Dustin Pedroia drove in five late runs with a two-run home run in the seventh inning and a bases-clearing double in a six-run eighth as the Red Sox rolled to an 11-2 win over the Cleveland Indians last night in the seventh and deciding game of the American League Championship Series.
It was the third time in franchise history that the Red Sox have rallied from a 3-1 disadvantage to win a series, including 2004 when they went on to win the World Series.
The Red Sox will play host to the National League champion Colorado Rockies in the World Series, beginning Wednesday at Fenway Park.
Kevin Youkilis slugged a two-run homer in the eighth.
Pedroia's two-run home run over the Green Monster off Rafael Betancourt in the seventh inning broke open a one-run Red Sox lead in an inning that started on Casey Blake's fielding error. Blake misplayed a liner off the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury, allowing Ellsbury to reach second. Ellsbury went to third on Julio Lugo's sacrifice bunt. It was Blake who'd hit into an inning-ending double play in the top of the inning, with runners on the corners.
"You know what?" Red Sox reliever Jonathan Papelbon said. "We all believed even when we were down 3-1. But we just wanted to take it one out at a time. One inning at a time."
Josh Beckett, who was named series MVP, said: "I'm expecting to be the guy on the mound [in the opener]. It's my second time and I'd like another ring to go with the one I got in Florida."
Red Sox manager Terry Francona said: "It wasn't easy and it's not supposed to be. It's appropriate ... very appropriate we're doing it at home. The score wasn't indicative of game. We're up 3-2, Lofton has a chance to score. They don't, we get the double play ... and then and we spread it out."
The Indians took to the field after a clubhouse meeting to hear pitcher Paul Byrd explain away newspaper reports about his use of human growth hormone (HGH). The report was, to say the least, untimely from the Indians' point of view.
But they had other issues in front of them even before the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday edition had hit the streets. The Indians had been outscored 22-3 since the sixth inning of the fourth game, and 19-3 in losing the fifth and sixth games. And even as they tried to rally from a 3-0 disadvantage last night, there beyond the left-field wall was Josh Beckett sitting and then warming up in the bullpen. Beckett, the same pitcher who was 2-0 (1.93 ERA) with 18 strikeouts and one walk already in the series.
The Red Sox started Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, ineffective in the postseason and down the stretch, with a 2-5 (7.07) mark in his past 10 games overall. Matsuzaka's mental state has been a subject of concern for Red Sox Nation after a pair of 42/3-inning postseason starts. Matsuzaka's teammates rallied to his defence in recent days, with several of them going out of their way to spin tales of a relaxed and smiling pitcher.
The Red Sox staked him to a 3-0 lead with single runs in each of the first three innings on a run-scoring single by Manny Ramirez off the glove of shortstop Jhonny Peralta, a double-play grounder by Lugo and Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly.
Indians starter Jake Westbrook stuck to the game plan that worked for him in a 4-2 win in the third game of the series, relying on his heavy sinking fastball to get him out of jams, using it to induce three double plays.
Matsuzaka lasted five innings, giving up six hits and two runs while striking out three and walking none, an improvement over his previous outings. He whipped through the Indians, using 21 pitches to set down the first six batters, but laboured in the third, matching his total through the previous two innings. Travis Hafner broke out of an 0-for-16 slump with a one-out double in the fourth, then scored on a two-out double by Ryan Garko, and the Indians pulled to within one in the fifth on Grady Sizemore's sacrifice fly. The inning did not start out well, as Kenny Lofton was thrown out at second stretching on a ball that Red Sox left fielder Ramirez bare-handed off the Green Monster. Television replays showed that Lofton appeared to get his hand in ahead of the tag.
Lofton also figured in a costly base-running decision that cost the Indians a chance to tie the score in the seventh. Reaching second after an error by shortstop Lugo on a pop-up to left field that Lugo dropped as he stepped in front of Ramirez, Lofton pulled up at third base on a line drive by Franklin Gutierrez that just stayed fair down the third base line, hitting a section of the stands that jut out. Third base coach Joel Skinner initially waved Lofton home, then held him up, and the shocked reaction of the Cleveland dugout suggested they thought he could have scored. Blake, the next batter, hit into a double play.
The Red Sox will play host to the National League champion Colorado Rockies in the World Series, beginning Wednesday at Fenway Park.
Kevin Youkilis slugged a two-run homer in the eighth.
Pedroia's two-run home run over the Green Monster off Rafael Betancourt in the seventh inning broke open a one-run Red Sox lead in an inning that started on Casey Blake's fielding error. Blake misplayed a liner off the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury, allowing Ellsbury to reach second. Ellsbury went to third on Julio Lugo's sacrifice bunt. It was Blake who'd hit into an inning-ending double play in the top of the inning, with runners on the corners.
"You know what?" Red Sox reliever Jonathan Papelbon said. "We all believed even when we were down 3-1. But we just wanted to take it one out at a time. One inning at a time."
Josh Beckett, who was named series MVP, said: "I'm expecting to be the guy on the mound [in the opener]. It's my second time and I'd like another ring to go with the one I got in Florida."
Red Sox manager Terry Francona said: "It wasn't easy and it's not supposed to be. It's appropriate ... very appropriate we're doing it at home. The score wasn't indicative of game. We're up 3-2, Lofton has a chance to score. They don't, we get the double play ... and then and we spread it out."
The Indians took to the field after a clubhouse meeting to hear pitcher Paul Byrd explain away newspaper reports about his use of human growth hormone (HGH). The report was, to say the least, untimely from the Indians' point of view.
But they had other issues in front of them even before the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday edition had hit the streets. The Indians had been outscored 22-3 since the sixth inning of the fourth game, and 19-3 in losing the fifth and sixth games. And even as they tried to rally from a 3-0 disadvantage last night, there beyond the left-field wall was Josh Beckett sitting and then warming up in the bullpen. Beckett, the same pitcher who was 2-0 (1.93 ERA) with 18 strikeouts and one walk already in the series.
The Red Sox started Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, ineffective in the postseason and down the stretch, with a 2-5 (7.07) mark in his past 10 games overall. Matsuzaka's mental state has been a subject of concern for Red Sox Nation after a pair of 42/3-inning postseason starts. Matsuzaka's teammates rallied to his defence in recent days, with several of them going out of their way to spin tales of a relaxed and smiling pitcher.
The Red Sox staked him to a 3-0 lead with single runs in each of the first three innings on a run-scoring single by Manny Ramirez off the glove of shortstop Jhonny Peralta, a double-play grounder by Lugo and Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly.
Indians starter Jake Westbrook stuck to the game plan that worked for him in a 4-2 win in the third game of the series, relying on his heavy sinking fastball to get him out of jams, using it to induce three double plays.
Matsuzaka lasted five innings, giving up six hits and two runs while striking out three and walking none, an improvement over his previous outings. He whipped through the Indians, using 21 pitches to set down the first six batters, but laboured in the third, matching his total through the previous two innings. Travis Hafner broke out of an 0-for-16 slump with a one-out double in the fourth, then scored on a two-out double by Ryan Garko, and the Indians pulled to within one in the fifth on Grady Sizemore's sacrifice fly. The inning did not start out well, as Kenny Lofton was thrown out at second stretching on a ball that Red Sox left fielder Ramirez bare-handed off the Green Monster. Television replays showed that Lofton appeared to get his hand in ahead of the tag.
Lofton also figured in a costly base-running decision that cost the Indians a chance to tie the score in the seventh. Reaching second after an error by shortstop Lugo on a pop-up to left field that Lugo dropped as he stepped in front of Ramirez, Lofton pulled up at third base on a line drive by Franklin Gutierrez that just stayed fair down the third base line, hitting a section of the stands that jut out. Third base coach Joel Skinner initially waved Lofton home, then held him up, and the shocked reaction of the Cleveland dugout suggested they thought he could have scored. Blake, the next batter, hit into a double play.
