December 30, 2016

Classic Baseball - Beckett Baffles Bombers


Twenty game winner Josh Beckett was called upon on short rest in Game 4 to send their ALDS with the '98 Yankees back to New York, and he did so in marvelous fashion. Beckett went 7.2 innings masterfully using his blistering fastball and changeup to strike out 7 Yankee hitters while only surrendering 3 hits in a convincing 4-0 win. The Red Sox took care of business at home tying the ALDS with their second consecutive win at Fenway after being down 0-2 in games. 



Since the inception of the 2-2-1 LDS  home field format which was introduced in 1998, only 4 of 37 teams that fell behind 0-2 have come back to win the series. However, if history is a relative indicator of past success, Boston may have a decent shot in completing the comeback as the Red Sox have done it twice: once in 1999 against Cleveland and again in 2003 over Oakland. The other two teams were the 2001 New York Yankees (defeating Oakland) and the 2015 Toronto  Blue Jays (defeating Texas). When the league championship series was a best of 5 affair between 1969 to 1984, 72 teams fell behind 0-2 and only nine made it all the way back to win the series.



Yankees' starter Orlando Hernandez was as lucky and Beckett was confounding. The Red Sox hit many scorching drives only to find the leather of the New York defenders. Boston swung early and often which made Hernandez's outing extremely economical. He had only thrown a little over 70 pitches after 7 innings of work. His only misstep was in the fifth, as Boston scratched out a run. Mike Lowell, the 2007 World Series MVP, hit a leadoff single and was moved to third on a J.D. Drew single to left center.  Drew's single would be huge as New York failed to turn an inning ending double play with the speedy rookie Jacoby Ellsbury beating the throw to first which allowed Lowell to count. Drew was mentioned as a cornerstone in a possible Red Sox comeback, and this proved to be the only run Boston needed. Drew leads all Boston hitters with a .312 BA in the series

In the eighth, Beckett retired the first 2 New York batters, but a Scott Brosuis single left manager Terry Francona no choice but to call on his bullpen. Beckett was on 3 days rest and after 91 pitches, Francona asked closer Jonathan Papelbon to hold the fort. Papelbon did just that,striking out Yankee leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch on a nasty splitter to neutralize the New York sabre rattling.

In the home half of the eighth, it looked as though Boston would go quietly once again as Hernandez got two quick outs. His luck finally ran out against Jacoby Ellsbury as he crushed a two seam fastball from Hernandez that ricocheted off the center field wall above the batter's eye and bounced back into the field of play. This monstrous blast opened the flood gates as consecutive singles by Julio Lugo and Dustin Pedroia chased Hernandez. Oddly, New York skipper Joe Torre opted for lefty Mike Stanton to face Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis made Torre pay with a  bases clearing double off the left center field wall. This gives Youk the team lead in RBI in the series with 3. That closed the book on Hernandez and the door on the Yankees as Papelbon came back in the ninth and set down  New York in order for the 4 out save. This was the first game that the margin of victory was greater than one run in this tightly contested ALDS. For Boston, you'd have to think that they'll need a response from the formidable duo of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz for a Game 5 victory. Even though they have each homered and doubled in the series, they are a combined 6-31 in this ALDS.

Heading back to "The Big Apple", New York will ask David Cone to hold off a stunning Boston comeback. He'll be up against rookie Jon Lester who, like Beckett, will also be pitching on short rest.



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