Red Sox thwart squeeze attempt, advance again

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 6, 2008 at 9:39 p.m.

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Photo by Elise Amendola / Associated Press

The Red Sox's Jason Varitek, left, jumps with Jason Bay, who scored the winning run against the Angels, as Mark Kotsay (11) joins in after clinching an American League Division Series on Monday.

Rockies quick links

Drew on Baseball

Scores and statistics

• Rockies statistics
• Rockies schedule
• Rockies roster
• NL standings
• AL standings
• MLB scoreboard

What used to seem impossible for the Red Sox has become the expected.

A team that until four years ago had a postseason history that rivaled the futility of the Chicago Cubs, the Red Sox have become the October heroes of the 21st century.

The defending champions rallied in the ninth inning Monday to pull out a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Angels in Game 4 of an American League Division Series at Fenway Park.

Jed Lowrie's two-out single in the ninth allowed the Red Sox to advance their quest for a third title in five seasons to the AL Championship Series against Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox knocked off an Angels team that won a major league-best 100 regular-season games, including eight of nine against the Red Sox.

But when it mattered the most, the Angels could win only one of four from the Red Sox, pulling out a 12-inning victory Sunday to avoid being swept in the ALDS by Boston for the third time in five seasons.

But the Red Sox rebounded Monday night thanks to another masterful seven innings from left-hander Jon Lester, a botched squeeze attempt in the top of the ninth by Erick Aybar and the ninth-inning rally against reliever Scot Shields.

"I'm proud of our guys and the way we battled, but the Red Sox, they got it done a little bit better," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "At times, though, guys stepped up and did the job, and we didn't do it quite as often."

Again.

A Red Sox team that went 86 years without a championship before sweeping St. Louis in a 2004 postseason that began with a sweep of the Angels in an ALDS, is 31-16 in October this century.

It has won 10 of its past 11 postseason games, including a sweep of the Rockies in the World Series last year.

The Red Sox had a challenge from the Angels, each of the final three games in the series being decided in the final inning.

The Red Sox won 7-5 in Game 2 on J.D. Drew's ninth-inning home run in Anaheim. And the Angels won Sunday when Shields worked 21/3 scoreless innings and Aybar delivered the go-ahead single in the 12th.

But the Red Sox struck back Monday, victimizing Aybar and Shields in the ninth, rebounding after the Boston bullpen allowed a 2-0 lead Lester turned over to disappear in the eighth.

With one out in the top of the ninth and pinch runner Reggie Willits on third and a 2-0 count, Aybar bunted through a pitch on a squeeze attempt, and Willits was tagged out scrambling back to third.

"We got a count where I thought it was going to be a pitch that Erick could handle, and it didn't work out," Scioscia said. "Erick's a terrific bunter. . . . It was a buntable ball, but Erick didn't get it down. That happens."

In the bottom of the inning, Shields, who worked a perfect eighth and struck out Drew to start the ninth, gave up a double to Jason Bay and a two-out single to Lowrie, scoring Bay and touching off a celebration for the sellout crowd of 38,785.

"(Sunday night) Scot Shields struck me out on three straight curveballs," Lowrie said. "In the back of my mind, I was thinking curveball (on Monday), and he left one up in the zone enough for me to find a hole."

Lester wound up with a no-decision, but it was the 24-year-old left-hander, who two years ago was diagnosed with lymphoma, who did the heavy lifting to get the Red Sox this victory.

Lester, whose postseason heroics began with 51/3 shutout innings at Coors Field to win Game 4 of the World Series sweep last year and continued with seven innings in which he allowed one unearned run in Game 1 against the Angels this year, allowed only four hits Monday.

There was a temptation to send him back out in the eighth - when, with two out, the Angels capitalized on two walks and a passed ball to set up Torii Hunter's tying single - that manager Terry Francona avoided.

"When (the seventh) inning was over, in my mind, he was going back out for at least two or three hitters, but if you saw his reaction after the last out (in the seventh), in his mind, that was his last hitter," Francona said. "He was very willing to go back out, but I think you can make a mistake on a pitcher who emotionally shuts it down to try and get him to rev it back up. It didn't seem like it made a lot of sense."

Besides, Lester isn't done yet.

The Red Sox season has been extended, and he is as big a part of what lies ahead this October as he has been in getting Boston into this position.

"If we are going to get where we want to go, he will be a huge part of that," Francona said.

Featured

• Boulder Wildfire

  

  See photos from the Boulder County fire.

• Legislature Blog

  

  The Rocky's Lynn Bartels and Ed Sealover provide live updates from the Capitol.

• Rocky multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Who's next?

  

  Complete coverage of the Broncos' search for a new coach.

• Weekend plans?

  

  Figure out things to do this weekend with the help of our entertainment calendar.

• Winter Escapes

  

  Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  Open Mic: Two-man advantage with Avs

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's rant on what's next for the Broncos.

• Live updates

  

  Sign up for mobile alerts and breaking news e-mails to keep up with the latest news.