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October 26, 2004

Game Three

This is the big one. If the Red Sox win tonight, St. Louis is in deep trouble (although, as the Sox themselves know, they're not champions until they win that fourth game). If the Cardinals play like they have all year, the Series becomes competitive again. Not to mention the question of Pedro. If he pitches well tonight, he's back on course for the Hall of Fame. If he gets beat again, he ends up (fairly or not) with the reputation of a pitcher who can't get the job done when the pressure is on. I hope to see Pedro do well tonight, both because he deserves to be better-remembered than that, and because I don't want to see Boston let the Cardinals back into the Series.

Top first: Good job by Suppan going right after Damon. Johnny does a great job of forcing the starter to throw lots of pitches, so it's best just to throw him strikes. Only five pitches to retire Damon is exactly how St. Louis wants this game to start. St. Louis has to force Boston to put the ball in play, or they'll give up another passel of runs. Cabrera, like Damon, hits the ball well, but like Damon's ball, the hit hangs up long enough for Edmonds to get there. Could be a pitcher's night if balls continue to hang up like that. After an iffy strike call, Manny finally breaks out with a laser into the left field stands to put the Sox on top, 1-0. Pedro has the lead before he takes the mound. Ortiz follows Manny's blast with a solid single through the right side, forcing Suppan to pitch with a runner on for the first time tonight. But with Ortiz on base, will he pitch from the stretch or use the windup? Looks like an abbreviated windup, but I wasn't paying enough attention to his earlier windup to be sure. They are holding Ortiz on at first. Varitek ends the inning on an easy grounder to second. The Sox have to be happy with the inning, though, as they forced 20+ pitches out of Suppan and took the lead.

Bottom second: St. Louis can be happy with the first as well, since Suppan generally has trouble in the first, and it could have been a lot worse than 1-0 if Damon and Cabrera's hits had dropped in. Pedro quickly falls behind Renteria 2-0 before finding the strike zone. With St. Louis' dangerous offense, Pedro doesn't want any baserunners for them, and he comes back to get Renteria on a groundout to second. Now the work really begins. After a first pitch strike, he puts Walker on with a freebie. The Red Sox lead isn't likely to last through the inning, as walks just kill teams. Looks like a big strike zone tonight, as the home plate ump calls a strike on Pujols that looked low and away to me. This has been Pedro's problem all year: he gets hitters 0-2, then can't put them away. Can he do better tonight? Pedro can, but the Red Sox defense continues to let them down as Mueller can't come up with Pujols' grounder. Pedro is in early trouble. And it gets worse, as he's behind Rolen 3-1. Bases loaded as Pedro issues his second free pass of the inning, and Boston is in deep trouble. They gave away outs with errors in the first two games, now they're handing out runs with free passes tonight. It's sad, because Pedro is doing this all to himself; the only hit came on a grounder that could have been the second out of the inning. Dumb play by the Cardinals saves the Red Sox, as Walker is gunned down easily at the plate on a shallow fly to left.

Top second: Mueller continues the Red Sox tradition of hitting the ball on the nose, but right at a fielder. Edmonds was playing him shallow, and Mueller almost burned him on it. Nixon pops up on the second pitch, and this looks to be an extremely short inning for Suppan. Worse, if Bellhorn doesn't reach, Martinez will lead off the third. Will Bellhorn at least force Suppan to throw a few pitches? He does, but the ump rings him up on the eighth pitch of the at bat. Good comeback by Suppan. Is Pedro warmed up now?

Bottom second: I really dislike Varitek's habit of standing up to get a high pitch on 0-2 counts. I've never seen the hitter swing, so it just seems like a big waste of time. Pedro comes back on the 1-2 pitch to induce a pop-up from Sanders. Once again, Pedro goes 3-1 on the second hitter of the inning, but he recovers to get the groundout. Now the Sox have a shot at the easy inning and the pitcher leading off the third. I guess the zone isn't as big as I thought in the first, as Pedro's 0-2 pitch looked like strike three to me. Pedro ends up with his first strikeout with Matheny, and both pitchers have settled down.

Top third: Pedro never takes the bat off his shoulder, which is probably a good idea. Making Pedro run the bases might be the smartest thing St. Lous could do. Damon follows with an easy grounder, and Suppan looks like he's in the groove now. Bad news for the Red Sox, as Pedro isn't likely to shut down this Cardinals offense. Silly crap from McCarver about Edgar Martinez as a Hall of Famer. Why this guy is considered a good announcer is beyond my ken. If you're going to send a DH to the Hall, he'd better be the best hitter of his era, and Martinez doesn't come close. Orlando Cabrera is the luckiest hitter in baseball, as nobody wants to walk him to face Ramirez and Ortiz. Yet Suppan does just that. Can Manny punish him for it? He certainly tries hard with his swing at strike two, but that ball never touched the zone and Manny nearly flies out of his socks. He tries to go the other way, but it's just a can of corn to Walker.

Bottom third: Kudos to Suppan, who's making Pedro throw lots of pitches to the worst hitter in the Cards' lineup before reaching on a swinging bunt. On the other hand, this will make Suppan run, so this is a mixed blessing for the Cards. If the Sox can get out of this without giving up a run, they may be able to get to Suppan in the fourth. Ramirez makes Pedro pay with an opposite field double, and once again Pedro has put himself into a tight spot, now with the big hitters due up. And once again, terrible baserunning kills the Cardinals as Suppan is thrown out at third when he should have scored easily. Two out, but Pedro still must get Pujols. LaRussa looks like he's in shock, which is understandable. The Red Sox made eight errors in Fenway, but the Cardinals have made two mental errors so far at Busch. Pedro gets away with another bad inning as Pujols grounds to third.

Top fourth: Boston has gotten very lucky thus far, but if they can't put some runs on the board, it's unlikely to help them in the long run. Pedro doesn't have shutout stuff tonight, and he's already over 50 pitches. Ortiz goes down easily as Suppan dekes him with a down-and-in pitch (Ortiz' bread and butter) that dives so far Ortiz can only ground it to first. Obviously Suppan's legs aren't bothering him as he gets Varitek swinging. But Bill Mueller (perhaps trying to make up for his errors in Game Two) gets a hustle double to give the Red Sox a runner in scoring position. And Trot Nixon, who has driven me nuts all postseason with weak at-bats, smokes a single to the wall in right and makes it 2-0 Boston. Now Bellhorn will look to at least get Pedro to the plate this inning. Suppan hits the fourth Boston player of this Series, and from the look on Francona's face, the Red Sox are getting tired of being plunked. Look for Pedro to drill someone with two outs and the bases empty, if the opportunity presents itself. Pedro actually swings the bat! Unfortunately, he swings at a ball the second time, though in his defense it was a very good curve. Pedro then takes strike three, but at least he won't lead off the fifth, and the Sox did get another run.

Bottom fourth: A big inning for Pedro. If he can shut St. Louis down here, he can start to put doubt in St. Louis' mind after their baserunning errors earlier. Pedro gets Rolen on a weak grounder to third, a good play by Mueller. Edmonds pops up to left center, and if I were Sanders, I wouldn't dig in right now. On the other hand, with only a two-run lead, Pedro probably won't risk the baserunner. The best revenge is winning the game. Pedro whiffs Sanders, and the Sox may yet get seven innings from him.

Top fifth: Damon gets things started with a nice double over Walker's head. The condition of the field in right looks pretty ugly, but it has affected both sides, so I guess there's no advantage for either side. McCarver suggests Cabrera might bunt, a stupid idea that I suppose you can't rule out. Sure enough, he shows bunt on the second pitch. Old Pedro, a third run would probably be fatal to St. Louis, but the current Pedro isn't that certain. They take the bunt off and Cabrera singles to right, setting up Manny and Ortiz. Manny sneaks the 1-2 pitch through the left side and it's 3-0 Boston with nobody out and Ortiz coming up. This is Boston's chance to put St. Louis away, if they can. Critical at-bats right here. Ortiz gets a pitch to hit, but can't drive it and there is one away. Varitek nearly ends the inning, but he beats the throw from the shortstop to give the Red Sox runners at the corners and two out. Nicely played by St. Louis. Suppan had very nearly gotten out of the trouble he put himself in, but Mueller pulls one past the first baseman to bring Cabrera home and continue the inning, and that will be it for Suppan. Once again, the Red Sox have broken into St. Louis' middle relief, although Suppan goes farther than any prior St. Louis starter. Reyes comes in to retire Trot Nixon with one pitch, because you wouldn't want to watch a few pitches to see what the new guy's got, right?

Bottom fifth: Pedro has a 4-0 lead and can put away memories of blown leads to the Yankees forever with two or three more innings of strong pitching here. Womack managed to foul several pitches off, but Pedro strikes him out to get within two outs of a decision. Matheny pops the first pitch to shortstop, and Marlon Anderson will pinch-hit for Reyes whose contribution to the game is one pitch. Anderson pops out on the second pitch, and Pedro is set to win his first World Series start with some gutty pitching (and some help from St. Louis).

Top sixth: The Sox are looking good, but they failed to put St. Louis away in the fifth. Bellhorn tries to decapitate the first base coach with the first pitch, but Calero gets the groundout from him on the third pitch. Pedro bats for the third time, doing his best but looking like an American League pitcher. To his credit, he lays off ball one. And ball two. Way to work the count, Pedro. Then he fouls off a pitch. He's worked the count full, a good job by any hitter who starts 0-2. Unbelievable; he walks. But as I said earlier, I'm not sure having him on base is a good thing. Damon needs to hit a home run here to get Pedro off the bases. Well, he gets Pedro off the bases with a double play instead. With a 4-0 lead, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Bottom sixth: Pedro is at 73 pitches; a good inning here and he should be able to give the Red Sox seven quality innings before turning things over the bullpen. Although he'll have to get through the heart of the St. Louis order to do so. Pedro breaks Renteria's bat, and he's looking pretty strong right now. Pedro breaks Walker's bat as well, so Pujols will bat with the bases empty. Pedro falls behind Pujols, then gets an iffy strike call to draw even before striking him out. Great inning from Pedro, with an assist from the umpire.

Top seventh: Beautiful at-bat by Cabrera, as he fouls off tough pitches until he gets one he likes, and the Sox have another leadoff double. This Red Sox team really does have an embarassment of riches when it comes to hitters. Will we see the 'hands' team come out for the bottom of the seventh if the Sox score again? This strike zone is really flaky, as the second pitch to Manny looked awfully similar to the first one, but one was a ball and the other was a strike. And the third is even further outside, but it's strike two. Bad umpiring. And the 2-2 pitch looked like it should have been strike three. Really bad umpiring. Manny works the walk despite the flaky strike zone, and Ortiz will face a new pitcher. Go figure: Boston's big slugger hits a swinging bunt that moves the runners up and gives Varitek a chance to put a dagger in St. Louis' heart. Will St. Louis give Varitek the intentional unintentional walk? Yep, bases loaded for Mueller, who is two for three tonight. He's from St. Louis; will his bat be the one that finishs them off? He misses a grand slam by about 15-20 feet with his first swing. But his second swing is a textbook 5-3 double play ball, and St. Louis is still alive.

Bottom seventh: Ortiz is replaced by Mientkiewicz. Pedro falls behind Rolen 2-0, but his luck holds as Rolen grounds to first on a check swing. Time to get someone up in the bullpen, as Pedro's control isn't what it should be. But Edmonds swings at ball four for Pedro's fifth strikeout. St. Louis has done a lot of work for Pedro tonight. If this was Pedro's last inning, it was a good one. He strikes out Sanders and has a three-hitter working.

Top eighth: Kapler will bat for Nixon as it looks like Pedro is done for the evening. Pedro did everything the Sox could ask for tonight, shutting down a great Cardinals offense with a little help from their baserunners. I hope Nixon isn't hurting from his tumble early this evening. Kapler bounces to third. Bellhorn pops to shallow right, and it appears the Red Sox offense may be done for the night. Pedro is officially lifted for pinch hitter Kevin Millar. Mike Timlin will try to carry on after Martinez' brilliant performance. Millar hits a sharp grounder to third and Pujols makes a great scoop at first to get Millar. Six outs to go.

Bottom eighth: Defensive substitutions continue as Reese takes over at second. Timlin blew the lead in Game Three of the ALDS against Anaheim. Hopefully he'll be better tonight. At least he can start with the bottom of St. Louis' order. Womack smokes one to the left side, but Mueller is there and throws him out easily. Cedeno is in to pinch-hit for Matheny, as LaRussa will now fire every bullet he's got to try and pull this one out. But Cedeno grounds to short, and the Sox are four outs away. John Mabry comes in to bat for the pitcher. Mabry hits the ball hard, but it's right to Mientkiewicz, and the Cardinals are one inning away from being down three games to none.

Top ninth: Tavarez is in to try and keep the Cardinals close. A Cardinals fan has a picture of Babe Ruth, reminding me of one of the big reasons I'm praying for a Red Sox win: no more stupid 1918 chants. I heard one in Denver this year, for God's sake. What the Hell is that? The Rockies have set the standard for shitty teams, and they're going to pull out 1918? Get away from me. Damon hits the ball reasonably hard, but it's a lazy fly to center and the Sox have one down. Tavarez throws at Cabrera's head, and I'm ready for Foulke to put one right in Pujols' earhole. The Cardinals have gotten away with this headhunting shit for too long; it's time for Boston to show that they're not going to put up with it any longer. Cabrera flies out to center. Tavarez throws inside again, but at least this one wasn't at his head. I'd love to see a diagram of this ump's strike zone, as it sure looked like Manny watched strike three. But he swings at ball three, so it all works out. Three outs away from their third win.

Bottom ninth: Foulke is on to close it out. He's been amazing this postseason, and he deserves a big share of the credit for the Red Sox being this close to their first World Series win in 86 years. Foulke gives the Sox a scare by going to a full count, but whatever he threw to Renteria 3-2 completely fooled him. One away. The shutout is gone as Walker crushes an 0-2 pitch to almost dead center. I can't complain, as with a four run lead, I'd rather Foulke come after hitters than try to nibble. Pujols puts a charge in one as well, but he got under it and the Cardinals are down to their final out. Rolen crushes one as well, but this one is foul and he's 1-2. Rolen watches strike three, and Boston has a commanding 3-0 lead in the World Series.