Curt Schilling bounced back with a strong outing tonight going 7 innings while allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits and striking out 5 for Boston. J.D. sparked the offense by going 3-for-5 with a home run and 5 RBI as the Red Sox trounced the Indians, 12-2, to force a game 7 tomorrow in Boston. Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia also combined to reach base 7 times and score 4 run in 10 plate appearances for the victorious Sox. Series tied 3-3.
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W: C. Schilling (W, 1-0); L: F. Carmona (L, 0-1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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HR: CLE: V. Martinez (1). BOS: J. Drew (1). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Game Notes
- Game Seven of this 2007 ALCS will be played on Sunday at 8:23 p.m. ET…Jake Westbrook will start for Cleveland, while Daisuke Matsuzaka will start for the Red
Sox.
- Since the start of the 6th inning in Game Four, the Red Sox have outscored the Indians, 22-3.
- Manny Ramirez walked twice in the 3rd inning, the 1st player in LCS history to walk twice in an inning…Ramirez has 8 walks this series, 2nd most in ALCS history.
- David Ortiz hit into Boston’s 11th GIDP of this series, establishing an LCS record for a series of any length…The GIDP marked the 17th GIDP this postseason, matching St. Louis for most in a single postseason, set in 2006.
Recapping the Game in Quotes
Q. Can you talk about the third inning with the first two runners reaching? What was your game plan starting with Sizemore?
CURT SCHILLING: I mean, that inning was pretty much a microcosm of the season. All the lessons that John has been working and drilling into my head, and all the things we've worked on kind of came into play within the sequence of five hitters. Got ahead, left some splits up early in the inning, and then really, the one thing he pounded into my head is focus on each pitch, execute pitch to pitch. I spent the next three hitters every pitch trying to make sure that I executed the pitch. You know, game plan-wise, Tek was perfect, and it worked out.
Q. Could you talk about your approach, just one pitch, the difference between a 3-1count and a 2-2 count, and just how that approach changes had that been a 2-2 count?
J.D. DREW: Well, like I said, the whole situation with the way he throws, if you can not swing at a sinker that's just off the plate, then you've got a good chance. He pitched effectively to me the first game that we faced him. So I knew what I was looking for, and just really trying to get a pitch that I could handle and hit hard. I think everybody grounded out at-bats. everybody that went up to the plate really seemed to have a game plan and kind of stuck to it. Realizing that we kind of had our backs against the wall, you want to get some guys on base and get some timely hits and we were able to do that tonight.
Q. This is your second ALCS Game 7 in four years, and I'm wondering how, if at all, your managerial strategy changes for a Game 7 as opposed to a Game 6 or 5 where you were still one game away from elimination?
TERRY FRANCONA: It doesn't change a whole lot. Obviously everybody is on hand pitching-wise; you use everybody. You certainly go to different guys in the bullpen maybe earlier than you would in the regular season. But other than that, we'll show up tomorrow and do the same thing we do every day, kick Pedroia's ass in cribbage, try to go win a baseball game (laughter).
Q. Can you talk about Carmona tonight.
ERIC WEDGE: Well, some of the same of what we saw before a little bit, I think, in this series. They hit a couple balls on the ground there early in the right spot, not much you can do about it. Still didn't do a very good job of working ahead. Had good stuff. Almost worked through that inning, again, and J.D. got him. And then things just sort of dominoed on him from there. Just wasn't in the cards for us tonight. Laffey pitched great for us, really picked us up in the bullpen. He hadn't pitched in three weeks, and we bring him in against Ortiz. He did a good job, and he pitched well and saved our bullpen.
Q. How much of an issue was the strike zone from your standpoint in the first inning?
ERIC WEDGE: Well, obviously we had some issues early on, but the umpires have a tough job. And particularly against a team like a Boston or a New York, teams that are very patient, you've got to make sure that when you're in command of the baseball and you're putting it on the plate, that you're getting those calls. We felt like it was a little tight, but then again, we weren't exactly pounding the zone, either. Victor was a little bit upset and I was a little bit upset, but that's part of it. It's part of it.