Boston Red Sox Sweep The Colorado Rockies

The Red Sox won their second World Series crown in four years, sweeping the Rockies with a 4-3 win in Game 4. Jon Lester tossed shutout ball into the sixth inning and gave up just three hits on his way to his first career playoff win. Take into consideration that this kid was undergoing chemotherapy at this time last year for cancer.

Rookies Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury played phenomenal ball all series, especially Ellsbury who ended hitting .438 in the series. What a thrill it must be for them and the two Japanese stars, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, to accomplish something in their first years that some veterans never get to celebrate, a World Series crown.

Third baseman Mike Lowell took MVP honors after hitting .400 in the Series with four RBIs, three walks and six runs scored. After battling back from a 3-1 deficit against Cleveland in the AL Championship Series, Boston won seven straight games to earn the seventh championship in franchise history.

Daisuke Takes The Mound With Sox Up Two

The Boston Red Sox are on a roll, having won 5 in a row and owning a 2-0 World Series lead over the Colorado Rockies. After Thursday's game in which the Red Sox won a pitcher's duel 2 - 1, the series is moving to Colorado.

Tonight, Daisuke Matsuzaka will be taking the hill against the Rockies Josh Fogg. Since there is no designated hitter in the National League, Boston's manager Terry Francona decided that he will move David Ortiz to first despite a bad knee while regular first baseman Kevin Youkilis is benched; Mike Lowell remains at third.

Bad news for the Rockies, 27 of 34 previous teams to open 2-0 at home have gone on to win the Series. "If we win, the opponent might be like, 'Damn, we're done," Ortiz said. "And if we lose, that might give them some hope. It is a big game."

Red Sox End Rockies Win Streak

Josh Beckett struck out the first four batters he faced and Dustin Pedroia hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first in route to a rout of the Rockies. While the three runs scored in the first inning were enough to win it, Boston piled on the runs in the fifth inning with seven runs

Jeff Francis, who pitched on 12 days rest fell behind 3-0 in the first inning and was finished after four. To say he looked rusty would be an understatement. Francis gave up six runs and allowed 10 hits. Reliever Franklin Morales in relief got just two outs and was charged with seven runs for a 94.50 ERA.

Beckett struck out the first three batters he faced, making him the the first pitcher to strike out three batters in the top of the first in Game 1 of the World Series since Juan Guzman in 1993 (shudder). Beckett lowered his career postseason ERA to 1.73. The Red Sox are the first team in MLB postseason history to score more than 10 runs in 3 straight games.

Red Sox Win ALCS In 7 Games

The Red Sox who were down 3 games to 1 at one point are now on their way to the World Series against the Rockies. This marks the 11th time in MLB history a team has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-7 series.


The Indians could not shut the door. After grabbing a 3-1 series lead, the Indians never led at any point in Games five, six or seven. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched five solid innings while Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon each tossed two scoreless innings. In addition to the pitching, rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia added his first career post season home run while driving in five. Boston will hosts Colorado in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday.

Guess What The Rockies Did Again?

Arizona reliever Jose Valverde walked Willy Taveras with the bases loaded for the winning run. The Rockies have now won 19 of their last 20 games and it doesn't seem like the Rockies can be stopped.

The Rockies are now part of an excluisive club, they joined the 1976 Cincinnatti Reds as the only NL teams to win their first five games in a postseason. Despite only batting .211 the Rockies find themselves up 2-0 in the NLCS and going back home to Colorado.

The next game in the series will be on Sunday. The starting pitchers will be the Diamondbacks Livan Hernandez and the Rockies Josh Fogg. Can the Rockies make it 20 out of 21? All signs right now point to yes.

The Rockies Forgot How To Lose, Win 5-1

Thanks to another stellar effort by Jeff Rancis, the Rockies have won.....again. The white-hot Rockies are 18-1 in their last 19 games. Over the course of 6 2/3 innings, Francis only gave up one unearned run and struck out four. The bullpen did its job the rest of the way, allowing only 2 hits. Brad Hawpe provided all the runs Colorado needed going 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Brandon Webb allowed four runs on seven hits in his six innings. Consequently the Diamondbacks 3-11 this season when Webb gives up 4 or more earned runs. With the exception of Eric Byrnes, no other Arizona player had more than 1 hit and grounded into double plays twice on the night.

Game two is tonight in Arizona starting at the absurd time of 10:18 EST.

Wild, Wild West in the NLCS

Game 1 of the NLCS begins tonight between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks with first pitch at 8:37 EST.

Both teams send their aces to the mound as lefty Jeff Francis goes for the Rockies and last year's Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb goes for the D-Backs. The pitchers were important in their teams NLDS success, combining for 17 K's and 13 innings pitched in their Game 1 victories over the Cubs and Phillies.

It will be interesting to see if the youth can continue to carry the D-Backs past Colorado, as SS Stephen Drew, CF Chris Young, and 3B Mark Reynolds all were key in the 3-game series with

Chicago. As for the Rockies, the Triple H's are what fuel the Colorado power surge. In the 18 games against the D-Backs this season, the Rockies Brad Hawpe, Todd Helton, and Matt Holliday combined for a .350 BA, and had a total of 40 RBI's and 30 walks in the season series. Don't sleep on the should-be Rookie of the Year SS Troy Tulowitzki who has been sensational in the field and with the bat.

ALCS Preview

Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians

The Red Sox are coming off a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels in which they outscored them 22-4 in 3 games. The Cleveland Indians come into the ALCS after defeating the New York Yankees in 4 games. Both teams have solid pitching but I think this series will come down to how well the lineups produce for their starters.

The Pitching - Both teams have great 1-2 punches in their rotation with the likes of Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling for the Sox, and C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona for the Indians. The Indians bullpen was sixth in ERA during the season (3.75). Rafael Perez, who could be the next K-Rod, and Rafael Betancourt are both solid coming out of the pen for the Indians. The Red Sox bullpen consists of Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, who both helped the Red Sox to a bullpen ERA of 3.10 during the regular season.

Edge - I have to go with the Red Sox. While the bullpen doesn't have a lot of post season experience minus Papelbon, the starting pitching for the Sox includes a World Series MVP (Beckett) and Curt Schilling, who has been to 3 World Series. Experience in the starting rotation wins out.

The Lineups - The Red Sox lineup includes the likes of David Ortiz (.715 BA and two HRs in the postseason) and Manny Ramirez (.375BA and two HRs). And good news for the Red Sox, Ramirez has a career batting average of .571 (12-for-21) with four HRs and seven RBIs against C.C. Sabathia, the Indians game 1 starter. The Indians lineup consists of the triple threat Grady Sizemore, the big bat of Travis Hafner, and the sweet hitting Victor Martinez. The key to the Indians success though will be their superior speed on the basepaths. If they can move runners around they'll have a big advantage in the series if the games are tight.

Edge - The Red Sox take it again but only because of the recent resurgence of Manny Ramirez's bat. Big Pappi already has his sweet stroke going this post season so if Manny keeps hitting like this, the Indians could be in for a short series.