ALCS 6: Red Sox 12, Spiders 2

Spiders - 010 000 100 -  2  6  2
Red Sox - 406 000 02x - 12 13  0

Did you know that J.D. Drew is on fire? No? ... Where the hell you been? ... You better start taking notes.

Everything went down as smoothly as the pre-game shot of Jack Daniels. Boston leads the series 3-3. Tomorrow night's winner gets to host the Rockies in WS 1 next Wednesday.

The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first inning (singles from Peewee and Yook and a walk to Flo). Manny struck out swinging and Lowell flied to shallow right. Another squander? ... Drew said "Eff that" and belted a 3-1 pitch to deep center that landed near the camera platform for a grand slam! 4-0!!!And that mega-dong was all the run support Schilling and the bullpen would need. Drew finished the night 3-for-5, with two run scored and five RBI.


But the Sox' hitters, being the polite and generous men we love, scored six more times in the third. Eleven men came to the plate; Lugo bopped a two-run double into the left field corner and Ellsbury, Drew and Youkilis all had RBI singles.


Aaron Laffey pitched 4.2 innings out of the Spiders' pen (Carmona (2-6-7-4-2, 63) did not last very long) and, according to Joe Buck, kept the score respectable. :>)

Eric Wedge called on Joe Borowski for the ninth. The closer (aka Duh Gas Can) threw 22 pitches to eight Boston batters and allowed three hits, two walks and two runs. ... Shame we won't see him tomorrow.

Schilling was fantastic (7-6-2-0-5, 90), although Buck and McCarver sought to portray him as teetering on the edge of falling apart for most of the night. I can't imagine many viewers were buying their lies.

Javier Lopez needed eight pitches for a perfect eighth and Eric Gagne set down the Spiders on nine pitches in the ninth.

Everyone will be available in Game 7 tomorrow night.

***

Lineup:

Pedroia, 2B
Youkilis, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Lowell, 3B
Drew, RF
Varitek, C
Ellsbury, CF
Lugo, SS

***

Dustin Pedroia is glad to be back at Fenway:

Yeah, it's good. We don't have to play with those stupid towels. Stuff waving around. I'm tired of that. It's good to be back here. I'd like to see some Rem Dawg signs or whatever they call them. I'm excited, man.

Pro Watch: Bill "I Give Mariano Rivera The Night Sweats" Mueller will throw out the first pitch!

Curt Schilling, on tonight:

What [2004 ALCS Game 6] does for me ... I went out against a Yankees lineup in '04 that was as good an offense as I've ever faced, and I was basically pitching on a broken foot with a lot less stuff than I have now and I gave up one run over seven innings. There's no excuse for me not to be able to go out tonight with what I have now and, if I can execute perfectly, I can pitch as good, if not better. ...

I'm scared to death to not do well tonight, but I'm also very cognizant of the fact that that fear is something that has always driven me and always pushed me. ... I don't think there's too much pressure or too little. It's just reality. We put ourselves in this position, and I helped put us in this position.

Eric Wedge, on Fausto Carmona:

He has such a great arm and such great movement on his pitches. You know, sometimes when he does try to be a little bit too fine, the ball is going to run off the plate a little bit. What he needs to do is be aggressive with these guys, stay on the plate, run it off when he needs to, but be able to work it both ways.

Pitching coach Carl Willis:

In going back and reviewing the video of the game, there were pitches that Fausto made hitters swing at throughout the course of the season. But I think, again, the Red Sox being a very disciplined and obviously veteran lineup of professional hitters, they laid off of a lot of pitches that other clubs at times swing at. But I would say that early in counts, he was a bit fine, and he needs to trust that sink on the plate.

Carmona:

Yeah, I was trying to be a little fine. ... I've got to make sure I'm not going to leave any pitch down the middle of the plate. I was thinking just a little too much.

David Ortiz believes the media deliberately twisted Manny Ramirez's comments to create a story where one did not exist:

Everybody knows what Manny means, but people like to flip things around and that's why he is the way he is. ... He doesn't talk, and that's the reason why. People always try to misunderstand the reason why. People always try to misunderstand what the guy says.

Anyone else think the picture on the front page of this morning's Globe looks a little too much like a grave site?

Dan Tobin, Bugs & Cranks:

Three in a row? It's all the Red Sox know how to do.

Soxaholix:

Fercrissakes, let the real Indian get out there against the Wahoos.

Benari at Away Team:

Um, Mark? Your name is Shapiro. SHA-PEER-O. I know it, you know it, our Rabbi knows it.

***

Fausto Carmona / Curt Schilling

Facing post-season elimination, the Red Sox did what they usually do -- win. They are 22-11 (.667) all-time in such games.

The golden right arm of Josh Beckett and the reemergence of the bats (or the beginning thereof) forced the Spiders to pack their bags for a weekend in Boston.

It's time for Schilling to add a third legendary October performance to his Red Sox resume.

One.

One game. One win. That's all.

Not two.

One.

Tonight.