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October 27, 2004

Game Four

And here we go! Can Derek Lowe make up for a Godawful season with a victory tonight? Can the Red Sox overcome 85 years of pain with a final offensive outburst? Or will the Cardinals hold the door open at least one more night? It promises to be an interesting and exciting evening, and with a little luck, well see Boston celebrate its first World Championship of the modern era by the time the night is over. Top first: Damon gets things off to a good start, stroking a leadoff homer to put the Red Sox on top in the first again. Cabrera grounds out on the first pitch, Rolen making a great barehanded pick to throw him out by a step or two. Marquis seems to be keeping the ball down now, as opposed to his pitches to Damon, so he may have settled down. He's behind Manny now, 3-2, but staying low. But his last pitch is both up and away, and Manny is on ahead of Ortiz. Marquis needs a double play. First pitch to Ortiz is up, and it looks like I was early in assessing Marquis as having settled in. Ball two is low, at least, but Marquis doesn't want another walk in the inning, especially with only one out. Strike one is low and away. If Marquis gets Ortiz, he may settle in. If not, the Cards could be in deep trouble. Ortiz swings and misses on high heat, strike two. On 3-2, Ortiz takes Marquis the other way, but not hard enough. Two away, and Marquis is one good pitch away from getting out of the first. He makes it, striking out Varitek. Now we'll see what Lowe has tonight. Bottom first: Not a great start for Lowe, not because he gives up a leadoff hit, but because it's in the air. Womack at first, nobody out. Walker bunts, an odd decision, although I'll assume he was trying for the base hit. He moves Womack over, but gives Boston an out. Pujols grounds to the right side, moving the runner, but that's two outs, so the Cards need a hit to get on the board. Rolen goes down on a swinging bunt, and the Cardinals waste a leadoff single. Top second: Marquis looks much better starting the second, getting the ground ball he needs from Bill Mueller to put the first man away. Nixon rips a double to right, however, meaning that the Red Sox will get Lowe to the plate this inning, if nothing else. Nice shot of Pedro cheering Trot on; Pedro may not be quite as selfish as he's often reported to be. They're pitching to Bellhorn with first base open and the pitcher coming up. Interesting choice. Bellhorn crushes a 3-1 pitch foul, putting a scare in the Cardinals. Bellhorn draws the walk, and we'll see if Lowe can help himself by advancing the runner. The wheel play is on for the Cardinals, but Marquis misses with his first pitch. Rolen nearly botches the play, but with Lowe running Rolen is able to throw him out, but it's a successful sacrifice. Nice job by Lowe. Can Damon put his mark on this game in a hurry? Marquis falls behind him 2-0, and this is a crucial at-bat for both teams. If Boston scores, St. Louis may not be able to recover. But if St. Louis gets out of this, they could take some momentum away from the inning. Damon hits an easy grounder to first, and St. Louis gets out of the inning. Bottom second: Lowe needs to shut down the Cardinals here to prevent them from taking anything away from their success in the top of the second. That's a tall order against this lineup, though. Edmonds flies to left, a good start for Lowe. LaRussa has shaken up his lineup, leading off with Womack and moving Renteria to the six hole. Renteria works the count to 2-2, but grounds to third. Here comes John Mabry for his first start of the World Series, as Reggie Sanders gets the day off. That's got to be a painful blow for Sanders. Mabry hits the ball hard, but not hard enough, a line drive out to right. Great work by Lowe thus far. Top third: Cabrera has a nice swing, but he must have caught it off the end of the bat, as the fly ball to left doesn't actually travel very far. Manny is positioning himself well for World Series MVP, if the Sox win, with another sharp grounder to left. He's hitting close to .500 in the Series. Ortiz keeps the competition friendly with a rip down the first base line for a double. Red Sox threaten St. Louis again, demonstrating just how good their lineup is. And Pedro is looking very excited in the dugout. Varitek needs to put the ball in play here. He does so, but he hits it so hard Pujols is able to throw home and get Manny at the plate. Two away, runners at the corners. St. Louis is living on the edge tonight. Marquis walks Mueller on four pitches to load the bases, giving Nixon a chance to break the game open. Another huge at-bat for both teams, as St. Louis refuses to go quietly into that good night. Marquis falls behind Nixon 3-0; he's thrown seven straight balls. Nixon is swinging away on 3-0 and he misses a home run by no more than a few feet, driving in two more runs to put Boston on top, 3-0. Look for St. Louis to walk Bellhorn to face Lowe. It's the third inning, and Boston has sent 18 batters to the plate thus far. Nobody up in the Cardinal bullpen; has LaRussa quit? It seems to me he'll want to pinch hit for Marquis in the bottom of the inning. OK, Reyes is up now. Lowe should be Marquis' last hitter, unless he blows it and allows Lowe to walk or even single. Marquis is losing his cool after he doesn't get a close call. I did think it was a strike, but I don't see much help in complaining. Lowe whiffs, but the damage is done, and for the fourth straight game, Boston has knocked out the Cardinal starter before the end of the fifth inning. Bottom third: If Lowe shuts St. Louis down here, they may not recover. Boston has completely dominated the Cardinals throughout the Series, and if they can't get something going soon, they're probably going to strart giving up as they realize that they've lost. Molina whiffs on a ball way down and away, and Lowe is looking strong. LaRussa lets Marquis bat, which I consider a stupid move. Yes, he's a good hitter for a pitcher; that's not the same as being a good hitter. If Marquis is the best option LaRussa has in that spot, the Cardinals are done. Marquis grounds out on the first pitch. Two away, and Womack steps in. Lowe is throwing strikes, which is sometimes a problem for him. Womack grounds to short, and Lowe is looking like a man who may have turned his career around in two short weeks. Top fourth: I was wrong; Marquis is out to start the fourth. Maybe LaRussa has seen something I haven't. Or maybe he doesn't have any faith in the rest of his bullpen. That's a bad sign. Womack makes a gorgeous scoop and toss to Pujols to barely catch Johnny Damon on a bang-bang play at first. One away. Maybe LaRussa just doesn't want to be remembered for having none of his starters last five innings. Cabrera hits another can of corn, and Marquis quickly gets two outs. Now Manny and Yadier Molina are getting into it at the plate, a dumb move. Manny wisely apologizes quickly, although they're still jawing. Like Nixon, Manny swings away 3-0, but Manny can't get enough of it and Marquis has his first 1-2-3 inning. Bottom fourth: The Sox have the lead, but it's not big enough for Lowe to relax. The heart of the Cardinals order is coming up, so it's their best chance to score, and Lowe falls behind Walker 2-0. Walker rips a 2-1 pitch, but it's hit at Nixon so it's just a loud out. Lowe strikes Pujols out swinging; he's really fooling them tonight. Rolen pops the first pitch to first, and Lowe is making this look easy. Top fifth: Marquis is three outs away from going deeper into the game than any of his predecessors. Impressive. Although if Lowe stays hot (and he's throwing less than ten pitches an inning), it won't matter. Ortiz draws a leadoff walk, so Marquis may not last the inning. Duncan is coming to the mound to try and stall. Varitek strikes out looking after getting ahead 2-0, a nice recovery by Marquis, who has been the most effective Cardinals starter of the Series so far. Mueller hits a sharp grounder to second, but David Ortiz is running on the 3-2 pitch and Boston avoids the double play. Will Marquis pitch to Nixon? Yes, and he gets Nixon on one pitch. St. Louis gets their first five-inning start of the Series. Bottom fifth: Lowe has only thrown 38 pitches so far. Can he stay hot? Edmonds hits a sharp liner but it stays low and Mueller puts it away. Lowe goes 3-2 on Renteria and goes after him (rightly), but Renteria hits the ball in just the right spot for a one-out double. Suddenly Lowe looks a little flaky, as he throws the ball to the backstop on what appears to be mixed signals between Lowe and Varitek. Renteria is at third with less than two out, and St. Louis really has to score here. Lowe needs a strikeout, and he gets ahead of Mabry 0-2. Mabry strikes out on what looked like it might have been a foul tip. Mabry is arguing, and here comes LaRussa. Nothing is going St. Louis' way this Series, but it looks like the ump made the right call here. The last replay did look like Mabry might have ticked the ball, but there's nothing definitive. Once again, St. Louis needs a hit to score. Molina grounds to short, and the shutout is intact. Unbelievable. Top sixth: The only question in this inning is, will Lowe get a third at-bat, or will Francona go to the bullpen for the last four innings? I'd stick with Lowe, but we'll see what Tito does. LaRussa sticks with Marquis, which probably isn't a bad idea at this point, since he's done as well as anyone in a Cardinals uniform this Series. Bellhorn whiffs on a sinker, and Marquis is making LaRussa's decision look great. Lowe is batting for himself. Lowe puts the ball in play, but Marquis makes a great play to put him away. Damon scorches a two-out triple to prevent Marquis from recording another 1-2-3 inning. Cabrera battles, but Marquis induces a fly to right and St. Louis is still alive. Bottom sixth: Lowe had a little trouble last inning. Can St. Louis finally get to him? Marlon Anderson pinch-hits for Marquis, and he bunts to Lowe for out number one. Marquis is done for the night, but St. Louis can't complain with what he gave them: six innings, only three runs and 121 pitches. Not his fault the Cards couldn't score against Lowe. Womack flies to center, and Lowe will face St. Louis' big bats with the bases empty. Lowe falls behind Walker 3-1. He hasn't walked anyone yet, and this is a bad place to start. But he does, and now Pujols will bat with Walker at first. At-bats don't get any bigger than this. Lowe gets ahead of Pujols, 0-2, and starts nibbling. Granted, Pujols is a great hitter, but Lowe is going to have to be more aggressive. If he walks Pujols, Scott Rolen will be the tying run, and he is way overdue for a hit. Lowe pops Pujols up, and Boston is nine outs away from history. Top seventh: Boston would love to get a few insurance runs here. If their pitching is perfect, they won't have to face Pujols again, but the odds are against that. Therefore, we want as much of a cushion as we can get. It looks like Lowe is done. Bad idea, for my money, as he's thrown only 71 pitches. Haren is in for St. Louis. He was tough on Boston in Game One. Manny is overly eager and he strikes out despite Haren throwing him only one strike in the at-bat. Figure this to be Ortiz' last at-bat, as Francona will shift to the hands team for the last three innings. Ortiz hits the ball hard, but on the ground, and he is out number two. Now Varitek will try and get only his second hit of the Series. Tek gives one a ride, but he got under it just enough, and he's just a loud out. Bottom seventh: Sure enough, Mientkiewicz is on at first now, and Lowe is still on the mound, but they have Embree and Arroyo up in the bullpen. Lowe needs to throw strikes. He goes to 3-2 on Rolen, a bad start. He can't afford to walk anyone. He challenges Rolen, and Rolen flies to center. Barring a big collapse, it's safe to assume Rolen won't have any fond memories of this Series. Edmonds hits a sharp liner to center, but it hangs up and Damon is there. Renteria gets his second hit of the evening, an opposite field single. It's a line drive, meaning Lowe may be tiring. Let him pitch to Mabry, but if Mabry reaches, Francona needs to pull Lowe. Don't put him in a position to lose this game, not with all he's done for them. Lowe strikes Mabry out on another sinker, and the Sox are six outs away. Top eighth: Mueller gets things started for Boston with a sharp single to right, and Boston has a chance to get some much-needed insurance. It looks like Lowe is done for the night. I wouldn't pull him until he started to get hit, but I can understand where Francona is coming from. Nixon rips one to right for his third double of the night, and Trot's bat has finally come alive. Second and third, nobody out, Boston could seal the deal right here. Typical McCarver, telling us that St. Louis would have to make a double switch here. Of course, it would be wise to make a double switch, but obviously they don't have to. In any case, they do, and Isringhausen will make his first appearance of the Series. Good call by LaRussa, as St. Louis cannot give up any more runs. Kapler nearly pops Trot in the nose when he comes in to pinch-run for him. Now it makes sense to lift Lowe for a pinch-hitter, and Millar is in the on-deck circle. Bellhorn draws the walk and the bases are loaded with nobody out. Millar could, for all intents and purposes, end the Series with a big hit right here. Pokey Reese comes on to run for Bellhorn, giving the Sox a faster baserunner and better defense. The Cards bring their infield in, a dangerous move against Millar. I wonder if Isringhausen is having trouble because of his long layoff? He walked Bellhorn, and Millar is up 2-0 quickly. Millar swings and misses at the 2-0 pitch, looking to break the game open. He fouls the next pitch back, and Isringhausen will look to strike him out. He gets it, making Millar look foolish, and Johnny Damon has to take up the load. Boston only needs a fly ball here, but if St. Louis gets out of this, that should have them thoroughly charged up for the last six outs. Damon grounds to first and Pujols makes a marvelous catch and throw to get Mueller at the plate. St. Louis is one pitch away from getting away unscathed, a big failure for the Red Sox offense. Cabrera gets the count 3-0, but Isringhausen comes back to make it 3-2. Biggest pitch of the night coming up. Cabrera fouls three back, one almost out of the catcher's mitt, but he strikes out on ball four. Great job by the Cardinals, and this isn't over yet. Bottom eighth: The Red Sox may end up looking back at their pitiful performance in the top of the eighth as the start of the disaster. In comes Arroyo. Foulke will certainly be ready if he gets into trouble, though. Roger Cedeno will leadoff for the Cardinals. Arroyo gets Cedeno to pop up for the first out. Now Sanders will bat, still looking for his first hit of the postseason. Sanders smokes strike one foul. Now 2-2. Arroyo needs to learn to throw closer to the strike zone, as Sanders isn't going to swing at pitches that aren't borderline. Arroyo blows it, walking Sanders, a piss-poor performance from the Boston hurler. Bottom eighth (continued): Embree is called upon to get the Sox to the ninth. He'll pitch to Hector Luna, who is pinch-hitting for Womack. I'm not sure if that's a bright call. Yes, it gets the lefty-righty matchup, but Womack's a much better hitter than Womack. After a quick strike, Embree can't find the strike zone either, as he's fascinated by Sanders on the basepaths. Embree needs to forget the irrelevant run and get the hitter. He does, and Luna goes down swinging. Four outs to go. Bottom eighth (continued): LaRussa engages his brain and leaves Walker in to face Embree. Walker pops to short, and Boston is three outs away. Here comes Foulke. Top ninth: Manny swings at the first pitch at is an easy out for Scott Rolen. Another third baseman might have had trouble there, but Rolen's too good. Now Mientkiewicz will bat. He pops to right, and the Sox can't seem to handle Isringhausen. Varitek has one more chance to double his hit total for the Series, but the one hit he had was so huge, nobody will hold the failures against him. He knocks an opposite field job for a single, extending the inning. Bill Mueller, hometown boy, has one more chance to put down the Cardinals. Instead he grounds to short, and we're going to the bottom of the ninth. Bottom ninth, first batter: It's never easy, as the Sox will have to get the heart of the Cards' order to close it out. Foulke starts with a strike, the best pitch in baseball. Ball one is close, but outside. Pujols fouls off strike two, and Foulke is one strike away from the first out. Pujols hangs in on the high fastball, still 1-2. Pujols nearly takes Foulke's legs out with a single up the middle. Not good. Bottom ninth, second batter: Two quick strikes to Rolen. This is Rolen's last chance for redemption. Ball one inside, 1-2. Rolen goes the other way, but it's a can of corn to Gabe Kapler, one away. Bottom ninth, third batter: Foulke goes right after Edmonds and gets strike one swinging, strike two fouled away to the left. Strike three blows past Edmonds, and Boston is one out away. Bottom ninth, fourth batter: Ball one to Renteria. Comebacker to the pitcher. The Red Sox are World Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Final update: For God's sake, let's be sensible in Boston tonight, and celebrate without rioting.

Posted at October 27, 2004 06:24 PM

Andrew Olmsted

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Comments

3-0. How are you feeling?

Go Red Sox!

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 07:41 PM

I tried calling, is your cell on?

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 07:42 PM

All year D-lowe has had problems with inning 5. This is a big inning!

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 08:00 PM

Did I mention D-Lowe?

-That's great kid, don't get cocky!

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 08:32 PM

Why pull Lowe here? Franklin has been quick with the trigger all series. I guess I won't second guess him.

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 08:42 PM

I'm gonna say what I've been saying all series...big first out.

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 08:45 PM

I've got shaky hands...

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 08:48 PM

I guess he didn't pull Lowe. Now he'll pull Lowe.

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 08:49 PM

Damn! Damn! Damn!

High heat.

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 09:09 PM

I hate that inning. We need a quick first out. Arroyo warming up.

He better have those cornrows on tight.

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 09:10 PM

Well, that was exciting. Embree has had another great post-season.

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 09:23 PM

Foulke the Cards!

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 09:24 PM

Oh, boy. Three outs to go.

C'mon Foulke.

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 09:32 PM

Bwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 09:47 PM

Wait. Has any team come back after being down four games to none?

Posted by: Enrak at October 27, 2004 11:11 PM

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