Red Sox fans could not have asked for a nicer way to being the 2007 World Series. Josh Beckett struck out the first three Colorado batters he faced (even after falling behind Kazuo Matsui 3-0) in the first inning, and rookie Dustin Pedroia led off the bottom of the first with a homerun on the second pitch he saw. By the end of the inning, Boston was leading by three after four more hits in what would eventually be a 13-1 blowout win.
In the top of the second, Colorado narrowed the Boston lead to 3-1 when Garrett Atkins and Troy Tulowitzki hit a pair of doubles off Beckett. That was the closest the Rockies came to a rally, though, as they only hit four more hits off Beckett in the next five innings and none off relievers Mike Timlin and Eric Gagne in the final two. David Ortiz knocked in another run for Boston in the bottom of the second with an RBI double that scored Kevin Youkilis.
After Colorado starter Jeff Francis gave up a single, double, intentional walk, and ground rule double- all with two outs- that put Boston up 6-1 in the fourth inning, Clint Hurdle prepared to bring in Franklin Morales, who had been demoted to bullpen duty. After giving up a lead-off single, he had two outs and seemed to be in control before advancing the runner on a balk. He then proceeded to give up three doubles, two singles, and a walk before being pulled with the bases loaded and the Red Sox up by nine. Ryan Speier came in with three inherited runners and proceeded to walk in all three of them without recording the much needed out. Matt Herges finally got Kevin Youkilis- who had already doubled to drive in the first run of the inning- to fly out and end the inning (the bottom half of which lasted over half an hour).
In all, eleven of the Red Sox’ thirteen runs were scored with two outs. I’m not sure whether that says more about the Boston bats or the rustiness of the Rockies’ pitchers.
Everybody had great numbers tonight, with every Boston starter but Mike Lowell having at least one RBI. And Lowell went 1-3 with a double, two walks, and a run scored. Six different Sox had doubles, with Ortiz and Youk getting two each. It almost seems odd that they only had one homer. And even though they stranded a dozen base runners, they still scored thirteen runs on seventeen hits and eight walks.
Big blowouts make me nervous, but the Red Sox have been on such a roll since game five of the ALCS that I won’t lose too much sleep yet. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow night with rookie Ubaldo Jimenez facing off against Curt Schilling before this series heads out west to snowy Denver.
Hi L, long time no see....I wonder too about when the inevitable power outage is going to occur. It seems like whenever a team scores a whole bunch of runs in one game, they struggle to score in the next. Considering the Sox have scored in double figures in three straight games now, I have to admit to being a little concerned about tomorrow night.
On the other hand, it's a nice thing to have to be worried about. "Gee, I wonder if we can score ten runs tomorrow night...."
hey what a pitcher!!! focused all the time!! but why in the hell did the bosox manager leave him in so long?? the sox were in total control, and it sure wasnt going to be a college football comeback!!!!
kellyscott- I kind of wondered the same thing. I wasn't worried about Beckett being able to handle it, but it seemed like you could've turned things over- even to Gagne- a little sooner with a twelve run lead.
half- thanks for checking in. I guess we were right. The Red Sox bats slowed down tonight ("only" six hits), and they stranded a lot of runners. Luckily, we had the pitching to get things done with that offensive production.
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I am a Red Sox fanatic and otherwise sports-obsess ed nut. Favorite teams include: Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers; Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots; Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics.
