I knew Dusty would go deep several innings before he did it. Don't ask.
Okay, let's do this. I was too giddy for words last night, so I'm trying to write this up now.
First off, I would like to tip my hat to Cleveland for giving us a great series. They're an excellent young team and they'll certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the future. You guys put up a great fight - I can't wait to see you again next season! It'll be fun, I know it!
Secondly, here is all of the footage and the audio MLB.com is providing us with from this particular game. It was a much closer game than the score indicates, trust me! For most of the game, the Sox only had three runs on the board, one scored in each of the first three innings. Cleveland started to lurk closer, slowly getting two runs back from Matsuzaka, who looked much better tonight than he did in his last outing. After five innings, Hideki Okajima took over and worked through the sixth and the seventh, holding Cleveland despite a few defensive errors from Lugo (although the baserunning gaff from Lofton helped him a lot).
The bottom of the seventh was where everything changed. With Jacoby Ellsbury on third (bunted over by Lugo), Dustin Pedroia came to the plate against Rafael Betancourt. After fouling the first pitch back, he absolutely crushed the next one, sending the ball over the Monster to give the Sox a 5-2 lead. I nearly cried as I watched him round the bases, looking all serious until he turned third and went home with a massive grin on his face. He jumped into Papi's arms and was literally lifted off the ground. Let me tell you, I couldn't have been happier.
And then he struck again in the eighth, clearing the bases with a double. Youkilis then brought him home with a homer of his own which actually hit the Coke bottles above the Monster. Way cool.
By the end of the eighth inning, the score was 11-2 in Boston's favor. Since Papelbon had been in from the top of the eighth and was now closing out the ninth, it was pretty much a done deal, although we still got some nice defensive gems from Jacoby Ellsbury and, once he was substituted in late in the game, Coco Crisp. After Coco made an excellent catch at the wall in center field, it was over.
Yes, we managed another ALCS comeback. Yes, we're going to the World Series for the second time in four seasons. Yes, we got there on the bat of a rookie last night.
And yes, in his postgame interview upon winning the ALCS MVP award, Josh Beckett did say that if the Sox won the World Series he would dance with Papelbon.
I want to see that. Let's win this thing so we all can.
EDIT: My Arizona State hat arrived in the mail today! Now I have even more Pedroia mojo going here!
EDIT 2: Vote Okaji!
First off, I would like to tip my hat to Cleveland for giving us a great series. They're an excellent young team and they'll certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the future. You guys put up a great fight - I can't wait to see you again next season! It'll be fun, I know it!
Secondly, here is all of the footage and the audio MLB.com is providing us with from this particular game. It was a much closer game than the score indicates, trust me! For most of the game, the Sox only had three runs on the board, one scored in each of the first three innings. Cleveland started to lurk closer, slowly getting two runs back from Matsuzaka, who looked much better tonight than he did in his last outing. After five innings, Hideki Okajima took over and worked through the sixth and the seventh, holding Cleveland despite a few defensive errors from Lugo (although the baserunning gaff from Lofton helped him a lot).
The bottom of the seventh was where everything changed. With Jacoby Ellsbury on third (bunted over by Lugo), Dustin Pedroia came to the plate against Rafael Betancourt. After fouling the first pitch back, he absolutely crushed the next one, sending the ball over the Monster to give the Sox a 5-2 lead. I nearly cried as I watched him round the bases, looking all serious until he turned third and went home with a massive grin on his face. He jumped into Papi's arms and was literally lifted off the ground. Let me tell you, I couldn't have been happier.
And then he struck again in the eighth, clearing the bases with a double. Youkilis then brought him home with a homer of his own which actually hit the Coke bottles above the Monster. Way cool.
By the end of the eighth inning, the score was 11-2 in Boston's favor. Since Papelbon had been in from the top of the eighth and was now closing out the ninth, it was pretty much a done deal, although we still got some nice defensive gems from Jacoby Ellsbury and, once he was substituted in late in the game, Coco Crisp. After Coco made an excellent catch at the wall in center field, it was over.
Yes, we managed another ALCS comeback. Yes, we're going to the World Series for the second time in four seasons. Yes, we got there on the bat of a rookie last night.
And yes, in his postgame interview upon winning the ALCS MVP award, Josh Beckett did say that if the Sox won the World Series he would dance with Papelbon.
I want to see that. Let's win this thing so we all can.
EDIT: My Arizona State hat arrived in the mail today! Now I have even more Pedroia mojo going here!
EDIT 2: Vote Okaji!