first team to win 11 games wins the world seriesfrom april to september ... the los angeles angels beat the boston red sox 8 games to 1 ... but when it got to october the angels couldn't repeat their dominance ... from april to september ... the tampa bay rays beat up on the boston red sox 8 of 9 times at the pinball machine known as tropicana field ... it is october now and the rays are 0-1 against the sox at the trop ... tampa bay's james shields pitched his heart out tonite ... he certainly pitched well enough to win on most nights ... unfortunately, the rays offense waited too long for daisuke matsuzaka to implode ... and by the time they figured out dice-k was not going to hand them the lead with free passes ... it was too late ... the red sox had scratched and clawed for 2 runs off james shields ... tampa bay could not hit dice-k ... the man who was 18-3 with 7 2-hitters and a .211 batting average against during the regular season ... tossed 6 no-hit innings at the rays ... this game was dominated by pitching and defense ... it's october ... did you expect something else
game 1 <> american league championship series (alcs)
boston red sox 2 .. tampa bay rays 0
winning pitcher <> daisuke matsuzaka (1-0) .. losing pitcher <> james shields (0-1)
#1 star of the game <> starting pitcher daisuke matsuzaka
7 innings pitched <> 0 runs <> 4 hits <> 4 walks <> 9 strikeouts <> 115 pitches
he was 9-1 at the break ... and no one questioned why he wasn't selected to the al all-star team ... he finished the regular season with an 18-3 record and a 2.90 earned run average ... yet no one talks about him as a cy young award candidate ... he is incredibly frustrating to watch pitch on most nights ... espn's buster olney says daisuke's pitching is "rope-a-dope" ... deadspin suggests "effectively wild" and "purposefully deceptive" ... whatever, he's earned a reputation as a 5 inning pitcher ... 5.8 innings per start this season to be exact ... and his 167.2 innings pitched was 39th among al starting pitchers ... who nibbles around the strike zone and walks way too many hitters ... daisuke did lead the al in free passes this season with 94 ... as a point of comparison, aj burnett walked 86 but pitched 55 more innings than matsuzaka ... justin masterson sums up dice-k this way ... " he pounds the zone, eventually" ... he's been called a modern day houdini act ... but he has yet to earn respect as the unhittable major league pitcher he is when he throws strikes ... tonite he threw enough strikes to strike out 9 ... and win a postseason game for his team
#2 star of the game <> relief pitcher justin masterson
0.2 inning pitched <> 0 runs <> 0 hits <> 0 walks <> 0 strikeouts <> 5 pitches
justin masterson is summoned to the pitcher's mound in the bottom of the 8th inning ... tampa bay runners are at 1st and 2nd bases ... there is 1 out ... presumptive rookie of the year award winner evan longoria will bat against masterson ... manager terry francona continues to show supreme confidence in his 24 year old rookie reliever with the "buggs bunny curveball" (from a local dick's sporting goods commercial) ... actually, "it's a slider" ... in this situation, francona is looking for one of two things ... a strikeout with the 96 mph fastball ... or a double play ground ball with the sinker ... on his 5th pitch, masterson induced longoria to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play ... inning over ... threat over ... boston will lead 2-0 going to the 9th inning ... the bridge to "papelbon time" has been crossed without incident
#3 star of the game <> closer jonathan papelbon
1 inning pitched <> 0 runs <> 0 hits <> 0 walks <> 2 strikeouts <> 12 pitches
jonathan papelbon is summoned to close out another win for the sox ... and cinco ocho emerges to get the job done
honorable mention #1<> third baseman kevin youkilis
4 at bats <> 0 runs scored <> 3 hits <> 1 run batted in <> 2 doubles
why only a mention and not a star ... certainly not because of anything youk didn't do ... what kevin did was break an 0-17 streak against james shields with 3 hits ... one a top of the 1st inning ground rule double which prevents dustin pedroia from scoring the first run of the game ... another a double driving in pd with an insurance run in the 8th inning ... kevin's line drive to center in the 8th gave chickenshit coward carl crawford a chance to make himself the defensive goat of the game ... misplaying an apparent out into a run scoring double
honorable mention #2 <> manager terry francona
a typical week in new england ... the assclowns of our media ... and moron sports talk callers know better ... terry francona is bashed and battered after he announces his alcs starting pitchers ... matsuzaka <> beckett <> lester <> wakefield ... tito likes matsuzaka on 2 days extra rest rather than 5 ... and lester with a well earned extra 2 days rest ... the assclowns and morons who may or may not watch but have never actually played the game of baseball ... they say beckett needs to start game #1 and lester game #2 ... in the next sentence they question the health of the guy they want to start game #1 ... and ignore the 224.1 innings the guy they want to start game #2 has pitched this season ... they say if there isn't a game #7, lester will pitch only once in the alcs ... implying if the red sox lose in 6 games it will be because tampa didn't face lester x2 ... and ignoring if the red sox win in 6 jon lester will be set up to start game #1 of the world series ... assclowns and morons they really are
No comments:
Post a Comment