Another World Series game and yet
another thing I’ve never seen before.
Clinging to a 2-run lead in the bottom of the 9th with the
speedy rookie Kolten Wong on 1st and the postseason king Carlos Beltran
at the plate with 2 outs, Koji Uehara closed out the game with a pick-off.
It was the first time in
postseason history that a game has ended on a pickoff. The 4-2 win evens the Series at 2 games
apiece and the fall classic is certainly living up to its billing.
The Sox seem at their best when
their backs are up against the wall and with the Sox trailing the Cardinals,
David Ortiz rallied the troops in the dugout and demanded that they calm
down. Showing how much he means to this
team as a leader, he yelled and pumped up his team and got them to settle down
and play their game.
Nobody responded better, or
louder for that matter, than outfielder Jonny Gomes, who with one big swing of
the bat swung the momentum back to Boston’s side with a huge 3-run homer in the top of the 6th
to give the Sox a 4-1 advantage.
The top of the 6th
started out looking like a lost cause as the first 2 batters of the inning got
out (Ellsbury popped out to short and Nava ground out to 3rd). Pedroia lined a 2-out single to center and
then the Cardinals smartly walked the dangerous David Ortiz to bring up Jonny Gomes. Gomes crushed a 2-2 fastball into the Red Sox
bullpen that sent the dugout and team into a frenzy. There was a lot of beard pulling going on and
the Sox seemed to get energized by the homer.
Good thing for the long ball
because the offense only collected 6 hits on the night. They did walk 4 times but were just 1 for 4
with runners in scoring position and left 5 men on base.
David Ortiz was 3 for 3 with 2
runs, a double and a walk. It’s getting to
the point where he’s so locked in that the Cardinals need to give him the Barry
Bonds treatment by walking him every time he comes up to the plate.
Pedroia was 1 for 4 with a run
scored and Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a walk. Gomes was 1 for 2 with that big homer but he
also walked twice. Stephen Drew
collected an RBI with a sacrifice fly but was otherwise 0 for 3 on the
night. David Ross was 0 for 4 with 2
strikeouts playing in place for Salty.
Clay Buchholz who has already
stated that his arm and shoulder are not 100% and he’s suffering from arm
fatigue, gritted four innings of work.
He allowed only 3 hits, 1 run (it was unearned) while walking 3 and
striking out 2. His fastball only hit 90
twice and was consistently in the high 80’s.
He worked the corners and showed pin-point accuracy most of the night
and relied on his change-up and breaking stuff.
If it was indeed his last outing, he did wonders with no much velocity.
The bullpen took over from there
with some unlikely heroes. Felix
Doubront pitched wonderfully for 2 and 2/3 innings, giving up just 1 run and 1
hit while walking none and striking out 3.
The only run he allowed was really Craig Breslow’ s fault, who all of a
sudden, can’t be trusted out there. He’s
picked a terrible time to go into a slump.
In the bottom of the 7th,
with the Sox ahead 4-1, Doubront got the first 2 outs of the inning easily but
then allowed a pinch hit double off the bat of Shane Robinson. Farrell decided to go to Breslow for the
lefty Matt Carpenter. Breslow promptly
gave up an RBI single and then walked Carlos Beltran to put the tying run on 1st
and the go ahead run at the plate with the dangerous Matt Holliday at the dish.
Junichi Tazawa was brought on to
get the final out of the inning and he was able to get Holliday to ground-out
and keep the 2 run lead.
In the 8th, the Sox
turned to the unlikeliest of all, Game 2 starter and potentially Game 6
starter, John Lackey made an appearance.
It was his first appearance out of the bullpen since 2004. Reports are that Lackey asked to pitch and
give the bullpen some help as it was his side session day anyway and he wanted
to give the bullpen some much needed rest.
Lackey pitched a scoreless frame,
allowing just one base runner, Molina, on an error by third baseman Xander
Bogaerts. He was fired up coming off the
mound and you could tell his teammates appreciated what he did.
Koji got the final 3 outs while
working around a hit. His pick-off of
Wong was impressive and Wong has to feel just terrible right now. You don’t lose a game like that with the best
hitter on your team coming up.
The Red Sox now assured
themselves at least 1 game back at Fenway Park.
Game 6 will happen regardless of what happens tonight but the Sox would
love to get a win and need only to win 1 of 2 games back in Boston.
Jon Lester will take the hill for
the Sox and he was brilliant in Game 1.
He went 7 and 2/3 innings of scoreless ball giving up just 5 hits while
walking 1 and striking out 8. He’ll have
to be brilliant once again and hopefully can go deep into the game as the
bullpen is going to be mighty thin tonight.
He’ll be opposed by Cardinals
Game 1 starter, Adam Wainwright.
Wainwright wasn’t sharp in Game 1 as he allowed 5 runs, only 3 earned in
just 5 innings of work. He struck out 4
and walked one.
The Sox need to do what they did last
time they faced him and get to him early.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jonny Gomes. His 3-run homer swung momentum to the Sox
side and brought back a bench that was in dire need of something good to happen
after Game 3’s debacle.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Craig Breslow. I don’t think you can put Breslow in, in any
pressure situations right now. He’s
rattled and I wouldn’t use him in a tight spot right now.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Gomes’ big 3-run homer in the 6th.
NEXT
Monday, October 28th, in St.
Louis vs. the Cardinals.
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