in postseason play.
Boston will wait for the winner of the Cleveland/New York series before beginning the ALCS at Fenway on Friday night.
#1 STUNNER Schilling 7IP, 6H, 0R, 1BB, 4K
The guy might not possess the blazing fastball or wicked splitter of his youth, but put Curt Schilling on the mound in a playoff game and good things seem to happen.
Schill won his 9th postseason game today (against 2 losses), running his record to a perfect 4-0 in division series, and notched a victory in his first postseason start since Game 2 of the 2004 World Series.
Bottom line no matter his age or the speed of his pitches, put this warrior on the mound in a playoff game and chances are he's going to will his team to a win.
GAGME Angles bullpen 4IP, 6H, 7ER, 2BB, 4K
After starter Jered Weaver kept the score close for five innings, the LA bully blew open a tight game and turned a stomach-twister into a laugher.
RECAP
What late-season swoon?
The Red Sox made the unpleasant memories and unwanted doubts created by their near-catastrophic collapse disappear entirely with a dominating three game performance over their personal playoff bitches, the Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels.
Crippled by injuries and manhandled by a superior pitching staff, the Angles went down with barely a whimper, scoring just four runs in the three games, three coming in the second inning of Game 2 and one lone run today off (who else) Eric Gagne in the ninth inning.
That's it. Four runs scored in two innings over three games.
LA also managed just 19 hits, only six for extra bases, for a .192 average and 1.3 runs/game, while Boston blasted 19 runs and 25 hits including five homers, four by the newly reformed Dynamic Duo, plus saw their pitchers compile a stunning 1.33 ERA.
Put it all together and it all adds up to another Angel ass-kicking, a tradition that of nine straight wins that started two games before the Hendu/Donnie Moore game in the 1986 ALCS, extended through Papi's walk-off sweep job in Game 3 of the 2004 ALDS and right up through Beckett's masterpiece in Game 1 of this series.
The Halos might want to petition Bud Selig to switch to the AL East or the National League to avoid having to play Boston in the playoffs for as long as possible.
Either that or just go back to sucking again, which is a distinct possibility with this band of banged-up & broken-down fossils.
The story of this series was the overwhelming advantage in pitching and offense the Sox held over Los Angeles, and today was a perfect example of that. While Schill was shutting down the depleted Angel lineup, Boston's big boppers got to work on building a lead they knew Schill wouldn't relinquish.
Early on it didn't look like the offense was clicking when Boston blew another golden scoring opportunity in the second inning as Angels starter Jered Weaver (5IP, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 5K) recorded three straight outs following a leadoff walk to Manny and a double down the left field line by Mike Lowell.
And Schill looked shaky as well, surrendering hits in each of the first two innings before working into--and out of--a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the third.
Juan Rivera led off the frame with a bloop single into left, Schill struck out catcher Mike Napoli and got Chone Figgins to ground into a fielder's choice, forcing Rivera at second. Should have been end of trouble, right?
Wrong. Old friend Orlando OC Cabrera laced a single to center, and when Schilling walked Bad Vlad on four pitches, suddenly a harmless situation became dangerously explosive in a matter of minutes.
But Schill buckled down and made some terrific pitches to Reggie yes, I'm white Willits, including a fastball on a 1-2 count that Willits peeled back of home plate, and with the quickness of a lynx Captain Tek wheeled around, sprinted back, went into a classic catcher's slide and caught the ball before he hit the wall, a play that caused the Nation to roar and Schilling to utter a Papelbon-like primal scream as he exited the field--and the jam.
Not five minutes later the Sox would score the only runs they would need to close out the series, and they scored them in grand style.
First Ortiz (2-3, 2R, BI, BB) smoked a hanging 0-1 breaking ball from Weaver over the right field fence for his second homer of the series and 11th in his last 24 games, and then eight pitches later Manny, who hit his first homer since August 28th to win Game 2 Friday night, absolutely torched a Weaver fastball high, long and deep to straightaway center field, where it bounced off the faux-rock hardtop section like a gymnast off a trampoline, and just like that it was 2-0, let the champagne flow.
Believe it or not that was the first time all season Boston's dynamic duo hit back-to-back jacks. Couldn't have picked a better time, fellas.
Buoyed by the newfound lead Schill set down 9 of the next 10 Angle batters, and even though Boston botched a couple more scoring chances by hitting into a pair of double plays, as the game got later you couldn't help but get the feeling that those two runs felt like a dozen to the fading So Cal boys.
After Schill needed only 9 pitches to dispatch with three batter in the sixth, Tito ran his horse out there for the seventh, a move that nearly backfired when Coco Crisp failed to come up with yet another miraculous catch off a Maicer Izturis sinking liner to lead off the inning, a hit that went for a double despite Crisp's heroic effort.
Howie "no, I'm not white" Kendrick advanced Izturis to third with a groundout, but Schill needed just two pitches to get Rivera to pop out harmlessly to Youk at first base, and he saved his best for last when Napoli worked a full count before whiffing on a splitter in the dirt, and once again Schill exited the field with a Papelbon-esque fist pump/scream.
That lit bit of adrenaline from their veteran leader was all the fuel the offense needed to bust the game wide open; well, that and some horrid relief work by the Angles pen.
The Sox scored seven runs in the top of the 8th off Justin Speir and Darren Oliver, and onslaught that began with a leadoff walk to Lugo, follwed by a ringing double by Dustin Pedroia, and containing RBI hits by Lowell (of course), Varitek, Coco a sac fly by Younk and an RBI fielder's chioce by J.D. Drew.
When the smoke cleared the score was 9-0 Boston, and all but the West Coast contingent of the Nation was left to sneak down to the expensive seats to witness the on field postgame celebration first hand.
Hideki Okajima relieved Schill in the 8th and allowed a double and a walk before escaping the inning unscathed, but unfortunately Tito inserted Schleprock Gagne into the game in the ninth, and the washed-up shitbag immediately proceeded to surrender the only run of the day for the Angles on a double by Izturis, a wild pitch and a sac fly.
Oh well. As the final out off pinch hitter Rob Quinlan's bat plopped into Coco's glove, the Sox streamed onto the field to celebrate getting one step closer to their ultimate goal, confident in the knowledge that with the pitchers throwing the ball like they have, and with the big hitters mashing the ball at just the right moments, this team is as close to unstoppable as it has been in year.
Like three years, to be exact.
Congratulations, BoSox.
The Nation never had any doubt you guys would make it this far (wink wink)
ALDS Preview: Sox @ Angles
Schilling (9-8) vs. Weaver (13-7)
307 EST @ LA of A Stadium
The Red Sox can wrap up their third trip to the American league Championship series in four years with a victory today, and they'll have one of the most prolific postseason pitchers of all-time on the mound to try and accomplish that feat.
Curt Schilling carries an 8-2 mark with two World Series titles, a Series MVP award and one of the most famous socks in the history of sports into this matchup in sunny Southern California, and with the way he pitched down the stretch combined with the white-hot spotlight of postseason play, look for the veteran to rise to the occasion against shaky Angels starter Jered Weaver.
Weaver makes his postseason debut this afternoon, and he'll need to perform like his big brother Jeff did for the Cardinals last season if he wants to get this series to a Game 4 on Monday. After jumping out to an 11-2 record last in his rookie year last season, Weaver has come back to earth with a spotty 2007, although he did go 3-1 in September to make his record a little more respectable.
Still, you're talking about an October greenhorn going up against a seasoned veteran of 9 playoff series and 15 postseason starts, including four games on the sport's ultimate stage, so Weaver will have to mentally as well as psychically tough enough to endure the pressure he will be under this afternoon at Angels Stadium.
Not surprisingly, the Sox will utilize the same lineup they have for the first two games (if it ain't broke, don't fix it), while Anaheim will mix things up a bit. First baseman Casey Kotchman will not play due to an undisclosed illness, although banged-up slugger Vlad Guerrero will return to right field and Juan Rivera will take over the DH duties.
Bottom line is the Sox can get a head start on resting up for the ALCS by dispatching with the Halos for the 9th consecutive time in the postseason, and with the Stanks now playing for Joe Torre's job, you can bet that series will go at least five games, giving Boston plenty of time to rest up for what will be an epic series no matter who the opponent will be.
Because as long as Boston gets there, WTF cares who they play.
Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!.
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