Now that is playoff pitching

I have been watching baseball for a long time and I have never seen a pitcher more in command of his pitches and of a game than Josh Beckett was last night. It was an absolute clinic, conducted by a surgeon, on how to pitch.

Try to put this in perspective. Beckett faced 31 batters last night, and threw a total of 25 pitches that were not strikes. Without considering anything else, that is phenomenal all by itself. More amazing though is that every Angel hitter went up there knowing he was going to be around the plate, and they could still do almost nothing with him. That is a real testament to Beckett's command, and his "stuff". Pitchers dream about games like that, but those kinds of games are few and far between.

Lost in all of this was a nice catch by Jacoby Ellsbury in the ninth inning. I think Manny gets to that on the second bounce but that catch was important since Vlad follows with a single which might have meant the end of the road for Beckett.

A good solid effort all around by the Sox.

77% of Beckett's pitches thrown were for strikes. Talk about being effctive.

ellen. sorry i didn't get a chance yesterday/last nite but hope all goes/went well with your surgery/operation.

last nite was pretty impressive by beck. i was a lil worried he'd be too jacked up to start the game but he was great. offense didn't do too well at taking adv of opp's but they did enough for last nite.

Rob8569,please refrain from comments on special ed kids they do not choose what they have to work with!!red sox loose is just a agitator,so be it. Good luck

Definitely an amazing performance.

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Ellen,

I hope your surgery goes well. We all wish you the BEST!!!

gsm, you're absolutely correct.
First pitch strike is ever so important. Amazing, Beck made it look so easy, made LAA look so hapless. I have not seen a pitcher(or maybe for a long time) so confident and posied on the mound in a playoff game.

In my earlier post I called for Ellsbury to play center field and Coco can run for Manny and solidify the left and center field in late innings.

Ellsbury is too good a defensive player and hitter to sit in the dugout.

That was awesome.

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for all your sports blog needs.

About Ellsbury's catch, don't know how he did it. He twisted his catching hand to the left and caught the ball. If the ball got by Ellsbury, it could be a double and Guerero followed by a single. This would be the end of Beck's complete game and shut out. Wow, what a catch of the game! More impressive than Coco's catch.

I think you stay with Coco in CF because nobody plays a better Fenway centerfield than him. Plus Ellsbury has come back down to earth quite a bit in the past couple of weeks and you don't want him pressing in a playoff game.

I think Francona has a nice little bench on his hands and although he didn't have to make too many moves last night, the one that he did (putting Jacoby in LF for the 9th) ended up working to perfection.

I am convinced that if Dice-K can get us a win tomorrow, this series is over. Putting Curt Schilling on the mound in a possible series clinching postgame seems like a recipe for success to me.

Big Papi is just an absolute beast in the playoffs, and with Pedroia/Youk in front of him and Manny/Lowell behind him, I'd say we have about as good of a 1-5 as there is in baseball, including the Yankees.

zach you've made a good point. Just emotionally I would like to see Ellsbury play everyday. The Sox has such a weak bench, Ellsbury is the only reliable clutch pinch hitter in a key situation.

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These guys partied hard.

This was not last night by the way.

Pedroia looks like and reminds me of Tom Cruise in "Cocktail".

looks like a large time was had by all. is it just me or does pap's wife look a lot older than him? not that there's anything wrong with that.

I think playing Coco is the right thing for now unless he continues to be as hapless at the plate as he was last night. I think Ellsbury covers as much, or more ground, and probably has a better arm than Coco, but he's not as used to Fenway as Coco is and has had a couple of issues with the wall out there in center.

Yeah, she does look little older than Pap. More I look at Pedroia more he reminds me of Tom Cruise. They are about the same size.
It seems Coco has better luck with his non marital companion than him AB.

Friday is a big night -- if DiceK pitches consistently through the playoffs, we might actually be able to pull this off -- otherwise we will probably get out hit in a series, looks like more of the same offensively from JD, Tek, Coco, Lugo, even Manny. I really was surprised -- I really thought the SOX would start hitting better in the playoffs.

The SOX have been so careful not to get too high or too low all year, it may be that the post season will be exactly the same as all year. If so, we need to ride our pitching as everyone has been saying. I am still not use to this type of SOX ball.

Its only 1 game, but I just don't see these guys banging the ball through 11 victories.

Maybe we get by the Angels this way, but I don't think we could can beat the Yanks without more offense, and the Indians could shut us down and give us a dose of our own medicine, if we don't start hitting better throughout the order.

Mike Wilbon of PTI picked the SOX to win the AL, Tony Kornheiser picked the Yanks. I almost always agree with Wilbon -- so that was good -- but the bad news is that Kornheiser's picks are better than Wilbon's as rule -- ouch. Wilbon picks with his heart, Kornheiser reads brutal facts better.

Oh well, we still have to win two more games for now. One game at a time, I am starting see how that mentality works. It certainly did in 2004!

The big difference this year is that the Sox has stronger and dependable bullpen (well rested too). If the Sox carries at least 1 run lead into the 7th, it's likely that the Sox will win the game. Delcarmen, Oki, and Pap will do the job in the 7, 8 & 9.

dgneubert, I think Tito has attended the Bill Belichick School of Team Building. You're right about the Sox not getting too high or low. In fact, their behavior strangely and strongly resembles that of the Patriots. Reading Ian's little story of the number of players showing up for a voluntary workout, and another in the Globe Extra Bases blog which actually listed the players who showed up, I'm thinking I haven't given Tito enough credit this year. Guys who showed up include Wakefield, Bucholz, Kielty, Moss, Snyder and Clayton who aren't even on the post season roster right now. If you think about it, guys like Hinske, Cora, Snyder, and even Wily Mo when he was here have never uttered a negative word about not playing. Yeah, this is all looking very Patriotic, and I like it a lot!!!!!

dgneubert. i'll cut'em a lil slack last nite. lackey is pretty tough and really didn't pitch bad. they def cannot count on pitching perf's like last nite. even from beck you can't count on THAT. i still say this teams post season will depend on 6-9 in the order. once again last nite all the rbi's came from 1-5. last nite it was good enough but likely won't be on a consistent basis. it won't happen but i'd really like to see youk in hit 6th or 7th. he's much better with RISP than any of the guys that are in those spots now. they've been inconsistent off all year. the good news is they only have to go 11-8 to win it all and they do have home field throughout.

gsm. you've gone over to the dark side with tito. ha! nah. he is good at handling players. they obviously love him. even i never criticized him for that. it's the OTHER part of his job that's a lil suspect IMO. hopefully though it'ss all work out.

No question he's made some Tito has made some bad decisions over the course of the season, smckinny. Of course, those decisions are bad because they didn't work, or we, like the experts we are, thought they wouldn't work. However, with the position the Sox are in right now with their rotation, bullpen, and overall health, he looks like a freakin genious. I guess we'll see how he does in the playoffs.

Last night, I thought he should have gone to Papelbon in the ninth. Beckett was still strong, but I thought it would have paid dividends for his next start, plus it would have given Papelbon a little work, which I don't think would hurt right now.

That being said, what Beckett accomplished last night is pretty special, so it's Tito 1, Garry 0.

3-1 Indians. Go Tribe!

Hey, how 'bout those Rockies!

Sox are poised for a good run. They have a lot of advantages. Rested bullpen, Papi, Beckett, Pedroia, Schilling, I could go on.

dandri, I don't think rob8569 was trying to insult the special ed kids. This is not a "political correctness forum" this is a Red Sox blog. If "loose" wants to come on here and spew his asinine opinions then he should expect to get some flak.

Go Sox!!

I don't quite understand the folks who questioned the Sox offensive output last night. John Lackey led the league in ERA this year, and the sox jumped him for 4 runs. Sounds like good output to me!?!?!?!?

Now let's see if Dice-K can follow in Beckett's footsteps.

I'm trying to force myself to have a tiny bit of respect for the National League teams in the playoffs... but its hard. All 4 of the teams have major weaknesses.

I agree. All 4 teams in AL are better than any team in NL. But watch out for the Rockies. They're really hot, they're still on their tie breaker win buzz.

gsm, Beckett only threw 8 pitches in that 9th inning so I don't think he will feel a difference in his pitch count from 100 (if he left after the 8th) vs. the 108 pitches total. He's not Pedro, after all.

While I agree it would have been nice to get some of the bullpen arms a little work, I don't think they are complaining because it's a long postseason. Hopefully these extra two days of rest will put some more zip on Papelbon's fastball and some more Okey to the Okey-Doke for Okajima.

I'm so sick of hearing about this "Yankees mystique" in the playoffs. I want to see Cleveland pile it on.

The Yanks are like a syringe on the Jersey shore... all washed up. Their pitching stinks, plain and simple.

They mystique, along with favorable umps, have faded away a long time ago.

The only thing I'm disappointed in is that its not going to be as obvious that A-Rod choked again if their pitching gives up 10+ per game.

No question Zach, as it turns out letting Beckett go the distance was absolutely the right thing to do. He's a horse anyway. He can easily give you 120 pitches. He was still throwing 97 in the ninth.

Yankee mystique? I'm pretty sure that disappeared in 2004. I really thought this was almost a must win for the Yankees tonight. Tomorrow they come back with Petite who has not done well in his last few starts, and then Clemens who is an unknown commodity at this point. Wang was their best shot and he was awful tonight.

Thanks Arnie, I definitely was not making fun of mentally disabled people. I do stand by my claim that loose is mentally challenged though, in a retarded sort of way.

BTW, if you do happen to go to Bronx Beat, you'll see that redsoxloose noticed that he can't spell; it changed names to redsoxlose. Apparently it picked up a thesaurus or discovered the infinite usefulness of spell check.

I took a little trip to Bryan Hoch's blog earlier today-just for fun- and I noticed that redsoxlose has learned to spell(at least one word) and I also noticed how viciously the Yankee fans have turned against their own team! After all that the Yankees went through to get to the playoffs and how well they played the 2nd half of the season, I expected some support and encouragement. But it wasn't there. Surprising.

If Dice-K throws strikes tomorrow, the Sox will prevail. If not, the Sox will have to work harder. This team gives us some drama, but they always win when they absolutely have to. I'm hoping for a sweep, and they should be able to sweep the Angels away, but our Sox do like to keep us on the edge this year. C'mon Sox, go get 'em!

Yes, this redsoxlose guy finally learned how to spell. Where is he? He was so active before the game last nignt (in Bryan Hoch's blog)and went to hibernation during and after the game.
I don't see how the Yanks can go deep into the series. Their bullpen is replete with untested, unproveen AAA call ups (except Chamberlain)and no LHP in the pen. Strange!

Here's to redsoxlose@hotmail.com

Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Indians win!

Watching Josh Beckett pitch was pure joy!! I loved every minuted of it. Not just as a RSN devotee, but as a baseball fan. I grew up watching Roger Clemens, and I can honestly say that Beckett has the same kind of magic about him. Whatever happens from this point forward, Josh Beckett pitched one **** of a game Wedensday night. Go Sox!!!

Too bad about Wang giving up 8 runs in 4.2 innings.

Too bad about Jeiter, A-Rod, Posada, Matsui,Cabera and Mientewiwicz going 0 for 19.

What is A-Rod now in post season 2 for 35? Yep he's definately worth 30 mill per year with that stat. Lol

Go Tribe, send the bumbs back to NY with their tails between their legs.

Torre must be on LSD. Why wasted Hughes for the last 2 innings when the game was already out of control, hoping for the miraculous comeback of the century?
But can't blame Torre for having Jeter swinging away with 2 on and none outs in the 5th. Schil would agree.

i wouldn't bury the yankees just yet and i picked cleve to beat them. if i recall correctly they ( NY ) won the first game against det last year at home and we know what happened then. if they lose today though they're likely done.

I wouldn't get so high on the Yankees losing one. Pettitte is known as a stopper so I don't think the Indians will have anywhere near the same ease scoring runs. I could see Pettitte going 7 and giving up two runs. Also, a couple of years the Twins took the first one from the Yankees and then lost three in a row.

The move I don't underststand by Torre is bringing in Ohlendorf instead of Hughes when he took out Wang. If you're going to use Hughes, why not pitch him in a spot where he can keep your team in the game? It's tough on Ohlendorf, who had only pitched 6 or 7 games before this.

Can't count the Bummers out yet. Historically the Bummers went on to win the ALDS losing the first game.

I think Torre used Hughes last night to get the kids feet wet during the post-season.

Pettite gives the Yankees 6 solid innings. Chamberlain and Rivera for the final 9 outs!!! That is the Yankees gameplan today. Don't count out the Yankees, your making a mistake if you do.

For tonight's Sox game. I say the series starts tonight. I personally think Dice K is going to pitch a gem. We'll see very early in that game on how he does. Hopefully Dice K watched Beckett pitch, throw strikes early in the count. When you have the stuff Dice K has, you get ahead of hitters you can finish them off.

If that's the case, Torre should have used Hughes in the 5th for two purposes 1) to control the damage, and 2) to get his feet wet for the post season. Fortunately it's Bummer's problem.
I would be extremely upset if Francona uses Lester in the same situation.

Hughes would have been my first pitcher out of the pen. I don't know why Olendorf was used. Then again I would have started Pettite. Carmona is not pitching on his usual rest, so some sinkers might be up. Like last night with Wang.

Getting too much rest for a sinker ball pitcher may affect his effectiveness as in the case with Wang last night. Critism leveled against Torre was that he should let Wang (in place of Sean Henn)pitch a few innings last Sunday. A little tired sinker ball pitcher is more effective. Let's hope that's the case with Carmona today.

To me, Wang just doesn't seem to have that killer instinct that every good ace (Beckett, Halladay, Clemens back in the day) needs. He doesn't have the intimidation factor either.

I was talking to some friends who were Yankees fans yesterday before the game and they were saying that Pettitte should have gone in Game 1 since he has a lot of playoff experience. They even went so far as to say Wang should have gone in Game 3 since he is virtually unbeatable at Yankee Stadium. I don't know how you hold onto a 19-game winner until Game 3 but letting Pettitte go in Game 1 didn't seem like such an awful idea.

As for tonight's game, can somebody please translate to Dice-K what Beckett said in his press conference about not trying to strike out every Angels batter since they battle you so hard and can really work a pitch count. If he pitches to contact and lets the 2nd best defense in the AL make the plays, he can get into the 7th inning and then we can let our healthy, rested bullpen shut the door.

By the way, I know everybody loves to give Magadan a hard time, but I think he deserves a little bit of love for this (reported by Peter Gammons):

"But while Beckett may be the pitcher you'd most want pitching the most important game, the Boston approach against John Lackey was huge. On Monday, hitting coach Dave Magadan went through advance guru Dana Levangie's report and begged hitters to try to lay off Lackey's slider and curveball out of the strike zone.

Not one Boston hitter swung at a pitch out of the strike zone from Lackey."

Dice-K has the velocity and movement but location is sometimes lacking. Can someone please tell the Sox lineup to give Dice-K just 1 meager run lead getting into the 7th? Our boys Delcarmen/Timlin, Oki (please no Gagne), and Pap can wrap up a win for us.

Zach, I would disagree with you on Wang. I think a guy who has back to back 19 win seasons has as much killer instinct as anyone. Guys like Clemens and Beckett are intimidating because they throw the ball 100 mph and like to go inside. That's enought to intimidate anyone. Their intimidation is what allows them to get away with throwing so many fastballs. Clemens is no longer intimidating, he's more Wang-like and relies on movement and control.

I would say Wang pretty much just had a bad night. Everything was up and he was getting whacked pretty good. It happens, and is probably more likely to happen with playoff adrenaline flowing.

It will be interesting to see if Dice-K can control that adrenaline tonight. He's a guy who's had command problems throughout the year and it could be worse tonight. This will be a real test to him, and especially to Varitek who will really have to take control of him out there. If he has command, he's as good as there is, if not, he's an average pitcher.

I really liked Manny batting second. I know, I know, he's a run producing machine. However, he's still on the comeback trail and hitting second in front of Papi gives him a lot of good pitches to look at. As was proven in the whole month of September, Papi doesn't need Manny hitting behind him to be successful. However, at this point, the reverse may be true. He also hits to the right side a lot, so if DP does get on, he could wind up at third. Just something I'd be thinking about if I were managing.

It wasn't Wang's night. When you see a sinkerballer has too many fly ball outs, it signals trouble. Torre made the Grady Little and Francona mistake by staying with Wang toooooo long.

Obviously Wang is the #1 starter on the majority of teams but I just don't ever see him take his game to another level. Maybe that's because guys like Beckett and Clemens wear their emotions on their sleeves so you can physically see them stepping it up in big spots, but with Wang that is not the case.

If you have 19 wins in back-to-back seasons you're clearly doing something right. But I would much rather take my chances vs. Wang in a big game than Pettitte, regardless of what Wang does during the regular season.

Torre has the limping Matsui in the lineup in place of Giambi or Duncan again. Wow, we shall see.

zach. sorry but i don't get your ( or gammons ) point on magadan. he told guys to "lay off pitches out of the zone" and he deserves credit for that? never known too many folks who suggested swinging at balls or bad pitches first of all. secondly your approach at the plate always depends on the pitcher. if you have a guy with good control ( i.e. lackey ) your best pitches to hit IMO will typically be early in the count because he is trying to get ahead in the count and knows if he does fall behind he'll still have the ability to be around the plate. escobar's control is TYPICALLY not quite as good so you might wanna take a few more pitches early because he will likely have a few more instances where he has to make sure he throws a strike and can't afford to nibble as much.

I would rather have a limping Matsui in the game than either Giambi or Duncan. They are both relatively worthless as starters but can provide the long ball threat off the bench.

smckinny, I would really like to think that Magadan's advanced scouting went beyond "don't swing at bad pitches" but I'm not going to pretend to know what he said exactly. All I know is that generally the Sox strike out with the best of them (although their total has been decreasing every year since 2003), and the fact that they did not chase one single ball outside of the strike zone has to be commended, in my opinion anyways.

Smckinny - given that you blame Madagan for the bats not doing so well ths year, does it not make sense that he should get credit when they do well off the pitcher with the best ERA in the AL?

How's it going all? Haven't posted in a while but we all have to love the individual outcomes of both the Sox/Yanks respective game 1's. However, both series could very easily be tied 8 hours from now.
The Sox need a consistent Dice-K. He can give up 4 in 7 innings but I can't see 6 scoreless with a 5 run wild inning thrown in there. If the Sox wait out Escobar they can get to him. No one on that starting staff scares me so Escobar should be hittable. It is amazing how much Manny batting 4th fills out that entire lineup out. I like Mikey Lowell just about as much as anybody but he is not a cleanup hitter. He will have so much more success this postseason batting in the 5 hole.

And here's to another Cleveland win. Wouldn't it be perfect if CLE was up 2-0 and Mr. Trot Nixon stepped to the plate against Clemens in Game 3 and put the game out of reach?? Talk about everything coming around.

zach. i'm not convinced magadan reads any scouting reports. i think he pretty much says take everything until you get 2 strikes and the only swing then if it's really close. at least that's the perception i get most of the time. last nite they did seem to swing at early pitches a lil more which they have to against guys like lackey.

brendan. players have to execute what ever their approach at the plate. i do think his approach/coaching was a key factor in this teams off inconsistency this season. SD had the same issue when he was there and he wasn't invited back. he just has a lil more talent to work with now. personally i wouldn't call 4 runs against lackey ( or anybody else )anything to get too excited about but if you do that's cool. last nite was a function of DECENT off and GREAT pitching IMO.

yanks up 1-0, and they only have one hit...figures! havent read the goings on so far today, my 2 cents would put ellsbury in center...he's more then adaquate on defense..and has more of a bat then crisp....way more!

maybe wang's another a-rod...from the pitchers side of things...lol

Ellsbury is absolutely not better at defense than Coco is.

I realize everybody's high on Jacoby because he injected a lot of excitement and life into this team in September but Crisp has not made an error all season and knows the intricacies and dimensions of Fenway Park. If a ball is in play and hit in Coco's general vicinity, I'm always confident he's going to bring it in.

Andy Pettitte is single-handedly keeping his team in this series. He's pitched an amazing game so far. Runners on all the time and he does not let them score.

Grady Sizemore is what you call a superior talent in every aspect of the game. What a catch on Posada's line drive !

I think it's safe to say that Peralta's double is a HR in each of the 29 other ballparks in the majors.***** it !

Peralta's ball was absolutely crushed!!!!

Pettite did what we all thought. Chamberlain comes in the 7th and slams the door shut. If your trailing the Yankees late in the playoffs, good luck. Rivera has struggled at Jacobs Field over the years!!! Of course one of his very few October negatives happened in Cleveland 10 years ago, Alomar Jr. takes him deep and the Tribe win the game and eventually end up in the World Series.

Safe to say Chamberlain is feeling the PRESSURE!!!

2 wild pitches in the inning and Chamberlain hits a batter!!!

Blame it on the bugs!!!

LOL...

Those TBS announcers are incredible. When the Yanks were hitting in the top of the 8th, that wasn't easy to hit a baseball with all those bugs. Now that they're on defense, it's not easy for the pitcher !

Are we on YES ?

The bugs are there, live with it, deal with it....

I can here Yankee fans now!!! It was the bugs....

Only the Yankees could be involved in a game that is 1-1 and it is over 3 hours old.

A-Rod in October has disappeared AGAIN!!!

Could it be the curse of the Red Sox?

Ever since game 4 back in the A.L.C.S. of 2004, A-Rod looks like a shadow of himself!!!

Perhaps the pressure is just too much for him.

See, Joba ? Fausto can throw strikes despite some bugs !

If he goes 0-14 and the Yankees get dumped in the ALDS, are you all still going to be clamoring to sign him to Boston?

A-Rod sure is another man in postseason. Go figure.

Never wanted him for what he'll be looking for.

Even if he won 3 games with homers in the 9th inning. Your restricting your payroll for 1 guy!!!

Chamberlain was feeling the PRESSSURE. October baseball is a new animal!!!

I think A-Rod will end up either in San Fran or Anaheim.

Listening to Ted Robinson and Steve Stone, I am getting tired. They could lull anyone to sleep!!!

I would pound Garrett Anderson with fastballs inside. His front eye ( right eye ) for a lefty is partially shut. I don't think his eyesight is too good with any pitch with speed inside. I didn't like the pitch selection at all.

Angels certainly made Dice K work for it in the 1st inning. I think he'll settle down now.

Escobar didn't pitch much in September, inflammation in his shoulder. If the Sox can lay off of his split, they'll be just fine tonight. Easier said than done of course.

zach. YES. any time i can have arguably the best all round hitter ever i'll take my chances.

31 pitches-nice first inning from Dice-K, keeps that up and he might last 3 innings.

whether it's him or tek i don't know but dice throws too much junk IMO. when you got a 94+ fastball locate it and use it! they try to fool guys too much when he's pitching IMO.

Drew was 2 for 17 during the year with the bases loaded. In the playoffs he comes thru. 2 out r.b.i. hits are back breakers!!!

Angels couldn't come up with the big hit in the 1st inning and the Sox do.

TEK. baseball's rally killer poster boy does it again! he should have envisioned no one on base.

smckinny,

I do agree with you about how Dice K pitches. I would like too see him pound the strike zone with fastballs on both sides of the plate.

In Japan though they like to use the fastball more later in the game.

smckinny---I 'm with you though.

Kotchman is one of these good professional hitters. You never see him swing at bad pitches, he knows the strike zone well.

Tek hit it hard though, right at the 2b. Give him credit there. If you get out, make the out loud. Getting good wood is always good.

Indians won ! 2-0 Tribe !

bosox. i put that on tek. he should know his strengths and go with them. he ain't in japan a-more. if dice can get through 5 maybe 6 with less than 4 he needs to get out. he doesn't have it tonite. that's obvious. 4 ain't gonna get it done. this a huge game. ana is much better at home than on the road.

brendan. your boi magadan's approach ain't gonna work tonite. esobar is on. need to be lookin for early strikes and hackin. ana on the other hand should take as much as possible. dice has looked really avg. at best. 6 would be a huge plus. i'd pull him after 5 if he gets there. not like the pen is overworked plus they will prob need him for game 5.

good move by tito. now if they can actually stay awake during an at bat they might be okay. not feelin it though.

win or lose just don't give vlad a chance to beat you that's all i ask! he's deadly. walk him, pitch around him what ever.

hope it works out but i don't like bringin oki in in this situation. he's more of a start the inning guy IMO.

Lugo, Pedroia and Youk due up in the bottom 9th. One of them has to get on base and Papi will get a shot at what he does best : clutch hitting.

Looks like Vlad isn't going to beat us after all, smckinny. Delcarmen nailed him in the shoulder and now he is out of the game with a contusion.

Sox have to win this game, they have too much going in their favor right now. The bullpen has been unbelievable so far. I don't think anybody wants to see Gagne come into this thing but if they play extras, it might come down to him.

The key is to get some runners on ahead of Papi in this 9th so the Angels can't walk him anymore. This guy is like the anti-A-Rod in the playoffs when it comes to clutch situations.

MAAAANNNNYYYYYYY !

You gotta love that. Manny being Manny!

:-D

That's all I can say!

We were waiting for that from Manny for a while now. Gotta love how he delivers!

As for Delcarmen's pitch, man I'd be ticked off too if I got drilled in the shoulder-area with a 94-95 MPH pitch. That's got to hurt...not to wish hurt upon anybody but it would be nice to see Vlad out just for a game. I doubt we'll see that with the schedule the way it is however.

No matter, tonight was Manny being Manny!

-Raj

http://pacol250.livejournal.com

ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED

What a win!!! Hard to think for a better moment for Manny to turn hard on a pitch......And off a great closer tastes even better.
Has anyone heard about Ellen? If you are reading this blog, I hope you are doing just fine....And hopefully you had a chance to watch the game and the Red Sox helped you feel better. We miss you here. Get well soon.

WOW!!

Seems like all year we've been waiting for Manny to do that, and he sure picked a great time.

Well managed game. Bullpen could not have been better. Dice-K was shaky, but thank God he didn't have a total meltdown, and Tito got him out of there in time.

Sox needed to win 2 at home and they did. This team has something special. Could be a sweep coming.

Go Sox!!

Hope you feel OK Ellen. We're thinking about you. And Manny delivered a win for ya!

I think that win was for you Ellen! Hope you're doing well!

-Raj

http://pacol250.livejournal.com

Smckinny - you don't deem 4 runs in six innings off the AL best ERA pitcher (in the playoffs too) a success? Your standards are too high! Put it this way. I think the Yankees offense is probably better than ours - they have scored 4 runs in 20 innings. 4 runs off 6 off the best pitcher ERA-wise is a success.

Also, I think the somewhat patient approach worked well against Esbobar worked well, running his pitch count high and knocking him out after 5. The Angels bullpen has been a strength before but not this year, so the sooner we get to it the better.

Top quality win last night. Need to make sure the next game at Fenway is not against the Angels.

PICKIN YOUR POISON

I remember the bloggers after Game 1 asking why Scioscia didn't walk Big Papi late in the game.

Now I am one who agrees that Scioscia is one of the best managers in baseball (though I am one of the few bloggers who maintains that the Sox manager is equally as good!), and Manny demonstrated last night why the strategy of pitching around Big Papi can backfire. It's called "Picking your Poison." Do you want to be beaten by Big Papi, or as some of you put it so eloquently last night -- do you want to be beaten by Manny being Manny!?!?!?!?!

If Manny continues to hit in the post-season with Mikey behind him, and Big Papi begins to see even better pitches than he has been seeing, this could be a really fun ride.

Come on Schill, finish this series on Sunday and bring the boys to my hometown of Cleveburg. With what LeBron is doing, I don't feel bad at all not supporting the team from my hometown. I'd rather support the team I grew up with: the RED SOX!?!?!?!?!?!?!

brendan. didn't say it wasn't a success, i said it wasn't overly impressive. one run would have been a success because beck didn't allow any. but, it's not like they knocked it all over the yard and chased him after 2 inn's or anything. it was a decent effort against a quality pitcher.

What a Win! What A Home Run!
Manny was terrible both defensively and AB all night until he hits a crushing walkoff HR. Give credit to Francona for staying with Manny (in place of Ellsbury) in late innings AND to the bull pen to my boys Delcarmen, Oki, and big Pap.

B/W, Dice-K was ineffective but he kept the game in control. If Manny didn't misplay the ball, a run or 2 could be saved for Dice K.

Thanks to the fan interference, otherwise Manny would be the 3rd out and the the Sox could lose the game 2-3.

Francona made all the right moves last night/this a.m.

He took out Dice K at the right time. Boston's bullpen was lights out tonight.

Ramirez with a blast that just landed somewhere in Southern New Hampshire, that ball was crushed.

bosox. a-rod to san fran? no way. they are gonna ******* for a long time. he won't do that. i don't think anyway. ana can't afford him. NY, Boston, or possibly the cubbies. those are really the only options i think. there's prob some truth to that rumor about an ownership stake in chi.

bosox, you're right about Francona. Francona has made the right moves since the Sox clinched the playoffs berth.
Forget Javier who bailed out Dice-K. Javier is more effective against righties.

Mother Nature doesn't want the Bronx Bummers to win in the playoffs. Last year was the rainout, this year the BUGS attack.
Wonder why Torre didn't ask for the delay of the game and have Mo to pitch in the 8th for the 3rd out?

I love the Indians' comments on the trouble the Yankees had with the bugs last night:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071005&content_id=2252518&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

A highlight:"The other guys on the Yankees were acting like there were bullets flying around their heads, not gnats," Cleveland first baseman Ryan Garko added. "I mean ... this is the big leagues."

I was watching the game with a bunch of guys, and of course we cheered when the Yankees loss was announced. Of course, later we said to ourselves, "That doesn't actually help us..." Still, it's nice to see the Evil Empire lose like that. And a swarm of locusts? It's a fitting punishment.

All in all, a beautiful night for baseball. Congrats, Manny, your lackadaisical fielding is yet again forgiven.

Ellen, how are you ?

I guess the Manny's blast was a nice and smooth balm. Hope you feel fine. And i hope you get to see the games. Otherwise last night you were probably driving the staff crazy with your " what's the score, are we winning ? " every 5 minutes. LOL

Seriously, get well soon.

Schilling on the mound tomorrow. I like that. Mr Big Games will try to go for the jugular. Don't let them win one and get all pumped up for game 4 in front of their crowd.

Manny had some classic quotes in his media session after the game last night. It's really a shame he doesn't talk more, just for the entertainment value. Here was my favorite line:

""I haven't been right all year. When you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's how you know you're a bad man."

This thing is over as far as I'm concerned. Now the decision to go with Schilling in Game 3 looks even better. Francona has managed flawlessly so far, if you disagree then you probably need to seek counseling regarding your blinding hatred for Tito.

The 2-3-4-5-6 hitters each have picked up big RBI's throughout the first two games. With our starting pitching and bullpen coupled with this lineup, you have to like Boston right now.

I still want the Tribe-Yankees series to go at least 4-5 games, I don't really care who wins. It'd just be nice for both teams to have to use their ace again before the ALCS, which I am completely looking ahead to at this point.

smckinny,

I'm sure you also said the same thing when A-Rod signed a mega deal with the Rangers. Everyone including me thought he was going to the Mets. In sports, you never say " no way "

I think A-Rod would be a great fit for the Angels. I wonder if owner Artie Moreno will open up his wallet. Moreno has been known to go after latin players as free agents. Escobar, Cabrera, Colon and Gurrero. Moreno who is latin, knows of the population in So. Cal. is loaded with latins.

I am glad to see that Francona is managing a bit differently in the playoffs than he did during the season. I hope he has learned to pull pitchers whenever they show any signs of faltering. During the season he probably would have left Dice-K in and in all likelihood he would have blew the game. Maybe because it's a short series and he could go to his buulpen early . In either case, pull the pitcher, no matter who he is. Also, I hope to see Crisp, Lugo and Pedroia take at least one strike when they come to bat. They have to get on base for the bigger guns to drive them in.Youkolis seems to do this most of the time.Varitek continues to have his problems. As I said in prior msgs and in all seriousness,, perhaps he should have his eyes checked.

Hi guys, I'm back, a little more than a little groggy, but I'm here. Thanks for all the good thoughts, they made me feel really good. I saw (I think) the game Thursday night, kept waking up ehrn the Indians scored!!! And I kind of saw both games yesterday. Yes, indeed a nice soothing balm it was rsox!! Kind of bummed that there's no AL ball today, but I guess I can take it easy and just watch my Miami Hurricanes. I'll be back later, a