Josh Beckett proved dominant once again, allowing just one run on 5 hits while striking out 11 over 8 innings to help the Red Sox stay alive and defeat the Indians, 7-1. Kevin Youkilis tripled, homered, and drove in 3 runs, and David Ortiz added 2 RBI for Boston. The series now shifts back to Beantown on Saturday for game 6. Indians lead the series 3-2.
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W: J. Beckett (W, 2-0); L: C. Sabathia (L, 0-2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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HR: BOS: K. Youkilis (2). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Game Notes
- Josh Beckett walked Franklin Gutierrez in the 2nd inning, his 1st (and only) walk allowed in this postseason…Beckett had not walked a batter in 16 innings this postseason.
- Manny Ramirez tied an LCS record with a hit in his 15th consecutive LCS game, tying Pete Rose, who hit safely in 15 straight LCS games from 1973-’83.
- The Red Sox drew their 4th bases-loaded walk of this series, the most ever in any single postseason series.
- With 2 GIDPs in game 5, the Red Sox have tied an LCS record for most GIDP in a series of any length with 10, matching Baltimore in 1997, done in 6 games.
Recapping the Game in Quotes
Q. What happened with you and Kenny? Was it just the flip of the bat that kind of set you off?
JOSH BECKETT: Yeah, it was a lot of stuff. It kind of goes back before today. Those things have a way of working themselves out, though.
Q. With the team facing elimination, how satisfying was it for you to pitch like you did tonight, and how kind of locked in did you feel as the game went on?
JOSH BECKETT: I felt good. Like we always say, it's easy when you've got everything going. Once again, I had great defense and I held them off just long enough for us to put up some runs. It was a team effort. We know what we have to do now: We have to win.
Q. Terry talked about the approach you guys went with against C.C. You've beaten him twice now in the playoffs. Earlier this year I think it was a 1-0 game. What changes have you guys made as hitters going up against him to have the success you've had?
KEVIN YOUKILIS: You know, it's kind of tough when you only face C.C. once during the season and now in the playoffs. It's kind of tough to say that we've faced him enough where we can actually see some differences in the way he pitches. For us I think it was just going up there and having a plan. You've got to try to jump on hitters' pitches. When he's throwing his pitches in his spots, it's very tough to go up there and hit. So for us it was just going up there and getting pitches that we could hit hard and capitalize on them. You have to go out there and hit those pitches that you can hit and try to lay off the pitcher's pitches. He wants you to swing at balls out of the zone, and he wants you to chase the pitch up in the zone and pop you up. I think for us it's about battling each at-bat and trying to stay alive when you get two strikes, and try to get him out of the game as soon as possible with the pitch count.
Q. What was your take on Manny's long single and what did the ump say to you?
TERRY FRANCONA: You know, the hard thing is there's so much emotion, and when you think you have another run. They hustled, they talked about it, and from my understanding even on replays it's a little bit hard to distinguish. So seeing it live and happening quick like that -- I think there's a point as a manager where you don't care if it's right, you want the run (laughter).