Yawn! It was a late night for baseball as we watched the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim behind the pitching of Jon Lester and the bats of Jacoby Elllsbury and Jason Bay. For the Angels, it was their 10th straight loss to the Red Sox in the postseason. For the Red Sox, it was their 8th straight postseason win.
Josh Beckett was supposed to start Game 1 until the oblique injury sidelined him until a probable Game 3 start. So what does Red Sox skipper Terry Francona do? He inserts the ace of 2008 in Lester, who also happens to have been named pitcher of the month for September. And oh yeah, he bumps up 18-game winner Daisuke Matsuzaka from a Game 3 start to one in Game 2.
Lester may not have been the best pitcher early as Angels starter John Lackey was nearly perfect early on. But that baseball, she’s a funny game and can turn on a drop of a dime. And that’s what happened when Bay took advantage of a Lackey mistake and crushed a 2-run homer. The runs for the Red Sox seemed to make Lester even stronger as he made the Angels hitters look like Little League hitters in the 6th inning as he struck out the side.
Francona showed confidence in the young lefty in the 7th inning as Lester’s pitch count was at 106. All Lester did was shut down the side in order as he retired the last 7 batters he faced in the game.
“He was throwing the ball really well,” said the skipper. “There was no reason to take him out.”
I’m pretty sure we all know this, but Jacoby Ellsbury loves the postseason.
Mike Timlin was disappointed about not being on the Red Sox postseason roster.
The Angels problems in October continued last night.
The biggest test for Josh Beckett comes this afternoon when he will throw his bullpen session.
The Angels offensive upgrades didn’t help them out last night.
Mike Lowell battled through last night’s game with his hip injury and played all 9 innings.
Jeff Mathis will start at catcher for the Angels in Game 2.
Kevin Youkilis’ play in the 8th inning turned out to be huge for the Red Sox.
Jacoby Ellsbury talks about his diving catch in the 8th inning.
One of the keys of the Red Sox postseason success this year will be the right arm of Jonathan Papelbon.
Before last night, defending World Series Champions had not won a playoff game since 2001.
All of the Boston Globe scribes have their video roundups of the game.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe will be chatting over at Boston.com at 12 Noon today.
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the LA Times, Orange County Register and LA Daily News websites.
