J.D. Drew’s 2-run home run in the the top of the 9th inning off of Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez gave the Boston Red Sox a 7-5 win in front of 45,534 stunned fans at Angel Stadium of Anaheim to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 American League Division Series.
The win for the Red Sox is a Major League record 11th straight win over one team in the playoffs. It is also their 9th straight win in the playoffs.
David Ortiz got things started in the top of the 9th with a double off of K-Rod. Coco Crisp came into pinch-run for Big Papi and K-Rod got Youk to ground out to shortstop leaving Coco at second. K-Rod then hung a changeup to Drew who put it out of the park to give the Red Sox a 7-5 lead. Jason Bay and Mark Kotsay followed with back-to-back singles but K-Rod got out of the inning by getting Jason Varitek to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.
Jonathan Papelbon was back out for his second inning of work in the bottom half of the 9th looking to send the Red Sox back to Boston with a 2-0 lead.
Torii Hunter led off the inning by trying to bunt his way on but a great throw by Kevin Youkilis nailed Hunter at first. Youk then made a great catch on the second out as reached over the photographer’s well to grab a Gary Matthews foul pop up. Papelbon ended the game with a strikeout of Howie Kendrick.
Daisuke Matsuzaka was far from perfect tonight as the Angels took advantage of his wildness.
Daisuke Matsuzaka started for the Red Sox and seemed to be in control early on. Then all of the sudden in the 5th inning, he lost command of his pitches. He ended up going 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks while fanning 5 on 108 pitches. Hideki Okajima worked an inning giving up a run on 2 hits. Justin Masterson went an inning allowing a run on a hit and 2 walks. He also struck out 2. Papelbon was perfect for 2 innings to pick up the win.
Drew and Bay both had great nights at the plate as both of them were 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI. Big Papi had 2 hits and Jacoby Ellsbury had 1 and the other RBI. The only member of the starting nine without a hit for the Red Sox was Dustin Pedroia who went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
Jason Bay connects on a 3-run homer in the 1st inning.
Angels starter Ervin Santana started out the 1st inning by retiring Ellsbury and Pedroia. Big Papi followed up with a single to extend his ALDS hitting streak to 13 games. Youkthen hit a single and Drew laced a double to right center that scored Big Papi to make it 1-0. Santana then left a pitch out over the plate that Bay absolutely crushed for a 3-run homer to put the Red Sox up 4-0. Kotsay singled but Varitek popped out to end the inning.
Dice-K also got the first two outs of the inning but Mark Teixeira and Vlad Guerrero had back-to-back singles. A Hunter single knocked in Teixeira from second base to cut the Red Sox lead to 2-1.
Both the Red Sox and Angels went quietly in the 2nd inning as well as the Red Sox in the 3rd inning.
Torii Hunter lays in pain after hurting his knee while arguing a close call at first base.
Matsuzaka retired the first two batters in the bottom of the 3rd but Teixeira and Vlad had back-to-back singles again. This time Dice-K got out of it as Hunter was called out on a bang-bang play at first. Hunter was not pleased with the call and started jumping up and down and ended up hurting his knee. He did stay in the game however.
Two-out hits were again the norm for the Red Sox in the 4th. After Santana got Kotsay and Tek, Alex Cora had a two-out double and then Ellsbury knocked him in with a double of his own to push the Red Sox lead to 5-1.
The Angels finally got a leadoff runner on in the series as Dice-K walked Juan Rivera. He then struck out Kendrick but Jeff Mathis singled to move Rivera up to second. Erick Aybar grounded out to Kotsay at first as both runners moved up 90 feet. Chone Figgins knocked in Rivera with a single to cut the lead to 5-2. Dice-K got out of any more trouble as he struck out Garrett Anderson.
Santana set down the Red Sox in order in top of the 5th and the Angels struck again for another run.
Dice-K’s command had been pretty decent all night but he started the inning with back-to-back walks of Teixeira and Vlad. Hunter knocked in Teixeira with a single as Bay’s throw from left was about a 1/2 second late to cut the Red Sox lead to 5-3. Dice-K avoided any further damage as he struck out Rivera, got Kendrick to fly out and he got the final out when pinch-hitter Kendry Morales popped out to third.
Bay started the 6th inning with a fly out and then Kotsay reached on an error by Hunter. Tek moved Kotsay to second with a single and then Mike Scioscia went to his bullpen for Jose Arredondo. He walked Cora to load up the bases but he struck out Ellsbury and got Pedroia to ground out to keep the Angels within 2 runs.
Okajima took over for Dice-K in the bottom half of the inning and set the side down in order.
Arredondo was back out in the 7th and got the first two outs of the inning. Drew and Bay then reached on singles but Kotsay flew out to right field to end the inning.
The pesky duo of Teixeira and Vlad got things started in the bottom of the 7th with back-to-back singles off of Okajima. Terry Francona came out and brought in Masterson who got Hunter to fly out as Teixeira advanced to third. Masterson then walked Rivera to load up the bases but struck out Kendrick on three pitches. He would end up walking Mike Napoli to force in a run and cut the Red Sox lead to one at 5-4. Reggie Willits came into pinch-run for Rivera at second but Masterson got out of the inning by striking out Aybar.
Scot Shields took over for Arredondo in the 8th and got Tek to ground out to first and then struck out Cora looking on a backdoor 2-seam fastball. Ellsbury worked a walk and then Shields gave way to K-Rod. With Pedroia at the plate, Ellsbury stole second but Pedroia would end up grounding out to leave Ellsbury stranded on the base path.
Chone Figgins reacts after leading off the 8th with a triple.
Figgins led off the bottom of the 8th with a triple to chase Masterson from the game as Francona called for his closer Papelbon to face Anderson. Paps got Anderson to foul out but Teixeira followed with a sacrifice fly scoring Figgins to tie the game at 5. The inning ended as Vlad made his first out of the night by popping out to second.
With the 2-0 lead, the Red Sox will now turn to their ace Josh Beckett who will look to get the Red Sox to the ALCS on Sunday night. The Angels counter with Joe Saunders who they hope will pitch well enough to give them another chance on Monday in a potential Game 4.
Notes and musings:
Red Sox @ Angels 10.3.08 ALDS Game 2 boxscore
After playing in 771 regular season games, Jason Bay was 2-for-4 with a 2B, HR, and 2 RBI on Wednesday. He became the 7th Red Sox to homer in his post-season debut.
Bay and the Dodgers’ Russell Martin both homered on Wednesday, becoming the 6th and 7th natives of Canada to homer in a post-season game: 7—Larry Walker; 2—Justin Morneau and George Selkirk; 1—Corey Koskie and Dave McKay.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless 9th on Wednesday to extend his career postseason scoreless string to 15.2 innings in 10 games. He is tied with Duster Mails for the 3rd most career playoff innings without allowing a run behind 20.0—Joe Niekro and 16.1—Dennis Cook.
Jacoby Ellsbury became just the 4th Red Sox to ever steal 2 bases in a post-season game on Wednesday: Jimmy Collins, Game 2 of the 1903 WS; Harry Hooper, Game 2 of the 1912 WS; and Juan Beniquez, Game 1 of the 1975 ALCS.
David Ortiz drove in his 39th post-season run with Boston on Wednesday, most in team history, one more than Manny Ramirez.
With his hit in the 1st inning tonight, Ortiz extended his ALDS hitting streak to 13 games. He is now tied for second all-time with Bernie Williams in Division Series play. Derek Jeter is first at 15 games.
