I don't understand Francona playing Alex Cora over Lowrie. Cora has hardly any range and his bat is weak. I know Francona is a very good manager but I don't like how he's in love with Cora, I think it is a mistake. Hopefully I'm wrong.
K-Rod is ridiculously overrated. Whoever signs this guy in the offseason is going to regret it, for a very long time. Nice to see JD Drew rip their hearts out -- Mortal Kombat style -- here in the 9th inning.
K-Rod gives up another big homer in the playoffs. Great to see how disappointed the fans look. As I type this Youk makes a great play.
The Angels are DONE. Now, down 0-2, they have to fly cross-country to face the best big game pitcher in baseball. This series is over on Sunday.
Now that the game is over I can now confidently say that I agree with you and the series will be over on Sunday.
You honestly didn't believe that Papelbon was going to cough up 2 runs in the 9th, did you? The guy is nails.
Bay and Drew had big games. I'm still in shock Drew hit that HR. I have to give credit to Papelbon too, he came in and just dominated those 2 innings, throwing only 20 pitches. I tip my hat to Francona for bringing him in that early. Pedroia needs to start getting hot, he was cold last ALDS too. Ditto for Youk too, although he had a great catch in the 9th. Matsuzaka even in the win was a goat. He got spotted a 4 run lead before he throws a pitch and barely gets out of the 5th. He needs to stop pitching away from contact and attack hitters like he did in the first 3 innings. He's so brutual to watch. Anyway I like the Sox chances for the rest of the series. Hopefully Beckett shows he's healthy and we end it in Game 3 so we can set our pitching rotation for the ALCS (assuming of course we beat the Angels 1 more time- I'm not taking anything for granted here right now).
I will say that with the Sox coming back and Drew hitting that home run in the 9th might have been more of a gut shot to the Angels than if they just lost 5-4. The Angels in the dugout looked cooked.
I can't lie. Before the series started, I thought we'd lose the series. I don't think so anymore though hmm. TB v. Bos .. it sure seems like destiny.
If the Red Sox and Rays meet I am going to at least one of the games. Going to the Trop will be a nice trip for me!
I'm praying the Angels dont give him the 4 or 5 years he's looking for. Say good bye and throw money at Teix Arte!
The Angels still have a shot Don. The Red Sox are still only 3-8 v.s. the angels this year. However Beckett, Lester, and Dice K will be tough
I'm just hoping they dont roll over Sunday, make a series out of it and end this losing streak in the playoffs. It isnt over, but it doesnt look very good either lol.
Really wanted to end the series tonight. Frustrating the Boston let Mike Napoli score 3 runs two of which were home runs. Boston must end the series later tonight.
Well the game today should be fun. Both bullpens are pretty shot so the key is to knock the starter out early. Just looking at pitch counts you'd figure Arrendonde, Shields and K-Rod would only throw an inning if that and Delcarmen and Papelbon the same. I seriously can't believe last night's game was 5 hours long.
Kudos to the Angels... they're a resilient group. A couple of thoughts: The Red Sox had no business even being in a position to win that game. Aside from a fluke 3-run single, they did nothing offensively and Beckett looked very rusty. Tonight is a must win game and the Red Sox should treat it as such. If this series goes back west with DiceK on the mound.. I don't see how we would win that potential game. Secondly, I admire the guy for trying to fight through it, but the Mike Lowell experiment needs to end. He's uncomfortable at the plate, he has no range in the field and he can't run. He's quickly becoming a liability on this team. He needs to shut it down for the rest of the playoffs and go get his surgery. Lastly, we need to start getting production from Pedroia at the plate. He was arguably our most valuable offensive threat all year, yet he's hitless in this series. We're going to need him if we want to finish off this Angel team. Here's to another entertaining game tonight fellas. Going to be another late night.
Pedroia is bound to start hitting sooner or later. Yeah I agree that Lowell needs to shut it down. He is not helping the team at all. He looks horrible at the plate and he can't run. Game 4 is a must win for the Sox.
Agreed about Lowell. Johnny Pesky might be a better bet to put at 3rd right now in terms of range. Don't get me wrong the guy is a warrior but he should be a cheerleader tonight. And this is a must win for the Sox tonight as I have no faith in Matsuzaka nowadays.
I think we are all agreed that Lowell is done for the rest of the year and Dice-K is very iffy. We need Lester big time tonight. Hopefully Pedroia wakes up tonight as well. He is a major factor to us scoring runs
Watching all the Pedoria Ab's have been painful. The only thing I like about facing Lackey tonight is that we are at home. I don't think he has another great performance like early in the year, I like our chances if we can get Oliver and whoever else they have in there pen that will be ready tonight.
I don't know I kind of disagree. It's not like he's being overmatched he's hit some absolute shots (that near HR Anderson caught in Game 2, and I can count at least 3 line drives right at people). He's jsut been unlucky so far but with that being said he needs to have a big game tonight and needs to get on base.
Lowell is out for the rest of the ALDS and also the ALCS (if the Sox get there). He's replaced by Gil Vilasquez.
I actually thought the pitch selection to Vlad was poor. And that cross up past ball is on both Vtek and Masterson. This isn't good. The Angels have life now and are pumped up. I wouldn't be shocked if we have to watch another game on Wednesday.
With a man on 3rd and 1 out I think the Angels are going to win. Piss poor job by Masterson IMO and I would have let Lester go back out in the 8th inning.
It's easy to 2nd guess now, but Lester was at 109 pitches, the pen should have been able to hold a 2 run lead while getting 6 outs.
Lester was hot and I think he could have gone another inning. Regardless the pen should have been able to hold onto the lead like you said. Huge play on the failed squeeze.
