Jacoby Ellsbury had four hits with 2 RBIs, Dustin Pedroia had three hits with 2 RBI’s and Daisuke Matsuzaka gave the Red Sox 5â…“ strong innings as they defeated the Rockies 10-5 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the World Series. Dice-K also helped himself with a 2-RBI single in the 3rd inning. Mike Lowell chipped in with two hits and 2 RBIs as well for the Sox.
Although Matsuzaka only lasted a â…“ of an inning more than he had all postseason, they were solid effective innings. Without his strong effort the Red Sox might not have been in the position they were tonight.
Ellsbury led off the 1st with a what amounted to a swinging bunt off of Josh Fogg. Dustin Pedroia had an infield single to get Ellsbury to second. If you were a Rockies fan, you were thinking “ut oh, not again”. No worries though as Fogg rebounded to strikeout David Ortiz. He then got Manny Ramirez and Lowell to fly out.
Kaz Matsui smoked a single off of his countryman, Dice-K, to get things going in the 1st for the Rox. He ended up second base as J.D. Drew failed to pick the ball up for an error. Dice-K made Troy Tulowitzki his first strikeout victim of the night. Matt Holliday then grounded a ball back to the mound. Dice-K went to Lowell at third and they got Matsui in a rundown. Lowell ended up tagging Matsui out as Holliday would stay at first. Todd Helton grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning as the Rockies continued their futility with runners on base.
In the top of the 2nd, Fogg worked around a 2-out double by Julio Lugo. He had gotten Drew and Jason Varitek on ground outs. He finished it off with a strikeout of Matsuzaka.
Dice-K hit Garrett Atkins with a pitch in the shoulder to start the bottom of the 2nd inning. He was able to get around it though when Brad Hawpe struck out for the seventh time in the World Series, Torrealba flew out and Cory Sullivan grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Ellsbury got the Red Sox going in the 3rd inning when he smoked a double off of Fogg. Pedroia tried to bunt him over to third but ended up reaching on an infield single as Torrealba’s throw pulled Helton off the bag. Or as Amalie Benjamin from the Boston Globe so aptly put, Pedroia got fast over the last 24 hours. Big Papi made it 1-0 Sox as he laced a double to the gap in right field easily scoring Ellsbury with Pedroia getting all the way over to third. Rockies manager Clint Hurdle decided to intentionally walk Manny, loading up the bases for Lowell. This was a mistake as Lowell hit a 2-run single scoring Pedroia and Big Papi to put the Sox up 3-0. Fogg finally got the first out of the inning as he got Drew to pop out. Varitek followed that with a single that almost scored Manny who was out at the plate. Lugo worked a walk to load the bases up for Dice-K. Matsuzaka helped himself out as he hit a first pitch curveball into left bringing home two more runs giving the Sox a 5-0 lead. Ellsbury followed that with his second double of the inning scoring Lugo. The double put the Sox up 6-0 and chased Fogg from the game. Hurdle brought in Franklin Morales and he got the Rockies out of the inning as Pedroia grounded out to third.
Dice-K was looking his best in this postseason as he worked a perfect 1-2-3 bottom of the 3rd. He struck out the first two batters in Franklin Morales and Matsui. He got Tulowitzki to ground out to Lugo at short for the final out.
Morales looked to calm the Rockies down as he worked in the 4th. He made quick work of the Red Sox as Big Papi grounded out, Manny flew out, and Lowell hit a comebacker to the mound.
The Rockies best hitter in this World Series so far, Holliday, started the bottom of the 4th with a ground out. Dice-K struck out Helton after a 12 pitch at-bat. He then issued a walk to Atkins for his first walk of the game. Hawpe continued his lack of hitting in the postseason as he popped out to Lugo.
Drew led off the 5th with a double off of Morales. He would leave Drew stranded there as he was able to strikeout Varitek, got Lugo to fly out and Matsuzaka to ground out.
Torrealba started the 5th with a single off of Matsuzaka, just the Rockies second hit of the night. Sullivan flew out and Seth Smith came into pinch-hit for Morales. Smith moved Torrealba over to second with a bloop single into right. Matsui grounded into a fielder’s choice as Lugo went to third to get Torrealba. Matsuzaka got out of the inning as Tulowitzki popped out to Lugo.
Jeremy Affeldt took over for Morales, who had given the Rockies 2â…“ scoreless innings, to start the 6th. He set the Red Sox down in order.
Kevin Youkilis, who was on the bench to start the game, took over for Big Papi at first in the bottom of the 6th. Holliday grounded out for the first out of the inning. Dice-K then had some control issues as he walked Helton and Atkins. Having seen enough from his Japenese rookie pitcher, Terry Francona went to his bullpen for Javier Lopez. He was completely ineffective as Hawpe singled in the Rockies first run of the night to cut the lead to 6-1. Torrealba followed that with a RBI single and just like that the Coors Field crowd was loud and waving the terrible towels again. Francona came out to the mound again and this time brought in Mike Timlin. Hurdle countered the move by pinch-hitting for Sullivan in Ryan Spilborghs. Timlin got him to fly to center for the second out. Jeff Baker came into pinch-hit for Affeldt and he made the third out as he lined out to Lugo who made a great jumping effort to catch it.
Spilborghs took over in center for Sullivan and Matt Herges came on in relief of Affeldt. Herges had no problems with the Red Sox hitters as he struck out the side (Manny, Lowell and Drew) in the inning.
Timlin was back on the bump to start the 7th and Matsui laid down a perfect bunt to reach. With Tulowitzki at the plate, Matsui beat the throw of Varitek and stole second base. Tulowitzki ended up singling but Matsui got only as far as third. Francona went to the mound and made a double-switch. He brought in Coco Crisp to play center with Ellsbury moving over to right field and Drew leaving the game. Hideki Okajima came in to face Holliday. The first pitch Holliday saw from Okajima was crushed over the wall in center for a 3-run home run that cut the Red Sox lead to 6-5. Helton followed the Holliday blast with a single. Okajima then reverted back to the Okajima we all know as he struck out Atkins and Hawpe. He left Helton stranded at first as Torrealba grounded out back to him.
Brian Fuentes took over for the Rockies to start the 8th inning and looked to continue what his bullpen mates had done by shutting down the Red Sox. He got Varitek to ground out for the first out but then issued the deadly walk to Lugo. Crisp followed that with a single off the end of his bat just under the glove of Tulowitzki. Ellsbury brought Lugo home as he hit one down the right field line for a double in front of the sliding Hawpe. Pedroia made it 9-5 Red Sox as his double cleared the bases. Fuentes settled down after the three runs and got Youkilis to ground out and Manny to pop out leaving Pedroia at second base.
Manny Delcarmen came out to start the bottom of the 8th for Francona’s Red Sox. Spilborghs fouled out Ellsbury in deep right for the first out of the inning. Wily Taveras pinch-hit for Fuentes and lined out to Pedroia at second. Matsui got his third hit of the night as he singled to center field. After Delcarmen fell behind 2-0 to Tulowitzki, pitching coach John Farrell made a visit to the mound. The visit didn’t work as Delcarmen walked Tulowitzki. This brought Francona to the mound as he signaled for his ace of the bullpen, Jonathan Papelbon. Pedroia came out of the game and Alex Cora came into play second as part of the double-switch. With the Superman theme playing, Holliday strolled to the plate to face Papelbon. Paps would only need one pitch as Holliday flew out to Manny in left.
Lowell greeted LaTroy Hawkins with a single to start the top of the 9th. Cora, making his first appearance at the plate, sacrificed Lowell over to second. With Varitek at the plate, Lowell took off and stole third without a throw from Torrealba. Varitek brought Lowell home with a sacrifice fly to give the Sox a 10-5 lead. Hawkins finished the inning off by getting Lugo to ground out.
Papelbon got Helton to fly out to start the bottom of the 9th inning. Atkins then grounded out to Lowell at third for the second out. Hawpe then kept the game alive for the Rockies as laced a 2-out triple past a diving Youkilis into right field. Papelbon shattered Torrealba’s bat as the ball went to Lugo who threw him out to end the game.
With the Red Sox up 3-0 in the World Series, they will give the ball to Jon Lester to try and finish off the Rockies in four games. They will be trying to sweep their second consecutive World Series. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 in 2004 for their first World Series win in 86 years.
Now they will try for the second in 3 years.
Notes and musings:
Craig Biggio was honored with the 2007 Roberto Clemente Award before the game. The award recognizes the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.
Tonight’s game will mark the first World Series contest played outside of either the Eastern or Central time zones since the 2002 all-California Fall Classic.
The Rockies PA announcer was channeling Michael Buffer while announcing the Rockies lineup. Buffer would not be proud.
The terrible towels are back. Someone needs to teach the Rockies fan a thing or two about being a proper fan.
This was the first World Series game played at Coors Field.
Daisuke Matsuzaka becomes the first Japanese born starting pitcher to start a World Series game. Hideki Okajima was the first to appear in a game with his Game 2 appearance.
Kevin Youkilis was the odd-man out of the lineup as the Terry Francona had to decide between him and David Ortiz.
Jon Lester was officially named the Game 4 starter by Francona today.
Colorado is the 51st team to lose the first two games of a World Series. Of those previous teams, only 11 have rallied and won the Series, though 28 of those teams did win Game Three.
The Red Sox have allowed just 2 runs in the 1st 2 games of this series, the fewest for the club in Games 1 and 2 of World Series since 1967 (2).
Terry Francona is 6-0 in World Series play, the most WS wins without a loss of any manager all-time.
Coming into tonight, Hideki Okajima has worked 9.2 scoreless innings in 6 games of this postseason. Jonathan Papelbon has pitched 11â…” scoreless innings in 7 career postseason appearances.
Carrie Underwood sang tonight’s National Anthem and looked quite delicious. Denver native and lead vocalist for Earth, Wind and Fire, Philip Bailey performed God Bless America.
Mike Lowell has a 5-game hitting streak at .412 (7-17). Dustin Pedroia also has a 5- game streak at .409 (9-22) with 2 homers. J.D. Drew has hit safely in his last 8 postseason games at .433 (13-30).
Jacoby Ellsbury became the second player ever to hit two doubles in a single inning in the World Series. The other was Arizona’s Matt Williams on Nov. 11, 2001.
The Red Sox batted around for the 6th time in the postseason tonight.
Daisuke Matsuzaka’s two-run, two-out single with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning was the first base hit in a World Series by a Red Sox pitcher since Game Seven of the 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Every member of the Red Sox starting lineup had a hit tonight.
The World Series MVP will receive a Chevy Malibu and Tahoe Hybrid.
Ellsbury became the third rookie to have four hits in a World Series game.
Sign seen during the game:
Thanks to the comedic genius of Steve for the picture.
World’s longest post.
