October 19, 2008

ALCS 7: Rays 3, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 100 000 000 - 1  3  0
Rays - 000 110 10x - 3 6 1
Tampa Bay Rays - 2008 AL Champions.



Lester was good (7-6-3-0-8, 107), but Garza -- named the MVP of the series -- was better (7-2-1-3-9, 118).

Dustin Pedroia lined a home run to left in the first -- 6th pitch of the game -- and David Ortiz followed with a walk. Garza retired the next two Sox and outside of hitting FY in the third and walking him in the sixth, no other Sock reached base until there was one out in the seventh.

By that time, the Rays led 3-1. Lester did set down the first nine Rays batters, but a two-out double from Evan Longoria in the fourth tied the game and three straight hits to open the fifth -- Willy Aybar double, Dioner Navarro single, Rocco Baldelli single -- gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. Aybar donged to start the seventh to give the Rays a two-run lead.

Boston tried to rally. After Kevin Youkilis popped to shortstop to start the seventh, JD Drew walked on four pitches and Jason Bay singled. After a mound visit from Joe Maddon, Garza -- working slowly -- got Mark Kotsay to fly to right and then struck out Jason Varitek on a changeup in the dirt.

In the eighth, Alex Cora batted -- Tito was not very Assassiny tonight -- and grounded to shortstop. Jason Bartlett did not charge the ball and it clanked off his glove for an error. Maddon went to the bullpen -- repeatedly. He used four relievers in the inning. Dan Wheeler allowed a single to right from Coco Crisp but got FY on a routine fly to left. JP Howell came in and got Ortiz to ground to second (on seven pitches) and Coco was forced. Chad Bradford fell behind Yook 3-0, battled back to a full count, and walked him. Then David Price came in and struck out Drew on a 1-2 check swing.

Price -- who began the year in the lowly Florida State League -- came back out for the ninth. Jason Bay (cbbfbf) walked, but Price struck out Kotsay (ffbbc) and Varitek (bsfbs). Jed Lowrie pinch-hit for Cora and grounded a 0-1 pitch right to Akinori Iwamura, who grabbed the ball on a high hop and raced to second for the Red-Sox-season-ending force.

The Rays and Phillies will play Game 1 of the World Series at the Trop on Wednesday night.

***

Jon Lester / Matt Garza
Red Sox            Rays
Crisp, CF Iwamura, 2B
Pedroia, 2B Upton, CF
Ortiz, DH Pena, 1B
Youkilis, 3B Longoria, 3B
Drew, RF Crawford, LF
Bay, LF Aybar, DH
Kotsay, 1B Navarro, C
Varitek, C Baldelli, RF
Cora, SS Bartlett, SS
The Globe reports that the Red Sox are "sticking with the idea that Alex Cora hits hard-throwing right-handers better than Jed Lowrie". Cora went 1-for-3 against Garza in Game 3.

I checked their 2008 splits and have decided to not freak out.
Against Power Pitchers

Cora .302/.377/.415
Lowrie .200/.333/.259

Against RHP

Cora .266/.378/.363
Lowrie .222/.308/.344
***

Here is a handy chart of how many pitches each reliever has thrown in the series:
Bullpen Pitches Thrown 

Red Sox 1 2 3 4 5 6 TOT

Okajima 4 28 28 32 92
Masterson 5 18 39 15 18 95
Papelbon 12 18 38 8 76
Lopez 1 26 27
Delcarmen 20 28 17 65
Timlin 23 31 54
Byrd 47 47

Rays 1 2 3 4 5 6 TOT
Howell 12 23 20 25 23 103
Balfour 21 19 25 18 83
Price 3 12 15
Bradford 24 14 38
Miller 8 6 1 15
Wheeler 48 33 81
Jackson 14 25 39
***

Fact: Tampa Bay is three two one games away from elimination.

The Red Sox have won nine consecutive ALCS elimination games. Tonight, they go for #10.

Kevin Youkilis:
It's amazing. It's really amazing the games we play, and how much fun it's been. When we're all old and our children are all grown up, we'll sit around and meet up and talk about games like the game the other day. It's a wild ride, and we're very spoiled.
Jonathan Papelbon admits he's "pretty beat up". His fastball was only 92-93 mph last night.
For me, in these things, if I don't have my A-plus fastball, I'd better have my A-plus mental approach and my A-plus headset. My head was right tonight.
Hideki Okajima threw two scoreless innings last night -- the third time he has done so in this series.

From Josh Beckett's post-game interview:
Josh, you struggled in the postseason thus far, but tonight you looked like the Josh Beckett of 2003 and 2007.

I don't know really if that's even a question. ...

The Clifford Floyd at-bat in the fourth --

Clifford?

Some of his friends call him that. ...
Also: Post-game Q&As from Maddon and Francona.

Joe Maddon:
We've got one more shot. We can truly teach ourselves a lesson. We can do something that will make an imprint on us for a long time.
You sure can, Joe, and you will, but it's not going to be the good kind of imprint.

Evan Longoria makes no sense:
In my opinion, there'll be less pressure on anyone. We'll throw it out there and have fun. I think there was more pressure when we were up 3-to-1. There was pressure on us to end it. Elimination games are always pressure-packed. You feel you have to win them, and in that situation you start to press. Now it's back to 0-0, and we'll come out and play the way we've been playing all year.
Dood, this is an elimination game! So start pressin'!

Clifford:
They're the World Series champs. You've got to take it from them. They know how to win. They stay poised in tough situations. That said, it's going to happen [tonight].
Sean McAdam, Herald:
The Rays had spent the off day Friday swearing up and down that, nope, there wasn't going to be any sort of carryover effect from Game 5, and yep, they had already forgotten all about it and seemed almost offended by the line of questioning.

Crushing loss? What crushing loss?

But defeats like Thursday's don't wash off in the shower. They stay with you. ...

The cracks are starting to show now. Arguably the best defensive team in the league during the season, the Rays have withered in the field in the last two games. ... The bullpen, so critical to the team's magic this season, suddenly looks vulnerable. ...

Game 7 comes tonight, the game the Rays didn't want. They have whiffed on two chances to put the Red Sox away for good and tonight they get their last chance.
***

It worked in 2004. It worked in 2007. It'll work in 2008.
One.

One game. One win. That's all.

Tonight.

1,008 comments:

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Jere said...

that's a K

A Conformer said...

OK, this is totally a reach, but I think Maddon could be "Mellotron". Starts with an M, ends with ON, and the whole 9=8 thing reminds me of 9/8, which reminds me of Prog, the mellotron's main genre.

Wow, total reach. Not even close.

s1c said...

Amy - Cora is in because he hits hard throwers, explained earlier in the thread.

Amy said...

Two down.

Amy said...

Thanks, S1C. I must have missed it on my quick scan through before the game started.

Jere said...

Melle Mel Ott

Amy said...

Six!

nick said...

6up6down.

Joe Grav said...

:)

s1c said...

and that is the 2nd HOF inning.

Oh, Happy feet!!!

A Conformer said...

So, while you're counting outs, I'll be counting FKR baserunners, hits and runs. I'm still waiting to begin (:

Rob said...

Actually Maddon is Aunt Mabel's brain.

Jake of All Trades said...

I'll second Maddon = Mellotron

Jere said...

Frank is great at these things, but his Shatner isn't even as good as Dave Trembley's.

Anonymous said...

6 up 6 down.

I like.

Jere said...

6 of Tampa, half dozen of the Rays

Amy said...

So let's see Cora hit a hard thrower.

Joe Grav said...

let's go albert

Amy said...

Well, he did get his bat on it.

efd said...

Martinez says Cora gets starts against guys with bigger balls.




OK, he said bigger *fast*balls. But still...!

Joe Grav said...

0C0C

A Conformer said...

0C0C

Foreshadowing?

Dr. Jeff said...

Speaking of ORtiz pronunciation, there was a story about Scooter (Rizzuto) broadcasting for the Yankees. He used to call the MFY SS Pagliarulo "PAG LEE A RULO" with a hard "g". So Scooter tells a story about how Pags mentioned to him that the "g" was silent. Few more pitches go by, and Scooter says "And PAG LEE A RULO strikes out" (hard "g" again). (This story is more amusing when not typed...)

Joe Grav said...

ococ gnod would be great

Amy said...

Coco being patient. It works, Coco, keep at it.

Jere said...

I also remember Rizzuto talking about Ed Jurak, saying they don't pronounce the J in New England.

nick said...

the little horse? WTF?

Jere said...

here we go with Caballito again...

efd said...

my little pedey.

allan said...

hilarious - rays fan with a "not in our house" sign

your house? it's usually vacant

Rob said...

I like Maddon for Mellotron as well. It just sounds cool.

Rob said...

Also since he's usually mellow.

Amy said...

Don't hit him! But at least he is on base.

A Conformer said...

Also since he's usually mellow.

Mellow and robotic= mellotron!

Joe Grav said...

asshole

nick said...

I was wondering when the first HBP would happen.

SoSock said...

I'm smelling a brawl.

Rob said...

Ouch.

Good thing a guy like Lester is pitching rather than Dice-K.

s1c said...

The Sox need to score like 10 runs, because it is time for some fragging pay back.

A Conformer said...

I would say I hope Fuck Yeah's ok, but it doesn't matter. He could break the elbow and keep playing through it till the end of the WS

Dr. Jeff said...

No chance the HBP was intentional right?

efd said...

make him pay, Papi

Joe Grav said...

i hope garza knows that his dinky inside fastball garbage will not intimidate the sox

nick said...

No brawl until the lead is huge. Unless it's just cora.

Jere said...

no intention on an 0-2, 0 out pitch with Papi on deck in a 1-run game 7

Amy said...

Papi snarling at that call.

Jere said...

0-2 2 out I meant

allan said...

i say totally intentional

fuckign punk

Jere said...

ok, single scores him now!

Dr. Jeff said...

Opposite field single for Flo.

efd said...

No chance the HBP was intentional right?

Not in a 1-0 game, I don't think. He's thrown an inside pitch on several batters so far, that one was a little further inside than the others.

Amy said...

FY in scoring position. Do it, Papi!

SoSock said...

RISP!

Joe Grav said...

blegh

Amy said...

Echhh. Damn.

SoSock said...

No probs

nick said...

I miss the large father at the plate. I'm sure it's true of no one more than him, though.

SoSock said...

Sounds like a guy who's playing golf right now to me :)
(If you're seeing the CI commercial)

Jere said...

yeah, I saw Jeter in the fake Fenway Park ad. I see he's believing Michael Kay's hype that "boos on the road are like cheers."

Amy said...

Mow them down, Jon.

Jere said...

if the screen wasn't there, Tek could probably reach out and catch that one

Joe Grav said...

LAME

A Conformer said...

Even Navarro thought that was a strike. Come on...

Jere said...

you're out

Amy said...

YES!

Joe Grav said...

THE WHIFF

SoSock said...

SIT!

Anonymous said...

Then you'd only only have to worry about the odd fatality jere ;-)

A Conformer said...

Get the hypochondriac.

efd said...

weird that they played "Uncontrollable Urge" by Devo as Baldelli was coming up.

Amy said...

K!

Joe Grav said...

SIT

Jere said...

looKing

Jere said...

OTT
OTT
OTT

Amy said...

And that is nine.

A Conformer said...

I'm still waiting for something to count...

s1c said...

And the 3rd OTT

Runs, now!!!

Rob said...

Mmmmm bagels.

Joe Grav said...

LESTER=NAILS tonight

SoSock said...

First time thru the order looks good!
Runs, plz

Jere said...

"weird that they played "Uncontrollable Urge" by Devo as Baldelli was coming up."

Another interesting one: at Fenway twice in this series they've played the Beastie Boys' "In 3s." I've never even heard that on (mainstream) radio.

laura k said...

RUNS PLEASE!!

Apparently Lester doesn't need any more, but it would still be fun.

A Conformer said...

New nickname for Baldelli: Orr. Because he has apple cheeks.

allan said...

rays making ofer's night easy.

Amy said...

GET SOME RUNS.

Amy said...

At least make Garza throw a lot of pitches.

Amy said...

What are the pitch counts?

laura k said...

Why is Orr apple cheeks?

And who is puffin? A continuing mystery.

Amy said...

Wish I could help you, Laura, but as usual these cultural references mean little to me. Maybe Bobby Orr? Is the Penguin a Batman reference?

efd said...

going into this inning:
J Lester 43-29; M Garza 54-36.

laura k said...

Maddon sounded like he was talking about wine instead of pitches - a crisp finish.

Rob said...

L... doesn't Garza look like a puffin a little bit?

laura k said...

It was puffin, not penguin.

And I don't think Ofer was making a Bobby Orr reference.

So I'd say no on both counts! :)

s1c said...

Start looking for that fragging curve.

laura k said...

I didn't even know it was Garza! I was looking for someone with a big orange beak.

nick said...

garza hasn't been doing too badly. but he will see.

s1c said...

b-fly - on hearing they got plenty of cowbells now they need some runs.

"well, he's not a rays fan!"

Gawd, I love my daughter.

Amy said...

Time for three more.

allan said...

18

Rob said...

The problem is he looks like one of those tropical birds... but not a pelican... and I'm not even convinced he looks like a puffin! He reminds me of a cartoon character. The way he smiles in this photo.

Amy said...

Thanks for the pitch count, EFD.

Yeah, Laura, told you I was of no help.

A Conformer said...

Why is Orr apple cheeks?

Catch 22...

laura k said...

Alright, Ofer has something to do.

Amy said...

Just one hit. Time to get the rest of them out.

Rob said...

Well damn. DP plz.

laura k said...

Thanks Ofer, I should have known it was a literary reference.

efd said...

BJ DP plz!

Rob said...

Oh jeez. Taco Bell's doing their stolen base steal a taco promo again.

"Everyone in America will get a seasoned beef crunchy taco."

allan said...

dp pls

Amy said...

What is that number that keeps being superimposed when the runner takes a lead off first? The length of the lead?

s1c said...

Hard to dp Upton.

Amy said...

K!

s1c said...

Now lets get the dp.

Joe Grav said...

~!HERE COMES THE THUNDER~!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Rob said...

That was a NASTY cutter. Love it!

efd said...

Hard to dp Upton.

A K will do. :)

And now a Pena DP.

Amy said...

DP now.

Amy said...

I need a bathroom break, so get them out fast, Jon.

Jere said...

Caray still not afraid to root for the Rays

s1c said...

Wow, I guess they had a lot of speeches in the Rays CH today.

to bad it isn't going to help them.

Dr. Jeff said...

Scary.

Joe Grav said...

that, i will take

s1c said...

got the lead runner, so we will take it.

Amy said...

OK, got the lead man. Nice!

Amy said...

One more, Jon.

Amy said...

SHIT. SHIT.

efd said...

FUCK!

s1c said...

Frag, petey, needs to make a better throw there.

Jere said...

fuckin piece o shit arod wanna be learning the cheap ways of Arod

Joe Grav said...

there goes caray having an orgasm

Dr. Jeff said...

Those always bounce into the stands for us.

SoSock said...

Shit - Oh well. Jst a tie.
IT'S NOT ENOUGH DEVIL RAYS!

Amy said...

Stay cool, Jon.

Jere said...

yes Chip, Crawford COULD put them up with a hit, and Pena COULD park one, and I COULD kill you

allan said...

caray clearly still wearing his lucky rays underoos.

Dr. Jeff said...

ump interference

A Conformer said...

Is there such a thing as ump-interference?

Rob said...

Joe, he does.

Joe Grav said...

lesta

Amy said...

All right, SCORE RUNS.

Anyone know the answer to my question about the number superimposed on the field?

A Conformer said...

So, by my count, it's 2, 2, 1. We'll need more than one to win this one...

laura k said...

RUNS PLEASE

NOW!!

A Conformer said...

Anyone know the answer to my question about the number superimposed on the field?

9ft. The "average" lead for stealing, I think.

nick said...

come back?! It's one run. fuck 'em.

reminds me of a terrible band that played at my college back in the early 90s: Blaque Sperm. "We're Blaque Sperm and we're coming all over."

laura k said...

Amy, it's the base-stealing zone.

laura k said...

And it's disgusting and TBS sucks.

Jake of All Trades said...

I think the number measures the runners lead, but it always says 9. A ruler rather than a live per runner measure.

Rob said...

An unprecedented and magnificant comeback of epic proportions by the Rays! They've tied it!

laura k said...

yes Chip, Crawford COULD put them up with a hit, and Pena COULD park one, and I COULD kill you

Allan: I hope one of those things comes true.

I'm going to radio soon! A hates the delay but I can't take it anymore.

Amy said...

Thanks, Laura and Ofer, for answering my question. I have never seen that before this series.

allan said...

i see the puffin beak now. it drops right down, but is still fat

A Conformer said...

Man, Garza has thrown several very high balls. Overanxious overthrowing?

Rob said...

Meanwhile the Red Sox get back to work against the cartoon character that he resembles that I can't recall the name of or what movie it came from.

That should have had hyphens maybe.

nick said...

sorry, but the for the record it was "Blaque Spurm". Oh, the clever-it kills.

Jake of All Trades said...

My wife actually thought the 9 steal zone was painted on the field and not a TV effect.

Joe Grav said...

come on we need some offense

Rob said...

Fucking hell you can still hear Mr. Ray in the background (the loud heckling dude)

Amy said...

Damn.

s1c said...

So far I am not impressed with the Cora experiment.

A Conformer said...

Shit, Gotta hand it to him, fucking Spitter has been good.

Joe Grav said...

:/

Gambrinus said...

Gah. That was exactly what we didn't need.

allan said...

too early for the sox to take the lead.. we'll wait until the 7th or so, as per usual

Dr. Jeff said...

Cora. Sigh.

efd said...

yet to see the benefits of Cora at the plate.

Not that Lowrie would be doing any better... nobody's hitting this unknown cartoon bird.

Amy said...

Jake, I probably only knew otherwise from seeing some football games on TV and learning that the line of scrimmage wasn't actually repainted on the field after every play! :)

thatdietcokegirl said...

Sorry if it was mentioned already, but is that 'Mojo Risin' sign anything to do with...us?? From the Game 5 thread? That's weird (and awesome!) if it's not.

oh and GO SOX!!!!! HOLD Lester HOLD!!!

allan said...

mojo - i dont know. we wondered that too.
i wish i knew!

Joe Grav said...

FUCK

nick said...

ZOMG!!1! a hit. it's all over. woe!

Amy said...

Hell. Come on, Jon. Get these FKRs out.

allan said...

hold the line, cancer boy

SoSock said...

Settle down Lester, be wicked.

allan said...

lunge and foul ball 4

Dr. Jeff said...

Mound visit?

Rob said...

I suppose that's not as bad as throwing it into the seats.

Amy said...

No play?

efd said...

no play, really?

s1c said...

Now the dp is set up.

allan said...

did he really have no play? seems hard to believe

Rob said...

TP plz.

Amy said...

TRiple play?

allan said...

genius cora setting up the dp.

thatdietcokegirl said...

dp plz.

A Conformer said...

Shit, gotta get Orr here. DP the cheeky bastard.

Rob said...

Lester looks like he's hit a wall.

allan said...

we are switching to radio

jug runs and all!

nick said...

now I say fuck. "fuck."

Amy said...

Not happy. Not happy AT ALL.

Rob said...

Gotta love Cora's range there.

allan said...

mdc up

Rob said...

MDC warming.

Joe Grav said...

fuc

thatdietcokegirl said...

we are switching to radio

that is a really good idea. I'm sick of hearing these tbs douchebags get all exasperated with everything the rays do.

s1c said...

Jedi would have knocked then one down at least.

A Conformer said...

Gotta love Cora's range there.

Nah, nothing to do there. That was the perfect spot for a grounder.

laura k said...

COULD WE GET SOME OUTS PLEASE????

Rob said...

Castig just called Iwamura Aki-mora

allan said...

the delay annoys me though
hear radio, then see the play 5 seconds later.

but chip the rays mascot is too annoying

Rob said...

It looked like it was slow enough for a SS with better range to reach it. Must've been the angle of view when that thought came to mind.

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