ALCS 1: Red Sox 10, Cleveland 3

Cleveland - 100 001 010 -  3   8  0
Red Sox   - 104 032 00x - 10  12  0

Ortiz and Manny were on base 10 out of 10 times.

Beckett: 6-4-2-0-7, 80. Sabathia: 4.1-7-8-5-3, 85.

***

Lineups:

Grady Sizemore, CF        Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B      Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Travis Hafner, DH         David Ortiz, DH
Victor Martinez, C        Manny Ramirez, LF
Ryan Garko, 1B            Mike Lowell, 3B
Jhonny Peralta, SS        Bobby Kielty, RF
Kenny Lofton, LF          Jason Varitek, C
Franklin Gutierrez, RF    Coco Crisp, CF
Casey Blake, 3B           Julio Lugo, SS

Over to Amalie Benjamin with the weather:

Though it was raining fairly hard on my drive into the ballpark (and my commute's not all that long), it has mostly stopped at this point [2:39 PM]. Still misty, still damp, but the rain that was pelting the ballpark has paused.

Weather forecasts for tonight predict that the rain will cease enough to get the game in, certainly. It should be cloudy, with temperatures dipping to the mid-50s.

***

Carsten Charles Sabathia (3.21, 138 ERA+) / Josh Beckett (3.27, 139 ERA+)

Beckett:

You've got to start at the top with [Sizemore]. He's the one that gets everything going. Obviously, they've got their thumpers in the middle. During this time of year, not many teams don't have that.

I think it starts with keeping guys like [Sizemore] off base and just pitching to your strengths and exploiting weaknesses. ... All day is kind of like an anxiety-type deal for me ... but after you throw your first pitch, it's back to executing pitch by pitch by pitch.

Sabathia:

Instead of going out there and trying to throw every pitch 100 mph and leaving balls up and leaving them down the middle, I want to go out and throw 91 and 92 and spot it up, get in on guys, and if I need to hump up and throw hard, then I will. ... I think it's going to be wild. ... I just need to go out there and try to keep them [the Fenway fans] as quiet as possible.

Many Cleveland players have very little playoff experience. Beckett was asked if that was relevant: "I didn't have any in '03 and I did pretty good." ... David Ortiz has been in pain for much of this season. ... "You're on fire? I'm on fire!"
Rocky Colavito assures people whose beliefs are stuck in the 14th Century that he did not place a curse on his former team. ... A persistent drizzle after the Red Sox's workout yesterday meant that Cleveland had to hit in the indoor cages.

Boston was 5-2 against Cleveland this season.

At Boston

May 28 Boston 5-3
May 29 Boston 4-2
May 30 Cleveland 8-4

At Cleveland

July 23 Boston 6-2
July 24 Boston 1-0
July 25 Cleveland 1-0
July 26 Boston 14-9

Roger Rubin, Daily News:

The ultimate Yankee killer believes George Steinbrenner may do more to hurt the Bombers than any heartbreaking home run he could hit against them.