October 12, 2007
...
Until somebody in the opposing dugout figures out a way to get out
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, if not both of 'em, at least one of 'em,
this 2007 postseason will be over and out, flying by in a Boston
minute. No one this side of T-ball gets on base with the regularity
that Ortiz and Ramirez have this October, a trend that continued in a
shockingly easy 10-3 win over the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the
American League Championship Series before 36,986 in Fenway Park.
Both reached base five times in five plate appearances, four times
apiece in the first six innings, by which time the Sox held an
eight-run lead, C.C. Sabathia was C.C. see-ya-later, and Josh Beckett
was enjoying an early exit of his own volition, one that could prove
fortuitous if the Sox need him to pitch on short rest in Game 4.
Sox sluggers
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz look like high school seniors playing in the
Little League World Series. The Dominican duo hit .533 with four homers and
seven RBIs while reaching base 19 times in three games against the Angels in the
AL Division Series. Tonight they reached base 10 times in 10 plate appearances.
Ruth and
Gehrig? Mays and McCovey? It's doubtful any duo ever reached base with more
regularity (29 times in 36 combined postseason plate appearances). Ortiz and
Ramirez are playing in a higher league.
Ortiz has
reached base 16 times (7 hits, 8 walks, 1 hit by pitch) in 18 plate appearances
in four postseason games. He's averaging four times on base per game. Ramirez
has been on base 13 times (5 hits, 8 walks) in 18 appearances. Ortiz and Ramirez
both singled in the first, Ramirez driving home Kevin Youkilis with Boston's
first run, which erased the 1-0 advantage Cleveland had gained on Travis
Hafner's home run over the visitors' bullpen. Ortiz was hit by a pitch (more
blouse than beef), and Ramirez, after falling behind, 0 and 2, walked in the
third, when the Sox sent nine men to the plate and scored four times off
Sabathia, whose Cy Young Award pedigree took a header on a night he gave up more
runs (8 earned in 4 1/3 innings) than in any other start this season.
Sabathia
during the regular season struck out 209 batters and walked just 37. His
strikeout-to-walk ratio was 5.65-1. Since 1901, Randy Johnson is the only
lefthander to post a better ratio (6.59-1 with Arizona in 2004). But after
walking five in 4 1/3 innings last night, on top of six walks in five innings in
his Game 1 start against the Yankees in the Division Series, Sabathia has walked
more batters in two postseason starts (11) than he did in any month during the
regular season.
Ortiz walked
and Ramirez singled in the fifth, when the Sox scored three times to make it
8-1. By then, the Indians were already lighting candles for their other 19-game
winner, Fausto Carmona, who will face Curt Schilling in hopes that they can
return to Cleveland with a split.
The Indians,
who disposed of the Yankees in four games in their Division Series, suffered
through a night in which the only time the bases were clear of Sox players was
when the grounds crew swept the infield midgame. Every starter in the Sox lineup
reached base safely at least once, including Bobby Kielty, who rewarded manager
Terry Francona's decision to start him in right with a two-run single in the
fifth that knocked out Sabathia.
The Sox
walked eight times, a club record in LCS play; they've walked 24 times in four
postseason games. The Sox, who outscored the Angels by a composite 19-4, go into
tomorrow night having outscored their playoff opponents, 29-7. When Ortiz
doubled off Joe Borowski to open the eighth, that made eight consecutive times
he'd reached base.
Meanwhile,
Beckett, emerging as a modern-day Bob Gibson, smothered the Tribe, striking out
seven, walking none, and allowing two earned runs in a rocking-chair start. He
allowed only one base runner in the first four innings. Beckett didn't need to
throw another shutout, as he'd done in his previous two postseason outings. He
set down 10 in a row until he hit Ryan Garko to open the fifth. He gave up
another run in the sixth, when Casey Blake doubled and Asdrubal Cabrera singled
him home.
Like their
brawny brothers in Foxborough, these Red Sox have a way of sucking the drama out
of games before many fans settle into their seats. The Sox have won four
consecutive playoff games by an aggregate count of 29-7.
