Red Sox rout Cardinals, clinch World Championship

The St. Louis Cardinals never stood a chance.

Not after Boston's own Dropkick Murphys performed the National Anthem, then broke into the official Red Sox fight song "I'm shipping up to Boston", cranking the fans' intensity level up past the standard 10 on the amplifier - into a decibel level reserved for jet liners and spinal tap...

...and not with Shane Victorino and his history of clutch hitting in post season play with the bases juiced - the Sox right fielder nailing a bases clearing double in the bottom of the third inning that gave Boston a three run lead, then capped off a three run fourth with a bases loaded single as the Boston Red Sox won their 8th World Series Championship at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

Boston Game 6 Starter John Lackey allowed nine hits in six-plus innings, twice pitching his way out of two on, no out jams in the early innings, then cruised until the Cardinals started to rough him up in the top of the seventh, giving up three straight hits and the Cardinals' lone run before manager John Farrell lifted him in favor of Junichi Tazawa.

After an uneventful 1st inning, and after both Lackey and Cardinals' rookie starter Michael Wacha both pitched out of trouble in the second, the Red Sox broke the game open in the bottom of the third.

Centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury started off the inning with a single to right, then Wacha intentionally walked designated hitter and series MVP David Ortiz before drilling left fielder Johnny Gomes in the elbow to load the bases, setting the table for Victorino - sending a 2-1 fastball deep to left that hit the famed Green Monster and dropped for a double that gave Lackey all the runs he would need.

But the Boston offense was just getting warmed up.

Stephen Drew led off the bottom of the fourth and drove the first pitch he saw into the Red Sox bullpen for a four run Boston lead, followed by an Ellsbury double to right that chased Wacha after he issued another intentional free pass to Ortiz - a Mike Napoli bloop single to center scored Ellsbury, then a Victorino single to left scored Ortiz to give the Red Sox a six run advantage.

Tazawa came on for one batter in relief of Lackey, rookie Brandon Workman pitched a perfect eighth and, appropriately, ALCS MVP Koji Uehara came on in the ninth to close out the Red Sox third world championship in the past 10 years...

...jumping into the arms of catcher David Ross in jubilation after punching out Cardinals' second baseman Matt Carpenter to end the series.

When it comes to mystique in sports, you don’t get much mystique-ier than Boston - so when the Red Sox came a-courting Victorino early in the offseason, he didn't need much prodding to sign on.

“There is no convincing, it’s Boston.” Victorino said at his introductory news conference after signing with the Sox last winter. “That in itself says it all. It’s the Red Sox. It’s a storied franchise.”

Victorino just helped add another chapter to the story.

Sox take control of Series, beat Cardinals 3-1

Down two rounds to one in Major League Baseball's annual seven round title bout, the St. Louis Cardinals had the Boston Red Sox reeling and on the ropes in round four - that is until Sox left fielder Johnny Gomes belted the three run homer that swung game four in the favor of the beantown nine...

...coming off the ropes to deliver a haymaker in the style of a mean counter puncher to take the round and even things up going into the fifth.

Catcher David Ross celebrates his tie-breaking double

In baseball vernacular, the Red Sox took back their home field advantage with Sunday night's 4-2 win in St. Louis to even the World Series at two game a piece, accomplishing what game four hero Gomes lauded as the team's goal of winning at least one game in the Gateway City and taking the series back to Fenway Park with a chance to win the championship in front of their hometown fans.

Thanks to staff ace Jon Lester and catcher David Ross, they can do that on Wednesday night.

Lester tossed seven and two thirds innings of four hit ball and battery mate Ross broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh with an RBI double as the Red Sox took two of three games from the Cardinals in St. Louis and are now on the verge of yet another world title after a 3-1 victory over the Red Birds on Monday night.

Koji Uehara got the final out of the eighth inning and pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the World Series - and now the Red Sox have the opportunity to clinch the title for the third time in ten years and at home for the first time in nearly a century.

Lester dealt straight with the Cardinals' hitters, striking out seven and walking none - giving up one earned run on a Matt Holliday home run in a morbidly efficient outing, throwing 61 strikes on 91 total pitches in picking up his second win of the series.  Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright started shaky but settled in before being chased after yielding two of his three runs allowed in his disastrous seventh.

Boston served notice that the momentum would stay with them in their first at bat of the game, second baseman Dustin Pedroia lining a hanging slider from Wainwright to the wall in left field for a double, then scored on a David Ortiz double down the right field line to give the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead.

Ortiz continued his other-worldly offensive assault in these playoffs, batting a mind boggling .733 for a series that he is sure to be Most Valuable Player of the World Series should the Red Sox be able to win one of two at Fenway.

Matt Holliday got hold of a rare Lester beach ball in the bottom of the fourth, hammering a 1-0 pitch into the grass over the wall in dead center to tie the game at 1-1.

Both pitchers settled in through the middle innings, but that changed very rapidly in the top of the seventh for Wainwright - starting the inning whiffing Daniel Nava before third baseman Xander Bogaerts singled to center...

...moved over to second when Wainwright issued a walk to shortstop Stephen Drew, setting the stage for Ross' double just inside the left field line, scoring Bogaerts and advancing Drew to third.  Lester grounded out and then centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury dropped a single in front of charging Cardinals' centerfielder Shane Robinson to score Drew, making the score 3-1.

Lester pitched into the bottom of the eighth, Sox manager John Farrell pulling a double switch after St. Louis third baseman David Freeze doubled down the right field lane, pulling Lester and Bringing in Uehara and also Mike Napoli for Big Papi at first base, who appeared to tweak an ankle running out a single in the top of the inning.

So now it comes down to game six at Fenway Park in Boston on Wednesday night to complete an improbable run, going from bottom feeders in the American League East in 2012 to being on the verge of their thrid World Series title in the past decade this season.

The Sox came off the ropes in game four to take back the momentum, then staggered the Red Birds with a couple of big blows in Game five - and now we'll see if the Cardinals have the heart to come off the ropes and force a game seven.

The Red Sox hope for a knockout.

Red Sox punk Cardinals, take World Series lead

Grizzly Adams did have a beard - and he and his famous whiskers hit a bases clearing double...

Wait, what? 

The unshorn Boston Red Sox look like they belong out in the deep forest, cutting down trees and wrestling bears, but in reality they are now just three wins away from a World Series title that seems as improbable as seeing Jacoby Ellsbury with a beard...

...what with losing like a thousand games last season and picked by all of the baseball experts to finish last in the American League East.

And, yes.  Here they are, the worst to first gang of piliferous Boys of Summer taking their furry act into the cool nights of late October and stomping a group of red birds from Missouri whose defense was inconsistent at best, vaudeville at worst.

There was a bases-clearing double, though it was Sox first baseman Mike Napoli doing the honors, slugging a left-center field gapper with two out in the bottom of the first inning off of St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright - and David Ortiz hit a two run homer in the seventh as the Red Sox punked the visiting Cardinals 8-1 in Game one of the World Series on Wednesday night.

The Cardnials appeared very calm coming into the contest, the result of veteran influence and perhaps one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, but their relaxed demeanor carried over into the game, their defense committing three errors leading directly to four unearned runs for the Red Sox ...

...Boston starter Jon Lester hurling a gem for the hosts, allowing five hits and striking out eight in seven-plus innings of shutout ball, St. Louis scoring their lone run on a Matt Holliday solo job in the ninth off of Ryan Dempster - but it was far from enough as the Sox take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

Game two is Thursday night, also at Fenway Park in Boston.

Napoli's drive into left center would not have existed but for the first error of the game, Cardinals' shortstop Pete Kozma mishandling a casual flip from Wainwright that should have been an inning ending double play on an Ortiz slow chopper.

Sox centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning with a free pass and second baseman Dustin Pedroia advanced him to second after Shane Victorino flied out, setting the stage for Ortiz, whose bouncer was easily handled by Wainwright - the gold glove pitcher turning and flipping the ball to Kozma charging the bag...

...dropping the ball as it glanced off of his glove, though second base umpire Dana DeMuth ruled that Kozma had held the ball long enough to force Pedroia at second - but his crew mates immediately converged and overturned his ruling and the Red Sox were in business with the bases loaded and one out.

Three pitches later, Napoli's gapper drove in what proved to be the game winning runs.

The Red Sox loaded the bases again in the second inning, a pair of singles by shortstop Stephen Drew and catcher David Ross followed by a fielding error by Kozma on a Victorino.  Pedroia singled in Drew, again setting the table for Ortiz, who responded by driving a Wainwright pitch toward the Boston bullpen...

...but Cardinals' centerfielder Carlos Beltran tracked it down and made the catch crashing into the wall, pulling the ball back into play.  Ross tagged up and scored from third giving the Sox a 5-0 lead.

Ortiz got his revenge in the bottom of the seventh, sending another drive towards' the Sox bullpen - this time hitting it deep enough that no one could reach it, scoring Pedroia and giving Boston a 7-0 lead, which third baseman Xander Bogaerts expanded upon with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to score pinch-hitter Daniel Nava and give the Red Sox their final run of the evening.

St. Louis will try to even the score in Boston on Thursday night, sending rookie sensation Michael Wacha to the bump to face off against Red Sox starter John Lackey.

(photo courtesy of Associated Press)

Here come the Rays

 October baseball is upon us, FINALLY. It has been too long since the Boston Red Sox have been in a postseason matchup, 4 years to be exact. The Sox organization is more than looking forward to their first playoff game since the 2009 season. 

After a horrible 2011 collapse and a 2012 season that has all but been swept under the rug the 2013 Red Sox have home field advantage throughout the playoffs after earning the best record in the AL and the AL’s victory in the All Star game. The first matchup comes in the form of a familiar foe.

The Tampa Bay Rays.

Now at first glance some may think this will be an easy matchup but at closer look these two teams are a whole lot more tightly matched up than you would think.

The Red Sox won the AL East and the Rays were 5 ½ games behind and the Red Sox won the season series winning 12 and losing 7 out of the 19 head to head games. Now these numbers seem very promising for the home team but the Rays are riding a wave of momentum as they have won 2 essentially one game playoff games on the road to get here and have won 10 of their last 12 just to stay alive. Those 12 wins could have easily gone the other way as 6 of those were won in the 9^th inning or later with 3 of them being walk-off wins.

The pitching will be key to coming out on top and getting to the next round. With that these two teams have seen each other so many times they have plenty of film to watch pitchers and have faced them enough to essentially know what to expect from each guy that takes the mound.

Both teams had top 10 ERAs with Tampa Bay slightly besting Boston overall with a 3.74 compared to a 3.79 with starting pitching being just as close, Tampa had a 3.81 and Boston a 3.84 and bullpens were just as tightly matched up with Tampa 3.59 and Boston a 3.70. 

Head to head matchups were just as close with the Sox owning a 2.95 ERA against the Rays and the Rays owning a 3.54 over the Sox. This is where the home field advantage comes into play where the Red Sox have a 3.57 ERA at Fenway and a 4.03 away and John Lackey , our game 2 starter owns a 2.47 ERA in front of the home crowd. Even with Jon Lester, game 1 starter, going 13 starts since the All Star break and maintaining a 2.57 ERA in those 13 starts both teams total  ERA since the All Star break are dead even at 3.62. 

If I were a betting man I would definitely not make a decision based on pitching matchups and numbers, these are just way too close to call.

Plate presence and patience will win this series. Head to head neither team hit tremendously well with the Red Sox only hitting .208 but the Rays only hit .232 against Boston. Overall numbers Boston dominated with a .277 average and 853 runs scored while Tampa only hit .257 and only plated 700 runs. In the 19 face-offs between the 2 teams the run differential was only 14 and Tampa had some serious trouble driving in the runs as they were held to a .158 average with runners in scoring position. Head to head the Red Sox averaged 3.73 runs per game and Tampa averaged 2.78 while as season Boston averaged 5.26 and Tampa Bay averaged 4.29 runs per game.

It appears that this potential 5 game series will not be an offensive masterpiece but will have its share of defensive spectacles and some pitching duels.

I am not one for betting, especially on teams that I want to win (I always feel as though I may jinx them), or make predictions but I will be wholeheartedly rooting on the Boston Red Sox to continue playing deep into October.

It feels great to have postseason baseball back! 

Photo credit: AP/Charles Krupa

Bard's case of the yips reminiscint of Rick Ankiel

West Coast Ups and Down So Far...

With the Red Sox recent woes this west coast road trip needed some key players to step up and that is just what several have done.

This west coast road trip began with a sense of urgency as the Red Sox had lost 3 series in a row only taking 1 out of 4 from the Royals, and only 1 of 3 from both the Blue Jays and Yankees allowing the Rays to come scratching at our heels and are now currently tied for first place in the AL East.

The road trip began in San Francisco against the defending World Series champions Giants.

Game 1 saw Jon Lester on the mound and he was definitely the Jon Lester we have come to know and love. He pitched what could possibly be his best game of the season as he went 8 and 1/3 innings giving up 6 hits 3 K’s and 2 walks. When the 8th inning came to an end Lester was already over 100 pitches but very adamantly told manager John Farrell that he was coming back out to finish the game, the kind of fire we need from a recently struggling starting pitcher. This game also saw Nava and Victorino both have a 3 hit game which led to the Sox winning 7-0.

Game 2 was one that just fell the wrong way as an 8th inning run and then a walk off walk led to the 3-2 loss. The Giants went 0-10 with runners in scoring position yet still found a way to win. Victorino hit his 8th homerun of the season and Jake Peavy pitched a rather decent game as he struck out 4 and only gave up 1 run. Tazawa gave up the tying run in the 8th and then Morales loaded the bases in the 9th before he was pulled for Villareal. Scutaro was very patient at the plate and drew ball 4 and a well played game was lost to a walk off walk.

The third game had the Red Sox back in top form. Felix Doubront had one of, if not the, best game of the season going 8 innings allowing 5 hits, striking out 3 and only 1 walk with the only earned run coming from a solo shot in the 2nd inning. The Sox tallied up 12 hits along with 12 runs including another 3 hits from Victorino and Ellsbury. Jacoby also earned his league leading 46th stolen base. Uehara had another great inning as he came in for a non save situation and threw a perfect inning.

Come Friday Red Sox bats did just the opposite from the Wednesday night hit parade and saw another gem of a pitching game from John Lackey go without a victory. Lackey pitched a complete game and in essence made only one real mistake as Hanley Ramirez hit his 14th HR of his career in the bottom of the 4th inning to drive in the only 2 runs of the game. Lackey went the full game and only gave up 3 hits while striking out 6. Lackey this season has pitched better than most have anticipated coming off Tommy John surgery but unfortunately has been a victim of little to no run support. He has had 23 starts this season and has been shut out 5 times and the Red Sox have scored 3 or fewer runs in 13 games. Lackey has posted a very respectable 3.17 ERA but only has an 8-11 record. This once again was the case Friday night as the Red Sox only saw Pedroia and Drew get hits.

Despite the small fall backs the Red Sox are still in first place, although tied with Tampa Bay but it is still a far cry from last season. If we can come out of Los Angeles with a series win then we would arguably have some proof that we did the right thing in our salary dump of Beckett, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Punto was well worth it. We now look to Lester and Peavy on the mound to make this possible and if they pitch the way they have recently then the Red Sox should be beginning a new win streak as we head back to the East coast for a 9 game home stand. 

Lackey throws another gem, Sox rotation coming together

The way the season started for John Lackey, no one would have expected him to be the Boston Red Sox stopper - but if he keeps pitching like he did on Friday night, that's exactly what he will be.

Lackey dominated Terry Francona's Cleveland Indians, going seven strong, and Mike Carp provided all the offense Lackey would need with a second inning three-run blast into the people in right field as the Sox stomped the Tribe 8-1 at rainy Fenway Park in Boston one night after Ryan Dempster and two others got shelled by the potent Tribe offense.

Rain seems to be a common theme for Lackey's turn in the rotation, which is becoming more and more solidified as the big right hander continues his comeback from Tommy John surgery and, perhaps just as importantly, he's getting run support from the hot and cold Red Sox offense.

Carp's big fly came with one out and after David Ortiz drew a full count walk and Mike Napoli singled to center, giving Lackey the production at the plate that would carry him to his second consecutive victory and his third of the season against four losses - also lowering his ERA to a sterling 2.72.

Lackey's two hit, eight strike out performance actually paled in comparison from his last start, a six inning, one hit, five K gem that was interrupted by a cloud burst in Minneapolis and almost wasted by the tandem of Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa who provided plenty of anxiety in their single innings of work before finding their groove and striking out Twins' batters to retire the side...

...but there was no such anxiety in Friday's night's win, as Uehara and the normally sandbagging Alfredo Aceves providing two hit relief, both allowing the leadoff batter to reach base only to close down the the next three in order - the excitable Uehara seeking out Shane Victorino to give him a taste of the five on his fragile frame after getting the last out of the eighth...

So Lackey's consistency is giving the Sox starting rotation the look of a better than average battery, with Felix Doubront's arm out of the morgue and pair of aces Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz - Ryan Dempster's struggles notwithstanding - and realizing that there will be nights that not everything goes as planned mixed into the equation...

...and the bullpen doing the job in spots, though long relief is a work in progress to say the least - as is trying to find consistency at the plate - this Red Sox team looks like they're in this thing for the long haul and right now are just a game behind the New York Yankees for the AL East lead.

The same weather conditions persist for this afternoon's matchup at Fenway, with Lester going up against old nemesis, former Tampa Bay-thorn-in-the-side Scott Kazmir for the Tribe - so if the game goes off in the gusty winds and spotty showers, one has to like Boston's chances of catching up with the Yanks in the standings.