NOT THIS TIME! Game 7 Commentary! Still Proud of our Sox!
October 19, 2008
First off, thank you Boston!
You can't expect a miracle when Boston continues to leave runners in scoring position. That bases loaded opportunity was a real let down. Still we can be proud of our team going to the post season and coming back from behind to force a game 7. I really don't want to say those old words,"WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!" in public. I have to heal first but in time we will all be right there waiting for opening day and our Boston Red Sox!
We were so close... Thank you Boston.
Here is my Game 7 Commentary.
Before this game started I wrote a blog that said,"This game comes down to experience...Lester has the edge because he knows he could have pitched better and will do so. Garza thinks he does not need to change anything because he was victorious last outing and that is where he can get into trouble. Mark my words, Garza will falter and the Rays will commit errors and Boston will come out on top once more."
Inning #1
Garza pitches to Dustin Pedroia and Dustin creams the ball into left field. The rest of the at bats for Boston showed us from the start that Garza is hittable. Stay tuned for more hits.
Lester comes in strong and gets the first out. Lester is throwing 95 mph strikes and with a 3-2 count on Upton, BJ got a hold of one deep but not deep enough to record out number two. The Rays have scored eight first inning runs this series but, as Pena goes down to a breaking ball for strike three the Rays will certainly not be repeating any history tonight.
Inning #2
Garza starts out the inning striking out Bay on a check swing then Bartlett makes an outstanding play taking a hit away from Kotsay. Kotsay needs to learn to stop swinging at the first pitch. Jason V comes to the plate and makes Garza throw nine pitches to him before striking out for out number three. This was a good inning for Garza. I believe that our players should follow V-techs lead and not swing at first pitches, work the count and force Garza out early.
In the bottom of the second, Lester takes down Longoria with a ground ball. Next Crawford comes in; he goes down for Lesters second K of the evening. Remember now that Lester is throwing no hit ball at this time as he now goes six up an six down to end the second.
Inning #3
Alex Cora starts things off for the third inning as he shows bunt, pulls back and watches the first pitch go by.Cora mistimed Garza's stretch and for the next pitch Cora flys out. Crisp takes six pitches before he offers the fourth strike out for Garza. Our 180 pound slugger, you know, the guy who should win the MVP, comes to the plate and does not make it easy for Garza and so Garza hits Pedroia. Dustin does not rub the spot to give the pitcher the satisfaction that the pitch hurt him. I hope this becomes another spark for Boston. Dustin steals second easily and its 2-2 for David Ortiz but, sadly high heat strikes him out and leaves a runner at second.
For the first time this series we have the pitcher who has retired the first six batters of the game. Lester seems to be in a groove and has full confidence in all his pitches. Seven up and seven down as Lester gets his third strikeout of the game. Eight up and eight down as Lester gets his forth strikeout of the game. I like this pattern of commentary. Nine up and nine down as Lester pops up th next batter to end the inning. WOW! On to the fourth inning.
Inning #4
So far we have a one hitter and a no hitter taking shape. Youk comes to the plate to change that scenario but, on a 2-2 count Youk hits a shot to third and gets thown out for the first out of the fourth. Drew pops up for the second out and Garza remains focused. I believe that we need to get Garza angry so that he loses his cool and his focus. To do that we need to run a little small ball against him or hope that the Rays commit and error or two. Jason Bay gets fooled on yet another check swing for the third out and truthfully Garza is on target.
Top of the order and #1 gives the first hit for the Rays. Now we will see how Lester deals with a runner on first. He ignores the runner and proceeds to strike out Upton. We will take that! Five K's for Lester tonight. The broadcasters in a matter of 20 seconds twice say, "if he can park one here the game will be tied". So I am yelling at the broadcasters now! Dustin Pedroia makes a great play to get the lead runner at second for out #2. He just beat the slide. The commentators then remind us what Longoria did to Lester as if that would help Longoria and I guess it did. He hits the ball deep to right and the runner at first scores just ahead of the throw at the plate. We are tied. The play at the plate was closer than I thought and I was hoping to see that V-teck did indeed tag him. Crawford is .462 with runners in scoring postion but, Lester makes sure that average drops as Crawford swings and misses for strike three.
Inning #5
The Rays have got their fans out of their seats and Boston needs to shut them up quickly. The biased broadcasters start off the inning saying, "with the bottom of the third before him, Garza needs to get out of this inning quick so that his team can get right back at the plate." Yeah, like that does not show us who you want to win tonight. Kotsay flies out quickly as usual and V-teck offers the second out even quicker. Our bottom third has to do something in order to keep the Rays on the pine but Cora stikes out to end the inning. I guess those biased broadcasters got their way.
Aybar just misses a home run and ends up with a double for the first hit in the bottom of the fifth. This is not the way to shut of the fans but keeping the runner on the bases will do the trick. Navarro brings the count full and then gets an infied hit with no throw. The runner did not move up because we held him in check. Now a double play is in order. So far the bottom of the order is doing well while our bottom of the order is just taking up space. However, our team is sneaky good. Anytime, just at the right time, our boys can come through in the clutch. Baldelli gets a hit and the Rays lead 2-1. Still nobody out and now runners are on first and second. A pitcher starts warming up in our bullpen. With the 80th pitch of the night Lester finally strikes out a batter in this inning. Runners move up to second and third as the next batter got a piece of the ball and was thrown out at first. Lester needs to keep this a one run game and he does shut them down. Thank God. Now it's our turn to catch fire and show our stuff.
Inning #6
It's the top of the order for our team and again I say we need to shut down this crowd and this team with some hits and runs. Crisp gets a good piece of the ball but lines it foul. Crisp work the count full, the at the next pitch touches the ball enough to run down the first base line. Garza makes a nice play to throw him out. Pedroia tries to duplcate his earlier success against Garza and makes Garza throw 12 pitches before he finally earned a walk. Garza is now up to about 93 pitches and David Ortiz comes to the plate. We need David to do his thing. David pushes Garza to a full count and then is pitched inside while Pedroia steals second. Ortiz strikes out and Pedroia gets thrown out. That is not the spark we needed. The good news is that Garza is at 101 pitches, the bad news is we did not take advantage of this inning.
Boston has never been behind in a game 7 ALCS game so this is new ground for us. We must shut down the Rays now since we can't seem to get more than four men at the plate in any one inning and our bottom third is doing nothing. By the way, Ortiz swung at ball four.
Lester comes in and proves that my poll selection of him going 7 innings is getting closer. Good start to the bottom of the inning as Pena swings at the first pitch and pops up. The next batter quickly pops out to Bay for out number two. Crisp gets the third out and Lester gets out of the inning quickly. We needed that but, now we must make our move. None of this last minute come from behind drama as I just ran out of Tums! We have nine outs left folks, let's make them long lasting and purposeful!
Inning # 7
Garza quickly pops up Youk for out number one! We still only have one hit for this game. It is time to change that with Drew! Drew takes a four pitch walk. Bay with two check swing strike outs comes to the plate. "Let's get more guys up at bat this inning" I yell. "Lets make this our inning" I scream. Yeah I am into this game! Bay heard me and a million other Sox fans and hits a rope to left field. We have men at first and second now with one out. Madden comes out to check on Garza and Garza says he ready to go. Kotsay comes to the plate. He as left 18 runners on base during this series. V-teck has left even more. Kotsay swings and sends the ball to deep right, enough to move the runner to third but to also give Boston two outs. We need V-teck to get this runner home but does not get the job done. He strikes out. So close! So Close.
Lester comes in for the bottom of the 7th and gives Aybar a Home Run to deep left. Damn! Come on Boston we can do it! I believe! Lester remains in the game. Navarro gets a hold of the ball but Drew camps under it. Lester has never lost consecutive starts in his career so Boston needs to make sure that stat remains true. Lester strikes out Baldelli for the second out. A high pop fly ends the inning.
Inning #8
Boston has six outs left until either we continue our season or hand it over to the Rays. Do we really want to hand our season over to the Rays? Of course not but, Boston needs that spark. They were close to getting it until Ortiz swung at ball four. So fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. In other words let's not get fooled again. Let's instead come from behind and pull ahead. Let us also keep the Rays from doing any further damage. Do these two things and we are in the World Series.
Cora gets on base due to an error in the Rays defense. That is a start. Garza was in to start the inning but is not being taken out. Let's see if we can do damage to their bullpen! GO SOX!
Billy Joel's song "PRESSURE" starts playing but, we thrive under pressure right? Wheeler comes in to continue the game. Crisp stands at the plate and takes a ball low. No double play! No double play! Say it with me, "NO DOUBLE PLAY!" Get a hit, get a hit, get a hit say it with me "GET A HIT!" Two balls and no strikes and now it's 2-1! Crisp tries to bunt but gets strike two. His next swing is a ground ball with a base hit. HEY HE HEARD ME, ah, US! GO SOX! Dustin P is 0-7 against Wheeler. It is time for that to change. Come on Dustin, get a hit, get a hit, say it with me, "GET A HIT!" It' 1-1 and Dustin is waiting for that one sweet pitch. High fly ball but he gets under it. Darn! That's one out. Now Ortiz has a shot but Joe Madden comes in and brings in a lefty to go up against David. Come on Big Papi you have to make up for your blunder of swinging at ball four. You have great talent! You are the guy who brings the wins home to Boston. You can do it! You are up against Howell and you have hit him before so NOW IS THE TIME! Get a hit! Get a hit! Say it with me, "SLAM THAT BALL OUT OF THE PARK!" "GIVE US THE LEAD" "DO YOUR THING!"
Ortiz starts out with strike one. Strike two on a weak hit foul! 2-2! Come on ORTIZ, time to hit! He listens but grounds into an almost double play. Instead now with two outs we have runners on 1st and 3rd. Crisp would have been safe but instead of sliding into second he tried to slide into the player. When the ball hit the glove of the second baseman Crisp was past the base. Darn! He would have been safe. Youk is our next to only hope now unless our manager decides to throw in some new bats for the bottom third of the inning. I hope he does but for now we still are in it. The go ahead run is now at the plate. Go ahead you biased announcers say it like you do for the Rays. Youk has ball 2. Youk swings at ball four and now it is a full count. Ortiz goes but it is ball four and the base are loaded.
Why does Boston have to do this to us? I swear there would be more Boston fans on this earth if only their post season drama was not so stressful. JD Drew is now up at the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. David Price, last years #1 draft pick is up. So now it is youth verses experience. Let Experience knock the bal out of the park! Price throws a first pitch slider for strike one. Now it is 0-2. Come on Drew! Don't leave the bases loaded. Damn! That was a checked swing not strike three.
Three up, three down for Okajima and now we are down to our last three outs. We have Bay but the rest of the players have not done much in the post season. Boston, you had your chance with bases loaded. You have had runners in scoring position earlier in the game and could not get the job done. If you are waiting for the fat lady she is singing load and clear. There is no tomorrow unless you guys hit and score right now. So let's see those bats at work. Take down David Price who will be coming in to close out the ninth.
Bottom of the 9th- A NEW HOPE?
David Price will face Bay, Kotsay and V-teck. I truly wish Terry would bring in someone with a better record for hitting the baseball once Bay gets on base.. Bay stays alive. He is 1-3 in tonights game. Bay had another check swing but we got a break. Bay takes a walk after the next pitch. Now Kotsay is up and he is 0-3. He broke his bat in frustration before so maybe a new bat would make a difference? Kotsay tries to bunt which makes no sense to me when you are down two runs. He is now down 0-2. Kotsay is called for strike three on a pitch outside the zone. Another bad call for the ump! V-teckis one for 19 at the plate for this series. Terry trusts in his bats and Jason strikes out.
We have one out left and our season is up to Jed Lowrie. It is do or die and after a ground ball to second, the Rays are going to the WORLD SERIES!
Sigh...THANK YOU BOSTON!
-Redsoxfan4evr
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