The Boston Red Sox went into their American League Divison Series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with hopes of taking at least one of the games in Anaheim. They had the right pitchers on the mound in Jon Lester and Josh Beckett.
Instead, they now find themselves on the brink of elimination heading back to Boston for Game 3 with a pitcher who hasn’t pitched in the postseason in young Clay Buchholz. If there is any advantage for Buchholz, it’s the fact that he’s pitching at home. Sure there will be nerves but he needs to put those aside and quick as the fate of the Red Sox season clearly rests on his right arm.
The Red Sox have been here before in the ALDS. They trailed the Oakland A’s 2-0 in 2003 before coming back to win. Sure it was a different team back then but this 2009 team has the makeup to get it done.
They’ve run into some quality pitching from the Angels so far. Their starters, John Lackey and Jered Weaver, have gone deep into the games which has allowed skipper Mike Scioscia to use the bullpen how he wants to. The Angels bullpen wasn’t one of the best this season but having Lackey and Weaver go deep has been nothing but beneficial.
On the other hand, the Red Sox pitching from Lester and Beckett hasn’t been that bad either. One bad inning did Beckett in last night and with the Red Sox bats not making good contact, it’s hard to overcome. This little cold snap of the bats reminds me of what happened after the All Star break when it seemed like all the money in the world couldn’t buy them a hit.
Now they’ll have to come up big against a pitcher who has done well against them in Scott Kazmir. If the bats can’t wake up tomorrow afternoon, it will be curtains on the 2009 season for the Red Sox. So now we can relax on this Saturday and use our nervous energy to watch college football or do other things.
But come Sunday, all eyes of Red Sox Nation will be on the young right arm of Buchholz. Godspeed young Clay, godspeed.
Post-game quotes from Anaheim [ESPN Boston]
Game 2: Postgame thoughts [Amy K. Nelson – ESPN]
Lester on Game 4 Start: ‘I’ll Be Ready’ [Full Count]
Beckett frustrated with Bucknor, himself [Full Count]
Francona: ‘We Need to Win a Game’ [Full Count]
Red Sox Road Woes Continue [Full Count]
Ortiz’s simple message: “We are troopers” [Hacks with Haggs]
Pretty Simple [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]
In defeats, Lowell’s glove has stood out [Projo Sox Blog]
For Buchholz, October Opportunity Finally Arrives [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Five Things We Learned: The Red Sox Can’t Quite Solve This Riddle [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
Is Don Orsillo going to be the biggest jinx ever? [Batter-up with Bruno]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, 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.
