Bobby Kielty’s pinch-hit home run in the 8th was the difference as Jonathan Papelbon came in and closed the door on the Rockies magical season as the Sox defeated the Rox 4-3 to win their second World Series in 4 seasons. Jon Lester was outstanding for the Red Sox tonight as he gave them 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
Jacoby Ellsbury got things started in the 1st of Rockies starter Aaron Cook as he doubled leading off. With Garrett Atkins in at third,Dustin Pedroia grounded out to him allowing Ellsbury to get to third. David Ortiz brought in Ellsbury with a RBI single to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. Cook got out of the inning as he got Manny Ramirez to ground into a 5-4-3 double play.
Jon Lester was on the hill tonight making his first start of the postseason. He had worked in relief in the Cleveland series. He had a very easy 1-2-3 inning. He got Kaz Matsui to pop up to him, Troy Tulowitzki to strikeout and Matt Holliday grounded out to Pedroia.
Cook had no troubles with the Sox in the top of the 2nd as he got Mike Lowell to ground out for the first out. J.D. Drew was the second out as he popped out. Cook finished it off by getting Jason Varitek to ground out.
Todd Helton got the first hit of the night for the Rockies as he doubled to start the 2nd. Atkins was unable to move Helton over as he grounded out to third. Lester then got Spilborghs to fly out but it was deep enough to move Helton to third. Brad Hawpe worked a 2-out walk to give the Rox runners on first and third. Lester was able to escape the jam as Torrealba grounded out to shortstop.
Cook found his groove in the 3rd inning. He made quick work of the Sox as he got three groundball outs off the bats of Julio Lugo, Lester and Ellsbury.
Lester got Cook to fly out for the first out in the bottom of the 3rd. Matsui stroked a double to deep left giving the Rockies a runner in scoring position again. They were unable to bring him in though as Lester got Tulowitzki to strikeout for the second time tonight and then he struck out Holliday to avoid any damage.
Cook was still cruising as he worked a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 4th. Pedroia grounded out, Big Papi popped out and Manny lined out to left.
Lester was giving the Sox just what they needed from him through the first 3 innings and it continued in the 4th. He was able to get the first two hitters before issuing a 2-out walk to Spilborghs. Lester got the struggling Hawpe to fly out to close out the inning.
Lowell led off the 5th with a double as the Sox looked to increase their lead against Cook and the Rockies. Drew wasn’t able to advance Lowell to third as he hit a comebacker to Cook on the mound. Varitek gave the Sox a 2-0 lead as his single scored Lowell who slide around the tag by Torrealba at the plate. Lugo followed that up with a single to give the Red Sox runners on first and second with one out. Cook was able to get out of the jam though as he struck out Lester who was trying to bunt and he also struck out Ellsbury.
Torrealba led off the bottom of the inning with a pop out. Cook got the Rockies a baserunner as he pushed a bunt past Lester. Matsui got jammed and popped up for the second out. Lester got around the bunt by Cook by getting Tulowitzki to ground into a fielder’s choice.
After giving up his second run of the night in the previous inning, Cook looked to keep the game at 2-0 Red Sox. And he did just that. Pedroia grounded back to Cook for the first out. Big Papi grounded out to short and Manny grounded out to third.
Lester was pitching well and with his pitch count low enough for Terry Francona, Lester came back out for the bottom of the 6th. He got Holliday to hit a weak pop out to Big Papi at first. Helton lined out to Manny in left who made a good catch for the second out of the inning. Atkins worked a walk from Lester and Francona then decided to go to his bullpen for Manny Delcarmen to face Spilborghs. Delcarmen did his job as he got Spilborghs to strikeout.
Lowell chased Cook from the game in top of the 7th as he crushed a Cook fastball into the left seats to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. Clint Hurdle brought in Jeremy Affeldt to face Drew. Affeldt struck out Drew and then allowed a single to Varitek. Affeldt got out of the inning as Lugo grounded into a 1-unassisted double play leaving Delcarmen in the on-deck circle.
Since Delcarmen didn’t reach the plate in the top half of the inning, he was back out for the bottom half. The Red Sox pitchers had been getting Hawpe out on high cheese but Hawpe finally got a hold of one for a home run to cut the Red Sox to 3-1. Delcarmen fell behind Torrealba but battled back and got him to fly out. Cory Sullivan came into pinch-hit for Affeldt and he singled into right-center field chasing Delcarmen from the game for Mike Timlin. All Timlin did was come in and get strikeouts of Matsui and Tulowitzki to avoid any more damage on the scoreboard. For Tulowitzki, it was his third strikeout of the night.
Brian Fuentes came out to start the 8th looking to redeem himself for last night’s debacle. The first batter he faced was Bobby Kielty who took a fastball and put it in the seats to get the run back for the Sox. The home run gave the Sox a 4-1 lead. Ellsbury followed that up with a squibber off the end of his bat that got past the gloves of Fuentes and Atkins allowing him to reach first base. With Ellsbury running, Pedroia hit into a 6-4-3 double play as Pedroia didn’t quite have the speed of last night. Fuentes then walked Big Papi and Coco Crisp came into run for Big Papi. Hurdle also came out of the dugout and made his a double-switch as he went to the bullpen for his closer, Manny Corpas to face Manny. He also brought in Jamey Carroll to play second for Matsui. Corpas got Manny to strikeout for the final out of the inning.
Crisp stayed in the game to play center as Ellsbury slid over to left for Manny. Kevin Youkilis came in to play first base for Big Papi and Hideki Okajima came into face his nemesis from last night, Holliday. Okajima jammed Holliday and got him to ground out to Pedroia for the first out. Helton took one the other way for a single. Atkins made the game 4-3 as he took an Okajima offering and put it into the left field seats for a 2-run homer. Francona quickly came out to mound and called for Jonathan Papelbon out of his bullpen. Papelbon’s first batter was Spilborghs and Paps got him to ground out to Lugo for the second out. Hawpe flied out to Crisp in deep center for the final out of the inning.
Corpas was back on the bump in the top of the 9th as he looked to keep the game at 4-3 Red Sox. He did the job as he got Lowell to fly out and he got Drew and Varitek to ground out to send it to the bottom of the 9th.
Papelbon was back on the mound looking to send the Red Sox to their second World Series in four seasons. Papelbon got Torrealba to ground out for the first out as the nerves set in even more. Carrol gave the ball a ride to left field that Ellsbury caught as he jumped against the wall to catch it for the second out. Seth Smith came out to pinch-hit for Corpas as he looked to extend the inning for the Rockies. He was unable to do so as Papelbon struck him out on a 97 mph fastball as the Red Sox bench and bullpen came out to the field to celebrate their 2007 World Series Championship.
Like Paplebon after the game, I am pretty much speechless right now.
Mike Lowell was named MVP of the 2007 World Series and now his free agency price has probably just shot up even more. For being named MVP, Lowell receives Chevy Tahoe and Malibu hybrids.
I will be back with more about the celebration as the night rolls on.
Notes and musings:
Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia became the first rookies to leadoff a World Series game in last night’s game 3. They are back there tonight in Game 4.
Ellsbury is also the first rookie to hit lead off for a World Series game since TIMO PEREZ led off for the Mets in Game 4 of the 2000 World Series, Oct. 25, against the Yankees.
Ellsbury was the 8th player with 3 doubles in a WS game, one behind Frank Isbell’s (1906) all-time record
Pedroia scored his 12th run of this postseason in the 3rd inning of last night’s game, tying Derek Jeter (1996) for most runs by a rookie in a single postseason.
Pedroia has a 6-game hitting streak in this post-season at .444 (12-27) with 3 doubles, 2 homers, and 11 RBI. He has a rookie post-season record 6 doubles in 2007.
J.D. Drew has hit safely in his last 9 postseason games at .412 (14-34).
Mike Lowell has a 6-game hitting streak at .409 (9-22).
Jonathan Papelbon has pitched 9.0 shutout innings in this post-season and 13.0 scoreless innings in 8 career postseason appearances.
Daisuke Matsuzaka recorded his first major league hit in the 3rd inning of last night’s game, becoming the first pitcher to record a hit in a World Series game since Jeff Suppan (STL) recorded a hit in Game Three of the 2004 World Series (10/26/04). He’s the first Red Sox pitcher to get a hit in World Series play since Bill Lee in Game Seven of the 1975 World Series.
The Red Sox have a 21-9 playoff record since the start of 2004.
The Red Sox have scored 95 runs in this post-season, 2nd most ever to 101 for Anaheim in 16 games in 2002.
Terry Francona is 7-0 in World Series play, the most WS wins without a loss of any manager all-time.
Jon Lester will be the 1st Red Sox lefthander to start a World Series game since Bruce Hurst in Game 7 of the 1986 fall classic against the Mets.
It was country night at Coors Field as Tricia Yearwood sang tonight’s National Anthem. Lonestar performed God Bless America before the bottom of the 7th.
Bobby Kielty’s pinch-hit home run was the 21st in World Series history.
Do you think the Red Sox were relaxed during the game tonight. Look what they did to Dice-K.
What are the odds that the sox would win two world series in four years? If you like your luck why not try baseball bets? They can be just as fun as horce racing betting! Don’t forget the grand national odds this year. Have fun with your bets this season!
