SOX RISE ABOVE FALLEN ANGELS

Top of the 9th, 5-5 game, the MLB record holder for saves in a season on the mount, and as a Red Sox fan, you expect to win, and win right then and there. This is the hold the Boston Red Sox have on the Anaheim Angels. Personally, I thought Ortiz was gonna hit the homerun, and he nearly did. But it was JD Drew, the much maligned, much complained about JD Drew.



The Man of the Game is JD Drew. Obviously he had the game winning blast, but he also knocked in a run in the 1st with a big 2 out double, and made a good catch to rob Garret Anderson of a homerun in the 6th.



We were all worried about how Jason Bay would react to postseason play. It's only been two games, but 5 for 9 with two homers and 5 RBI is a pretty good start. Eat that, Bill Simmons (more on that topic at a later date).



Going back to Fenway with a 2-0 lead is phenomenal. Lots of Sox fans would've been satisfied with a split. But let's not go crazy and start planning our ALCS drinking routines. There's one part of Game 2 that has me concerned...

Daisuke Matsuzaka.

5 innings, 3 runs, 108 pitches, 8 hits, 3 walks. That might do for the regular season, against Baltimore. But in the playoffs, there's no such thing as an "average" start. There's great, good, and not good enough. This start was not good enough. The Sox were put in a position of relying on that questionable bullpen for 4 innings. Papelbon had to get 6 outs.



The Angels figured Matsuzaka out. They swung at bad pitches in the first few innings, but they adjusted in the 5th. Daisuke averaged less than 6 innings per start this year, and in the postseason that weakness has been even more exposed. I'm not trying to be negative, but this is a potential problem in either a Game 5 in this series, or in any ALCS.

Francona's decisions to play Kotsay and Cora paid off. Cora was 1 for 3 with a double and a run scored. Kotsay was 2 for 5.

The Sox left a lot of men on base, but they weren't catching any breaks out there. Hard hit balls were being caught. Pedroia, Youkilis, and Ortiz all missed homeruns by inches. All those balls seemed to be gone when they came off the bat. It reminded me of last year's ALCS, the way balls found the opposing team's gloves so easily, no matter how well they were hit. And Mark Teixeira had one of the softest 3 for 3 performances I've seen in awhile.

Kevin Youkilis' defensive display in the 9th inning, to me, exemplified why he is this team's MVP. He already made a few good plays at first in Game 1. Last night, Torii Hunter bunts up the 3rd base line, Youk barehands it, and fires a bullet to 1st. Then, he grabs the foul ball that was headed for the photographer's nest. His defensive versatility and offensive production are second to none on this team, and possibly in the AL.

Nice New England sports doubleheader on Sunday. The Pats in San Francisco at 4, and the Angles at the Sox at 7:00. Joe Saunders (17-7, 3.41 ERA, no postseason experience) vs. Josh Beckett (we all know his October resumé).

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Chris Carlson
AP Photo/Mark Avery
AP Photo/Mark Terrill

SOX LINEUP TONIGHT

No Mike Lowell. Kotsay at first. No Jed Lowrie. Cora at short.

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. 3B Kevin Youkilis
5. RF JD Drew
6. LF Jason Bay
7. 1B Mark Kotsay
8. C Jason Varitek
9. SS Alex Cora

SP Daisuke Matsuzaka

Cora has a decent history against Ervin Santana, 2 for 3 with a double and triple. As opposed to Lowrie, who has never faced him. Also, the 9-1-2 combination of Cora-Ellsbury-Pedroia allows for some potential small ball in a close game, if necessary.

Why Mark Kotsay instead of Sean Casey? Casey is 0 for 3 against Santana. Kotsay is 7 for 18 (.389) with two doubles.

GOOD OLD FASHIONED OCTOBER BASEBALL... RED SOX STYLE

If you play for the Red Sox, and your name begins with a "J" then you probably had a pretty good game last night. Jason Bay was 2 for 4 with a 2 run homer. Jed Lowrie was 1 for 3 with a run scored. Jason Varitek had his first SAC bunt since 2005. Justin Masterson navigated around trouble in the 8th (thanks to some nifty defense). Jonathan Papelbon closed it out.



But the best two J's were Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury. Lester had one of his best starts of the season, going 7, striking out 7, and getting 10 groundball outs. He allowed an unearned run in the 3rd, and that was it. He walked 1 batter.



Jacoby was everywhere last night. He was 3 for 5 at the plate (he also reached on a 3 base error), with a run and an RBI. He stole 2 bases. He robbed Teixeira of a leadoff single in the 8th with a diving snare.

With Ellsbury's multi-tasking, he wins the Man of the Game Award for Game 1 of the ALDS.



The Sox could have had a few more runs in this one. They left 9 men on. And until the 8th, they struggled with runners on base. Ortiz came up short in a few potentially big situations, until the 9th when he knocked in Ellsbury. The fact that he has a 12 game ALDS hitting streak is simply absurd.

How about Jason Bay? Everyone was worried about how he'd react to the postseason. The pathetic Manny lovers still out there predicted an October collapse of Alex Rodriguez proportions. Those Manny lovers must have been hard after watching him hit a solo homer for the Dodgers today. But Bay one-upped him with a two run shot. Mannywood? Nope, all of California can now be called the Jason Bay Area.



Off day today, then Game 2 Friday night at 9:30. Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Ervin Santana.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Mark Terrill
AP Photo/Mark Avery
AP Photo/Chris Carlson

SOX LINEUP FOR TONIGHT'S GAME

The big news is that both Drew and Lowell are starting.

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. 1B Kevin Youkilis
5. RF JD Drew
6. LF Jason Bay
7. 3B Mike Lowell
8. SS Jed Lowrie
9. C Jason Varitek

SP Jon Lester

Source:
Extra Bases

RED SOX SET ALDS ROSTER

Pitchers:
Josh Beckett
Paul Byrd
Manny Delcarmen
Jon Lester
Javier Lopez
Justin Masterson
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Hideki Okajima
Jonathan Papelbon
Tim Wakefield

Catchers:
Kevin Cash
David Ross
Jason Varitek

Infielders:
Sean Casey
Alex Cora
Mike Lowell
Jed Lowrie
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia
Kevin Youkilis

Outfielders:
Jason Bay
Coco Crisp
JD Drew
Jacoby Ellsbury
Mark Kotsay

I personally would have gone with a faster pinch runner type of player as opposed to three catchers, but that's not too big of a deal.

Source:
WPRI

ALDS GAME 1 PREVIEW

This is the 4th time the Red Sox and Angels have met in postseason play. The Red Sox have won all three previous series. The Angels haven't beaten the Sox in the playoffs since the 1986 ALCS.

However, the Angels were 8-1 against the Red Sox this season, including a 5-1 mark in Fenway Park. The Angels have the best record in baseball. And of course, the Angels have homefield advantage. The Sox were 39-42 on the road this season.

Josh Beckett was pushed back from Game 1 to Game 3 due to an oblique injury suffered in a bullpen session. This means Jon Lester will take the mound for the Sox to start the series. Opposing him is John Lackey.



Lester's history against the Angels isn't a good one. In 4 career starts he's 1-1 with a 7.78 ERA. This year he had a 5 inning, 4 run no decisions against them. But that was back in April. He finished that month with a mediocre 4.31 ERA. He'd finish the season with a 3.21 ERA. Since the end of April, Lester is 15-4 with a 2.97 ERA. He won AL Pitcher of the Month for September, and he's become the Ace of the Red Sox staff.

John Lackey finished the year 12-5 with a 3.75 ERA. The big righty actually did worse facing righthanded batters. He allowed a .301 average and 14 of his 26 HRs allowed were hit by righties. He was 2-0 against the Sox this year. He had a complete game, 2 run outing on July 29th (in the midst of the Manny Ramirez saga), and a 7 inning effort in an 11-3 Angels win earlier in July.



Some of the Red Sox hitters have good histories against Lackey. David Ortiz is 10 for 30 (.333) in his career off Lackey, with 3 doubles, a triple, and 2 homers. Pedroia's 5 for 12 (.417), Drew's 5 for 16 (.313), and Youkilis is 5 for 17 (.294) with a pair of homers. So the middle of the lineup should do fine against him.

The major advantage the Angels have in this series is their bullpen. The Red Sox have Papelbon - who may or may not be close to exhaustion from overuse this season - the Angels have Francisco Rodriguez (the nickname K-Rod sucks), Justin Speier, Scot Shields, and a resurgent Darren Oliver. But this isn't as good as the Angels bullpen that won them the Series in 2002. This is still a beatable bullpen. Speier is 2-8 with a 5.03 ERA, Shields had 5 blown saves, the Sox have a combined .294 average against Oliver.



Then there's the record holder... Francisco Jose Rodriguez. 62 saves. And 7 blown saves. But 89.9% conversion is very impressive. And the Red Sox have nothing but bad history against him. Kotsay's 1 for 8, Crisp is 2 for 7, Youkilis is 2 for 7, Lowell's 1 for 6, Varitek's 1 for 6, Ellsbury, Cora, Drew, and Casey are a combined 0 for 9 off him. So by the 9th inning, the Red Sox better have a lead or be tied.

I think the Sox will go to ANAHEIM and split, winning Game 1 tonight, losing Game 1 on Friday. Lester will have a strong outing, the Sox will get to Lackey for 3 or 4 runs, and win 4-2.

JD Drew said he was "100 percent" for the ALDS. No official word yet on whether he'll be in the starting lineup or not. Same goes for Lowell, although all the news has been positive the past few days.

If you got kids, set the TiVo, or introduce them to coffee tomorrow morning. Game time: 10:00 PM (probably more like 10:15) on TBS.

Sources:
ESPN.com
Boston Herald

THREE WORST WORDS SOX FANS COULD HEAR: BECKETT IS HURT

Josh Beckett strained an oblique muscle during a bullpen session and his start has been pushed back from Game 1 to Game 3 of the ALDS against the Angels. Jon Lester will start Game 1, with Daisuke starting Game 3.

This is bad news no matter how you look at it. Last year, Beckett carried the Sox in October. This year, he's struggled a bit, and hasn't looked healthy all season.

This also means that Beckett will only be able to start one game in the series, as opposed to two. Thankfully Lester and Matsuzaka have been good enough to merit two starts each in the series. Let's just hope that Game 3 isn't an elimination game for the Sox. And if it is, let's hope Beckett has some October magic left in him to extend the series.

Source:
WBZ

HEY BOSTON COLLEGE, UCONN... MAN UP AND PLAY EACH OTHER!

One thing that pisses me off about BC's football scheduling is that they don't play UConn. Chestnut Hill is only 80 miles from Storrs. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are 85 miles apart. Michigan and Ohio State are 188 miles apart. Miami and Florida State are nearly 500 miles apart. In college football geography, 80 miles is a stone's throw.

Boston College doesn't have a football rival. Say what you want about Notre Dame, but the Irish don't care. Their rivals are USC, Michigan, and Purdue. The same goes for Miami (actual rivals: Virginia Tech, FSU, Florida), and Virginia Tech (actual rivals: Miami, Virginia).

So, Boston College, UConn, let's make a deal here. Play each other for 6 years and see what develops. Hell, play at Gillette Stadium if you want a neutral location. You can split up the 70,000 seats evenly between schools. BC, you'll get noticed more by the media in Boston. UConn, you'll steal a little attention from your basketball teams. Make up some silly trophy to play for like Paul Revere's Saddle or something. Call it the Blackstone River Shootout brought to you by Carl's Jr.



So instead of playing UMass or URI or Holy Cross or UNH, man up and play each other!