6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Bottom 1st: After a 1-2-3 first inning by Curt Schilling, Fausto Carmona gets some tough breaks on the first two batters, with a pair of infield singles that he follows up with a walk to David Ortiz (and that latter with a strike two call outside the black) and nobody out. Manny Ramirez comes up and Carmona puts him at 0-2, but Carmona keeps throwing until Manny whiffs on a 2-2 pitch. Carmona then gets Mike Lowell to pop up on the 23rd pitch. But after the big three players for the Sox fail to cash in a runner, it's J.D. Drew who blasts a 3-1 grand slam on a mistake pitch Carmona leaves over the heart of the plate. 4-0 Red Sox.

Top 2nd: Cleveland gets one back with a leadoff homer off the bat of catcher Victor Martinez, a towering shot down the right field line. Schilling, when he has been getting hit, has been getting hit hard, with an earlier shot in the first by Grady Sizemore narrowly missing becoming a home run. But Schilling retires the next three batters in order, and it's 4-1 Red Sox.

Bottom 2nd: Carmona strikes out only his second batter in the guise of Julio Lugo, but already he's facing the top of the order with Dustin Pedroia. The Fox announcers notice he's not throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes, and it's showing in the 36 pitches he's already burned up. Pedroia doubles, and then Youkilis taps out another infield single. Peralta might have had a play on Pedroia at third, but kept the ball in his glove; as it was, Pedroia overslid the bag, and so that opportunity fell through. No matter, as Ortiz tapped into a 6-3 double play. 4-1 Red Sox.

Bottom 3rd: Shouldn't a pitcher named Fausto be playing for the Rockies? If he does have a deal with the Devil, he needs to sue for non-performance of contract. He's falling behind batters all night long, losing leadoff man Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell on consecutive walks. The parade of men in Indians colors to the mound is starting to wear a rut in the infield. The bullpen starts into gear, with Rafael Perez warming up — and then Drew lashes a single up the middle to send Manny home. Drew has driven in all five Red Sox runs, and it's getting dangerously close to becoming a rout. With nobody out, Eric Wedge pulls Carmona, and it's 5-1 Red Sox.

Perez retires the first batter of the frame, Jason Varitek, but rookie Jacoby Ellsbury slaps a single to make it 6-1 Red Sox. The Indians need runs, and they need them now, but first they need outs. Perez doesn't help in that, giving up a smash groundball double down the third base line to move it up to 8-1 Red Sox. That gets up Aaron Laffey in the pen, just before Perez walks Pedroia.

Perez then gives up a single to Kevin Youkilis, driving in Julio Lugo. An errant throw from second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera gets away from Ryan Garko, allowing Dustin Pedroia to score. That's it for Carmona, who gets removed for Laffey. David Ortiz grounds out to first (on what the announcers called a foul ball), but Garko makes his contribution to the Indians' woes by throwing one into the dirt, allowing Youkilis to reach second. It's 10-1 Red Sox with two out.

Manny Ramirez walks, but Mike Lowell pops out to right to end the frame. 10-1 Red Sox, and the Indians need a miracle now.

Bottom 5th: Dustin Pedroia grounds out to second, and Cabrera makes a fine play on the hot smash. "He makes every play," says announcer Joe Buck, but had he actually been watching the game, he would have noted a bad throw in the third that cost the Indians dearly.

Top 7th: After Schilling continued to dominate with his nine-run lead, Ryan Garko breaks through with the Indians' first extra-base hit since Victor Martinez's second-inning solo homer, tripling into the deepest part of the yard. Peralta cashes him in with a sac fly, but that's not the kind of rally Cleveland needs right now.

Schilling finishes the seventh by retiring Kenny Lofton and Trot Nixon; his night is over, and it's very likely Cleveland's hopes of advancing to the World Series with a Game 6 victory, as they now will likely have to face the tough part of the Red Sox bullpen in the eighth and ninth, thus forcing a game seven in Boston. 10-2 Boston.

Bottom 8th: Aaron Laffey, who hadn't made an appearance in the ALCS, pitches 4.2 scoreless frames, and is replaced by Joe Borowski to start the ninth. JoBo gives up a run on a walk to Youkilis, a double off the Green Monster to Ortiz, and a sac fly to dead center by Manny. Lowell cashes in Ortiz (who runs surprisingly well for a DH) to make it 12-2 Red Sox, and Borowski is proving himself unequal to the name "closer".

Top 9th: Eric Gagne gets the Indians in order, and that's the game. It looks to me like the Indians will go home empty-handed, as a game 6 was their best chance to get a win; it's very difficult to win a game 7 on the road. 12-2 Red Sox.

Labels: indians, postseason, recaps, red sox

// posted by Rob @ 8:36 PM link  //  0 comments