Injuns-Sox

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Game 3 goes to Cleveland as Westbrook outduels Matsuzaka.

Red Sox had a Met-like game: Loaded the bases with 0 out in the 2nd but didn't score (popup, GIDP) and looked kinda lethargic since. It was like they knew their moment had come and gone.

Fans in Cleveland make a lot of noise. Did you know that Columbus, OH is a much larger city, and growing while Cleveland shrinks? Cleleand is now marketing itself with Akron & Youngstown as a single 4 million + entityy rather than a single dying rustbelt city. It's true.

What's the deal with Casey Blake? He wears a furry beard like a 1970s reliever, plays 3rd base but is a pure AL No. 9 hitter. Odd duck.

[metirish]

Blake looks like a hockey player, or Jeremiah Johnson on a good day. I shouldn't judge him on the post-season but the Sox 2nd baseman isn't all that, every time he comes to bat he's anointed the AL RotY.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

seriously, I just used a racist word when I really meant "Guardians" kicking ass.

[metirish]

Boston with back to back jacks Youkilis and Ortiz, Byrd pulled.

[Zvon]

Byrds goose is cooked after bk2bk homers in the 6th.

If you got a home run ball while attending the game, would you throw it back?
I wouldn't.

Especially a momento from a playoff game.
Id have that on display on my desk or something.
"Thats the Youkilis HR ball I caught in the '07 NLCS."

And that lady who got Ortiz's homer...omg--she just sold it to a Boston fan,lol. Wonder how much she got.

[Zvon]

tic tack toe, 3 in a row

[Frayed Knot]

This was the one game that was actually sailing along ... until it hit the bottom of the 5th.

Obviously a big inning like the Cleveland 5th slows the game down a lot - but I think it's the relievers too. Pen guys seem to be used to working slower; they think about every single pitch, check the runners 4 or 5 times, and work v-e-r-y deliberately which, in turn, gets the batters steeping out each time, etc. And since these games all have relievers in for the majority of the games they just grind to a halt pacing-wise.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Not for nothing but another Met-like performance from the Sox tonight: They had one inning and one inning only.

I can't get over this Casey Blake fella. Wears No. 1. No guy with a beard like that ever wore No. 1.

[Zvon]

I expected more bang from Boston.

Well, it ain't over yet.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Sox win handily behind Beckett to force Game 6 at Fenway... next week or something...

[Guest holychicken]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Sox win handily behind Beckett to force Game 6 at Fenway... next week or something...

Yeah, what is up with the offday during the 3 games in Cleveland? Are sunday night game 7s much more popular than Saturday night?

[Frayed Knot]

The idea with the extra off-days both between and within the early rounds was to stagger the dates so that the WS does not start and end on the weekend as has been custom. This year it'l start on Wednesday and only cross one weekend.

Saturdays are traditionally the least-watched TV night of the week and the thought is that putting Game 1 on that day causes a lot of folks to skip it and many of the recent ones are ending in 4 or 5 games and never even getting to the 2nd weekend.

[Guest holychicken]

I guess that makes sense. Stupid WS screwing everything up

[Frayed Knot]

The real problem was moving the WS without moving the end of the regular season.
That's what has led to the same number of games over more days. Then throw in the fact that most of these series have barely gone the minimum and we're looking at a helluva lotta blank days in the PS sked.

[Frayed Knot]

seriously, I just used a racist word when I really meant "Guardians" living dangerously here in game 7 and are lucky to be down only 3-1.
Sox have been all over the bases against Westbrook but have left numerous runners on plus have hit into 3 DPs in 4 innings.

And as I type this the Indians get 3 straight hits to start the 5th but haven't scored as Manny threw Lofton out at 2nd on the first of those hits.

[Valadius]

It's 3-2 now. I hope we see a battle tonight.

[Frayed Knot]

Native Americans miss a good chance to score and at least tie it up in top 7 -- and then Dustin Pedroia may have just iced it with a 2R Jack in the bottom half. Still 6 outs to get.

- How cool has that got to be for Pedroia? ... Rookie year, hit a 2R HR in a Game 7 and then gets to jump on a big smiling Big Papi waiting there in the on-deck circle.

- I've been rooting for Boston over the last few days just so this series wouldn't end early and give us a whole week without baseball to the point where I almost forgot that I'm actually pulling for Cleveland to win this.

[Frayed Knot]

Now Pedroia really does salt it away; he follows his 2R HR in the 7th with a bases-clearing 2B in the 8th.
And now Youkilis smacks one over the Green Monster and it's 11-2 !!

[Valadius]

Poor seriously, I just used a racist word when I really meant "Guardians". Red Sox advance.

[metirish]

I never heard the answer to the trivia question from the game last night.

Here's the question.

What three future HOF players played in game seven of the 1986 ALCS .

[TransMonk]

Don Sutton, Reggie Jackson, Wade Boggs