Red Sox Pound Indians for AL Pennant, Face Rockies in World Series
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Well, I was half right. Back in February, I predicted that the Phillies and the Boston Red Sox would oppose each other in the 2007 World Series. I predicted wrong about the NL entrant. But the Red Sox, after having disposed of the Cleveland Indians with a 7th game 11-2 pasting, will have to contend with the red-hot Colorado Rockies, who tore through the Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks to reach the Series.
Rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka went 5 innings and left with a 3-2 lead as Jake Westbrook was touched for single runs in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd innings before settling down to pitch 6 innings. The Red Sox held on to the lead despite single Indians’ runs in the 4th and 5th innings and got insurance on 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia’s 7th inning one out, 2 run shot. A 6 run Red Sox outburst in the 8th inning put the game and the series out of reach.
Pedroia went 3 for 5 with 5 RBIs for the game including the 2 run homer and an 8th inning 2 out, bases-clearing double amidst the Red Sox’ 6 run explosion. Both drives were hit off of Indians’ reliever Rafael Betancourt who was bludgeoned for 7 runs in 1 2/3 innings and should have been long gone rather than facing Pedroia a 2nd time.
AP Sports Writer Jimmy Golen recaps the game for Yahoo sports;
After digging out of a 3-0 hole against the Yankees in the ‘04 ALCS, the Red Sox needed three straight wins to advance this time. The Rockies, who have won 10 in a row and 21 of 22, will come back from a record eight days off.
“The Rockies are on a magical run and we are going to have our hands full. We’re going to try and represent the American League the best we can,” Epstein said. “We haven’t grown up any since ‘04. That’s part of what keeps these guys so good. It keeps us all loose and we never stop believing.”
Colorado outscored Boston 20-5 in winning two of three during an interleague series at Fenway in June. The Red Sox did even better in winning the last three games against Indians, outscoring them 30-5 in that span.
Matsuzaka pitched five solid innings, and [Hideki] Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon each threw two scoreless innings in relief. Boston also got some help by a key blunder by an Indians base coach when Cleveland trailed just 3-2 with a chance to tie the game.
Franklin Gutierrez hit a sharp grounder over third base that bounced off the photographer’s box in front of the grandstand and into shallow left. But Skinner held up both hands for the speedy [Kenny] Lofton, and the 40-year-old outfielder skidded to a stop.
Lofton looked back for the ball and, seeing it in no man’s land in shallow left, snapped his head back to stare at Skinner.
“The ball was behind me. It’s not my job. My job is to pick up the third base coach. He stopped me. I just got to do what he says. He’s the third base coach,” Lofton said.
Said Skinner: “The ball kicked off hard there and it’s hard to tell exactly where it is.”
“I’ve seen it bounce right back to the shortstop. When you have to make a decision and that’s what I did. The ball ended up a little deeper than I thought. But it was one out, runners at first and third. We were OK,” he said.
“We won three games in a row and they won three in a row,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “I’m disappointed, obviously, we weren’t able to finish it off.”
Westbrook settled down after spotting Boston a 3-0 lead, retiring seven consecutive batters.
In the 7th inning, Indians manager Wedge sent Betancourt to replace Westbrook. AP Sports Writer Golen picks up the action from here;
Jacoby Ellsbury — another rookie — bounced a chopper through third baseman Blake for an error. After Lugo’s sacrifice bunt, Pedroia was up.
The diminutive second baseman, with eight major league homers to his credit, hit an 0-1 pitch into the first row of the Monster Seats to make it 5-2.
He also doubled to clear the bases after Boston loaded them in the eighth against Rafael Betancourt.
With the score 5-2 in the 8th inning and Boston still catchable, no one else seems to be questioning why Wedge stayed with Betancourt to the tune of 6 Boston 8th inning runs.
MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan offers this explanation which just doesn’t seem to wash in the situation;
Rafael Betancourt was a big reason why the Indians led 3-1 after four games. What happened to him over the final three games is part of what went wrong for the Indians.
Go back to Game 5 on Thursday when the Indians trailed 2-1 going into the seventh. [C.C.] Sabathia had thrown 106 pitches, but Wedge sent him out to the seventh instead of bringing in Betancourt. Wedge said he did not want to use Betancourt for two innings, but the Indians had been off Wednesday and had another day off Friday.
Sabathia gave up a double to Dustin Pedroia and a triple to Kevin Youkilis. Wedge then went to Betancourt before David Ortiz’s sacrifice fly gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.
In almost the same situation in Game 7, Betancourt was brought in to pitch the seventh with the Indians trailing, 3-2. This time Betancourt couldn’t do the job. Pedroia hit a two-run home run off him in the seventh and the Red Sox scored five more off him in the eighth.
Despite Betancourt’s 5-1 regular season mark and 1.47 ERA, and his 8.1 innings of 2 hit, 8 strikeout, shutout ball in the post-season to that point; when a reliever gives up a 2 run homer in one inning and comes back in the next inning to get the first out before giving up a double, a single and a run in a game that is not yet out of hand — it’s time to make a move. But Wedge stayed with Betancourt and the game did get out of control and beyond reach.
For the boxscores and recap on Sunday’s game, click here.
The World Series opens on Wednesday in Boston for the first 2 games, then switches to Colorado for 3 games with the final 2, if necessary, being played in Boston. Pitching rotations have yet to be determined.
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