Everyone seemed to be saying last night before game 1, and I agreed. If the Sox win game 1 they will take this series. I know it's only one game, but I really don't have much worry about this series anymore.
Last night was a strange night. In the first inning it was business as usual, as Dice-K walked the bases loaded. In typical Dice-K fashion he got the next batter to ground out to 2nd, yet from this point on something changed. This wasn't a normal Dice-K outing. The innings went by, and I have to admit I didn't notice till about the 4th. I refused to say anything, instead just turned my computer to a friend and pointed at the stat line. There had been no hits. Could he do it? Would Francona let him if his pitch count got too high? All these questions raced though my head.
While Dice-K was dominating the were struggling against James Shields. It wasn't until the 5th inning that the Sox got something going, as Jason Bay started the inning with a walk. Then Mark Kotsay (who I am liking more and more) ripped a double to left field, putting bay at 3rd. Lowrie did his job and got the sacrifice fly, scoring Bay, but then Varitek came up and couldn't do what he was supposed to and grounded out to 2nd. I really don't understand how Tek can't get the ball to the outfield in that situation since all he does it pop out to the outfield. He has an uppercut swing, and he is the captain, but whatever we move on.
Dice-K just kept rolling, but there was a weird feeling in the air, that Dice-K was going to have one of "those" innings. He made it all the way to the 7th with the no hit attempted. In the 7th Crawford singled to right, then Floyd singled. My stomach started to sink, "this is it, we needed that run from Tek, Dice-K's not going to be able to do it". Next batter...pop out, then Gabe Gross (still don't know why he was even playing) strikes out. See this wasn't the normal Dice-K outing. He was hitting his spots, almost every time, and he seemed to have this confidence that I usually don't see from him. So, with two outs he gets Jason Bartlett to ground out, and the Sox moved into the 8th.
In the 8th the MVPs for the Sox went to work. Pedrioa got on, and stole 2nd, then Youk drove him home. How many times have we seen that this year? Later in the inning Drew was hit by a pitch. It was unintentional, but I was worried we may had seen the last of J.D. Glass, but he got up and stayed in the game. So, the Sox are up 2-0, but the question remained about, what to do with Dice-K. Do you bring him back out? He was at about 110 pitches, but this was a guy who can pitch 130 easy. They decided to bring him back out, but after two quick singles he was pulled for Okajima. Okajima did his job and got Carlos Pena to pop out, and I really thought that Francona would keep him in after getting one of the most dangerous hitters on this team out, but instead he pulled him for Masterson. I guess Francona knows his stuff, as Masterson got rookie of the year Longoria to ground into an inning ending double play.
Papelbon came in for the 9th, and we all knew it was over. He struck out 2 out of 3 batters, and the Sox took a 1-0 lead in the series. I really believe you are going to see a very good outing from Beckett tonight, and Lester has been dominant. So, I really think the Sox have control of this series. Game 2 is tonight at 8:07.
-BMack
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