MAGICAL WEEK 2 OF 2

Can you say W-O-R-L-D-S-E-R-I-E-S-!!!!!!!! I can. The Red Sox came into the week tied 1-1 as they headed to Cleveland for 3 games. The Indians, thanks mostly to a flawless bullpen and great starts by Byrd and Westbrook, win the first 2 games and took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. The Sox had to win 3 straight or go home, and game 5 was in Cleveland.
With their backs against the walls, the Sox had to deal with Sabathia first. Josh Beckett opposed him and once again Beckett came through. He pitched 8 innings of 5 hit one run ball to go along with 11 k's. Youkilis got the Sox off to an early start with a homer, finally getting the Sox on the board first. The Sox broke it open in the late innings and won 7-1 to force a game 6. The first 4 batters in the lineup (Pedroia, Youk, Big Papi and Manny) carried the lineup offensively.
Game 6 saw ace Carmona versus Schill. The Sox rocked Carmona and he left after 2 innings giving up 7 runs! Drew saved his whole season with a 2 out grand slam in the 1st. Lugo drove in 2 and the top of the lineup (Pedroia/Youk) came through again as the Sox rolled 12-2. Schilling continued his post-season dominance going 7 innings of 6 hit 2 run ball. The Sox had forced a game 7 in Boston.
With the series tied 3-3, both clubs faced elimination. One team would unfortunately go home and the other to the World Series against the streaking (21 of 22 wins) Colorado Rockies.
The matchup was Dice-K against Westbrook. In an epic game that lasted a long time, every pitch was huge. Every one.
Despite rocking Westbrook around, double plays (a playoff and LCS record) hurt the Sox as a 3-0 lead after three innings could have been double that. Dice-K struggled in the 4th and 5th as he gave up single runs in both frames. He left after 5 innings with a 3-2 lead.
Meanwhile, every out was big. Lofton led off an inning with a single but got thrown out on a bang-bang play at second when he tried to stretch a single into a double on Manny's arm. In the 7th, Lofton was on second when Gutierrez hit a ball past 3rd baseman Lowell but it hit the wall near the ballgirl and bounced near Manny. The 3rd base coach held Lofton up who could have scored, keeping the game 3-2. Now Cleveland had 1st and 3rd 1 out. Fortunately for the Sox, Blake hit into a double play and the Sox held the one run lead into the stretch.
Betancourt, who had pitched 7 scoreless innings in the playoffs, took over for Westbrook in the 7th. Pedroia soon thereafter hit a 2 run shot to give the club insurance 5-2. The Sox were 6 outs from the World Series. But they remembered the New York collapse in game 7 in 2003, when the Sox were 5 outs way but Grady kept Pedro in too long and the Sox lost a big lead late and fell in extras. So the Sox had 6 big outs to go.
Okajima, who pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th, came out for the 8th but was greeted by 2 hits, thus Papelbon came in with 2 on no outs and the big bats for the Indians coming up. A long ball could tie the game. Slugger Hafner faced Paps first and was blown away as he struck out. He then went on to get Martinez and Garko out and save the day. The Sox exploded in the 8th, thanks in part to a 2 run double by Pedroia then a home run by Youkilis. A 6 run top of 8th gave the Sox an 11-2 into the 9th. Needless to say, Paps closed the door and the Sox won 3 straight to go to the Fall Classic.
Josh Beckett deservedly won the MVP, but a few guys could have got it to. Youkilis went 14-28 in the series with 3 hr and 7 rbi. Pedroia went 10 for 29 with 3 doubles. Elsbury replaced the struggling Crisp (3 for 21) in game 6 and 7 and did great. Lowell went 9 for 27 and drove in 8 runs. Manny walked 9 times and drove in 10 runs on his way to a .409 average.
Pitching wise, Beckett threw 2 games, .193 era and 18 k's 1 walk. the other 3 starters were okay. Okajima pitched 5 scoreless innings as did Papelbon. Timlin threw 3.1 scoreless innings too. Who struggled? Lopez and Delcarmen from the bullpen plus the up and won Crisp and Lugo, but all is forgiven as the Sox won in 7 games. Studs for the Indians-Martinez Duds for the Indians-Sizemore, Hafner and Carmona. The Indians were a great team though, as they won 96 regular season games (same as the Sox) and smashed the Yanks in the first round.
But it was the Sox who came out on top and have home-field advantage in the World Series. It all starts Wednesday night in Boston. Go Red Sox!