Mike Scioscia said the Angels were not getting eliminated tonight; 5 1/2 hours later he was proven right. The Sox would have been lucky to win tonight had they pulled it out. The Angels continued to struggle catching the ball in the outfield, allowing a Jacoby Ellsbury pop up to fall in between Tori Hunter and Howie Kendrick scoring 3 runs on the play.
Josh Beckett struggled to throw strikes tonight in his first post season start. Beckett threw 30 pitches in the first inning and never really located his fastball at any point tonight. Beckett and Varitek had 3 separate meetings at the mound in the 1st inning, once being joined by pitching coach John Farrell. Hard to know what they were talking about but it didn't seem that either of them were on the same page as far as pitch selection. Beckett didn't seem to be affected by his oblique strain at all so it doesn't appear health was an issue; his last start was 13 days ago so we might have seen some rust and perhaps the weather was a factor.
The game remained tied 4-4 from the in the top of the 12 the Angels finally broke the 4-4 tie and the Sox were unable to create any Fenway Magic in the bottom of the inning. The Sox had their chances with the bases loaded in the 11th, but Krod was able to snake out of it.
Game 4 is Monday night, first pitch at 8:37pm, with any luck the game will be over before Midnight. Jon Lester will pitch again for the Sox and John Lackey starts again for the Halos. The Red Sox lead the series 2-1.
ITM notes from the game:
Mike Lowell is getting the job done at third, but just barely. He looks pretty terrible at the plate, I have little confidence in him to drive the ball with his hip injury. Lowell was lifted for a pinch runner in the 11th, I can see him riding the pine tomorrow.
The Sox bullpen pitched 6 scoreless innings, however Javier Lopez relinquished the lead in the 12th. It was encouraging to see Delcarmen, Okajima, Masterson, and Papelbon pitch well. Pap was bringing some serious heat tonight.
JD didn't start tonight because Joe Saunders is a lefty, JD did PH for Tek, however he struck out.
Tito used all the 3 catchers on the roster, pinch hitting for Tek and Cash and bringing in David Ross in the bottom of the 12th.
Dustin Pedroia has yet to get a hit in the series, not sure what's going on with him but the Sox need him to figure it out.
The Sox had won 11 straight playoff games against the Angels before tonight.
Monday, October 6
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15 comments:
Pretty impressed that you guys made deadline. Wasn't expecting to find anything new this morning. Nice job. Just want to say that while it might be painful to watch Lowell right now, he's earning a permanent place in my heart. I just hope it's not a Keith Foulke situation, where he's ruining himself for all this. He's definitely putting on a show of guts, though.
I agree about Lowell, but I'm wondering at this point if it is ultimately costing the team. I love the guy, and he and Michael Holley wrote a great book about his life (insert horn sound here), but I'm kind of hoping not to see him on the field tonight.
Also, Pap was touching 97 fairly often....on a cold night...impressive. Dusty and Ortiz need to show up for the Sox to take the series tonight, no more relying on Bay and JD.
I understand what you're saying about Lowell, but what bat do we put in there instead? Cora + Lowrie? That I really don't want to see. But, if you're talking about Casey/Kotsay at 1st and Youk at 3rd, then I'm on board.
I was planning on writing much earlier than this on the subject of Lowell, however Household 6 had me baby shopping with her all day (not a bad thing).
Lowell's guts have been impressive, and as a fan, I would hope all teams would be able to put their best line-ups on the field. Healthy Lowell-no brainer; current situation-tough call.
Can the Sox adjust defensively to make up for Lowell's loss at the corner?.....probably-Youk's a defensive whiz. Can they find someone to put in the order to at least be as effective as an injured Lowell?......maybe-but at what cost? If the Sox can somehow break this 2-2 deadlock and pull out a victory, Lowell is lost for the ALCS......maybe he would have been PUP anyway for that series.
Only time will tell I guess.....all the best for you Sox fans......for the years the Cards aren't in it at least.
For the record we were not baby shopping all day...we spent like 30min in Target. It seemed like all day because we live in the backwoods of LA and it takes 45min to get to a decent shopping center.
We did however spend about an hour trying to put a stupid pack n play together.
At any rate; go SOX!!!!!
For the record, WE did not spend an hour trying to put that thing together......she spent the fist 50 minutes trying to put it together by herself, and had my help for the last 10.......
I was playing vedeo games up to that point......
Oops......
Forgot to close that last post....
GO SOX!!!!!
And abuot the time I left that last cheer, the game winning hit was executed!!!!!
Bring on the Rays!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOX WIN SOX WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HUGE WIN!!!!
What a ending to the series...Mikey Scoc. managing himself right out of the series...ITM called it...the managing edge went to boston!
Congrats, guys. Well played series. Awesome 9th tonight, especially.
I had to come over here for a bit, because the "OMG teh Sox r sooo totally liek going to kick yr butts u shuld just quit now hahahahaaah tampa suxxx!!!11" kids over at our boards as of a few minutes ago were making me feel... stabby. I needed my faith in humanity reaffirmed over here. Thanks.
Are we still allowed to be friends after 8 pm Friday?
Amanda...great to hear from you. Congrats to your Rays as well. To be completely honest, I have an amazing amount of respect for what the Rays have done this year....and I fully expect a very tight series. This should be a lot of fun to cover and watch.
It only makes sense these two teams meet in the ALCS...it was destiny.
I picked the Sox in 7 over the Rays in the ALCS, hopefully I'm right. I expect this series to a war, nice fresh rivalry too.
what a game, what a series. Can't wait for Friday...it's going to take forever to get here!
...my tag name lives on!...Soxin08'
All I can say is that ANYONE who says "Your team is going to get crushed!", no matter whose side they are on, is wrong. I highly doubt either team will get "crushed", or "swept", or "killed", or whatever the buzz word of the moment is. I expect a long, tough battle.
I honestly can't even try to predict this series. The Rays are young, scrappy, finally healthy, and on a hell of a tear. The Sox are experienced, tough, and determined. Which will mean more in the next two weeks? No idea, but it should be a fun ride!
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