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

Garza walks Ortiz, and then surrenders a long fly in the right field corner to Kevin Youkilis; if Rocco Baldelli had gotten off a clean throw to first, he might have doubled up Ortiz. Garza then strikes out J.D. Drew on a pitch in the dirt, and Navarro completes the strikout after Garza reminds him, 2-3; the inning's over with only the home run.

Bottom 2nd: Jon Lester retires the side in order, though he gets a good scare on a B.J. Upton line drive that takes J.D. Drew to the warning track. Still 1-0 Boston.

Bottom 4th: Iwamura breaks up a perfect game by whacking a single into center to put a man on first with nobody out. Upton strikes out swinging, and Carlos Pena bounces into a fielder's choice 4-5 (the shift was on, and Youkilis covered second). Evan Longoria then welts one down the right field line that slices away from J.D. Drew, scoring Pena from first; though Drew got the throw to second and then to the plate, the relay was offline on the third base side, and Pena scored to make it tied 1-1. Carl Crawford strikes out swinging at a fastball even with his throat to end the frame, but the Rays came back from the early deficit.

Bottom 5th: After an uneventful, 1-2-3 top of the fifth, the Rays instantly get into scoring position (and fairly narrowly miss a homer) on Willy Aybar's double to deep left, with nobody out. Lester then goes 3-0 on the next batter, Navarro, before slinging a strike over the plate to make it 3-1, and then fouling one off to take the count full. He taps one hard to Alex Cora's right, and by the time the Red Sox shortstop gets to it, it's first and second with nobody out for the Rays. That brings up Baldelli, who belts a 0-1 pitch foul with a majestic long shot deep to left. On the next pitch, he bounces it through the hole in left, singling home Aybar, who hesitates around third. 2-1 Rays, and there's still nobody out.

That gets Manny Delcarmen warming up in the Boston bullpen. But Lester gets Bartlett to strike out on a pitch low and inside for the first out, and Iwamura taps back to the box slowly for the second out, moving runners to second and third with two out. He then gives up a heart-stopping foul to Pena, but Pena makes the last out of the inning on a little looping liner to short.

Top 6th: Pedroia works a full count and keeps going on an incredible 11-pitch duel that ends in a one-out walk. The Rays then put the shift on for David Ortiz, and he ends up in a full count — and Garza ends the frame on a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play as Pedroia was running on the pitch.

Aside: Who knew Brooke Shields was funny? The VW ads are hilarious. (Too bad the bit about German engineering isn't really true.)

Bottom 6th: Though the bottom of the frame is 1-2-3, it doesn't feel that way, as Longoria and Crawford both fly out to the deep part of the yard. 2-1 Rays.

Top 7th: With one out, Garza walks Drew and surrenders a single to Bay, who had previously struck out twice. Manager Joe Maddon comes out for a talk, but that's all, and he leaves him in to face Mark Kotsay with men on first and second. He lines out to right, with Drew advancing, but Kotsay continues to strand baserunners.

Varitek gets a break on a 0-1 check swing call that should have been a strike, but it doesn't matter anyway, as Varitek fouls the next one off. Garza gets Varitek to swing and miss at a pitch in the dirt, and the inning's over.

Bottom 7th: After a protracted 7-pitch battle, Willy Aybar goes yard on a shot to deep left to extend the lead to 3-1 Rays. Lester retires the next three in order.

Top 8th: Garza gets a three-hopper to short — but Bartlett botches it, the ball skips into left field, and Alex Cora reaches. That's it for Garza, who has allowed two hits to the 2007 champion Red Sox, getting a standing ovation as he exits the game.

Dan Wheeler comes in and Coco Crisp whacks one in the hole in right. Wheeler then gets Dustin Pedroia to pop out to left on a very high fly ball for the game's first out; Maddon pulls the plug on Wheeler with lefty Ortiz coming up, calling on J.P. Howell. The broadcasters remind us that Howell gave up a run yesterday against Ortiz; can he do it again?

Howell gets Ortiz to a 2-2 count after throwing one away on a 1-2 pitch and then Ortiz fouls the next one off. Ortiz spoils the next one, and he looks disgusted the whole at-bat. Finally, Big Papi hits one weakly to second, and Iwamura just barely gets the man at second for a fielder's choice. With two out, Howell leaves the game, to be replaced by Chad Bradford, who will face Kevin Youkilis with men on the corners.

Bradford goes 3-0 on Youkilis, and the Rays start warming up David Price. Bradford gets to a full count, but he walks the Greek God of Walks to load the bases. Maddon isn't taking any chances, and Bradford's gone.

Price will face Drew; it's all or nothing now. Price gets an excellently placed first-pitch strike on the outside for 0-1. Drew swings at the second pitch, a fastball, for 0-2. Price sends a fastball at 97 off the plate to go 1-2, and strikes out Drew on a check swing to end the frame and the threat.

Bottom 8th: Okajima gets the Rays out 1-2-3 to bring up the bullpen for the last three outs that stand between Tampa Bay and their first-ever World Series. Strap in, kids.

Top 9th: David Price will face Bay, Kotsay, and Varitek. He misses wildly with 0-1 and 1-1 pitches, but gets a foul to even the count with Bay. The Sox get a break on another 2-2 pitch with a bad check swing call, and Bay works a walk with no outs.

Kotsay taps a couple foul to go 0-2, and Price throws one almost over Kotsay's head for a 1-2 count. He just misses with a 95 MPH heater, 2-2, and gets him looking with the next pitch. One out, and Price stays in.

Varitek goes 1-2, and Price throws another one high. He's clearly amped. He blows a slider past the Sox' catcher, and there's two out. That brings up Jed Lowrie, who bounces out on the first pitch to Iwamura, who runs the ball himself to second for the out. The Rays are AL champions! The Rays win the pennant! The Rays win the pennant! The Rays win the pennant!

Who woulda thunk it. Congratulations to the Rays!

(Incidentally, it's David Price's first major league save!)

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Labels: live blogging, postseason, rays, recaps, red sox

// posted by Rob @ 5:11 PM link  //  6 comments