Of course Gutierrez is starting. First pitch at 8:21.8:20 Finally here.
8:25 Youkilis crushes a ball out to left, and we are off to an excellent start.
That was not an "inside" fastball. That was an atrocious pitch.
8:29 How about you just play a single into a double, Kenny. Great.
8:30 And Gutierrez guns Ramirez at the plate, on a play that was not particularly close.
8:36 After a Sizemore leadoff double (which I missed), Asdrubal lines one to right, almost too hard, as Sizemore has to stop at third.
Pronk up.
8:39 Hafner bounces into a 6-6-3 DP, Sizemore scores. Well that rally was short lived.
8:40 Victor singles. Even if they only get one run, this is much more promising than G1's first inning, where Beckett struck out the side.
Oh and Garko is not at .444 with two out in the series. Or the playoffs. Or something. Whatever.
8:43 Garko strikes out on another nasty curveball. 1-1 after 1.
8:47 I keep getting IMs from "MLB", first telling me to watch the game, and now telling me that it's 1-1 after 1.
I just blocked "MLB".
8:49 That pitch was inside. That's OK. The umps are basically just guessing, at this point.
8:50 People keep coming to this site from here.
And the 2-2 was clearly strike. What a joke the umpiring has been the whole postseason. C.C. hits Varitek with the 3-2.
8:52 Coco Crisp only has 3 RBIs in his last 14 games? That completely changes my opinion of him as a hitter.
Coco goes down looking on 97 at the knees, right over the heart of the plate.
8:55 Lugo pops out harmlessly. 33 pitches for CC through 2. But I'm not all that worried about pitch counts, with all the off days they can use the bullpen early if need be.
8:59 Peralta looks real comfortable up there against Beckett's curve.
9:00 Apparently this was unclear, but that last comment was very much sarcastic. Peralta goes down on, well, a curve.
9:05 Apparently, Schaefer is live-blogging in the comments.
9:06 Showing Gutierrez take his lead twice on the same screen is really unnecessary.
9:07 "And the top of the order is coming up for Boston....(four second pause) in the third."
No idea what inning it is.
9:10 After the first two innings, this much is clear- the umpires and announcers are going to be in peak form all night.
9:14 Pedroia lines the eighth pitch (and sixth straight FB) of the AB into right for a leadoff single.
9:16
Right.
9:16 Two of the least athletic people in baseball, C.C. Sabathia and Jhonny Peralta, manage to somehow turn at 1-6-3 DP.
9:20 This Manny montage is absurd. I think I actually dislike him at this point.
9:21 That was a home run. Do the right thing, umps. Continue to screw this up.
9:23 All aspects of the current situation are completely absurd.
9:25 "David Ortiz scores from first, and Manny ends up at first."
That may have been the most insightful thing Tim McCarver has ever said.
9:26 Well, that was good, I guess?
2-1 Sox, mid 3.
9:29 Okay, somewhat back to normalcy. Top of the lineup for the Tribe, Sizemore goes down swinging.
9:31 STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS STUPID QUOTE.
9:32 Travis Hafner "produced a run".
Yes, that is exactly how I'd describe his last AB. Very "productive".
9:33 95mph FB, 96mph FB, 79mph completely unhittable CB.
Decent sequence to Hafner, I'd say.
9:36 Man, I'm excited about their chat with Carl Willis. I bet he's going to tell me a bunch of really insightful stuff that wasn't painfully obvious already.
Kielty singles to right. Beckett looks great, C.C. looks...OK, I guess.
9:38 Don't worry about it, I only need to see the game in 1/4 of the screen. Definitely worth it, to watch Carl Willis talk.
9:39 Varitek singles to left, on a ball that *might* have been a DP if Asdrubal was playing short.
9:41 Coco fails in his attempt to bunt, then Francona lets him swing away with two strikes, and he promptly strikes out.
I would quote the number of times McCarver has screwed up in the last fifteen seconds, but I just don't have time.
And Lugo hits into a DP. Alright! Victor-Garko-Peralta coming up.
9:44 "From the Mrs., on McCarver: "Dude, why do you even bother opening your mouth?"" -Brian
9:47 They're not touching Beckett right now. Two out, Peralta up.
9:49 48 pitches for Beckett through four. Doubt we'll be seeing anyone except him and Papelbon tonight, if the Sox hold this lead.
9:50 For the record, hitting the yellow line is *not* a home run.
9:57 "And they're not gonna walk him."
This is surprising? With a 3-2 count? Of course they're not gonna walk him.
9:59 Well, they did walk him, but quite unintentionally. Two on, two out for Lowell.
10:02 Lowell lines one down the LF line, foul by inches. That was almost really bad. Down 3 against Beckett is a bad place to be.
10:03 Sabathia hits Lowell with a FB that glances off his jersey on the 1-2 pitch.
10:06 Good, I thought he was gonna walk him there. Sabathia escapes. 87 pitches after five; hopefully they can get him through one more and then turn it over to Lewis.
10:10 Don't drop the bat, Kenny. Don't be Manny.
And he pops out the 3-1 pitch.
Why the hell are the benches clearing?
10:12 Okay, it might be because Kenny and Beckett were yelling at each other about Kenny dropping his after the 3-0 strike. But still, does everybody really need to rush onto the field because of this?
That 1-1 pitch was...a ball?
10:15 Yeah, Josh Beckett is a lot better than Franklin Gutierrez. That 3-2 pitch was filthy, 97 tailing back over the plate.
He does look a little wild this inning, however. Maybe a run in the 6th with the top of the order?
10:18 Gave up on this inning too soon, apparently. Runners on the corners, two down for Asdrubal, who had looked good tonight (as Joe Buck helpfully points out).
10:19 Personally, I have actually never noticed the "look in the eyes of Asdrubal Cabrera".
10:20 Well, Asdrubal never really had a chance, as he goes down on three pitches. 67 pitches, 46 strikes, 7 Ks for Beckett thru 5.
10:27 CC up to 102 pitches. Hopefully they can just get one more out from him, and then turn it over to the 'pen.
10:28 Sabathia looked good this inning, but it's true that Julio Lugo was involved.
Hafner-Victor-Garko coming up for the Indians. This would be the time to push a couple across.
10:33 Beckett's curveball is frustrating to root against. Hafner is the eighth strikeout victim of the night.
10:39 Well, it's looking like it'll be Beckett for 8, and then Papelbon for the ninth. The Indians still have a shot, but they really have to hold it at 2-1. C.C. back out fore the 7th; is someone ready in the pen?
Pedroia leads off the 7th with a double. I did not have time to question bringing CC back out (which seems completely unnecessary), but I did.
10:42 Betancourt and Mastny warming. Mastny? Where's Lewis?
10:43 Grady definitely misjudged that ball; he wasn't sprinting to the ball, it looked like he was going to have it easily.
3-1. Ortiz-Ramirez-Lowell up. But good job keeping CC in to start this inning with 102 pitches. Really.
10:49 Ortiz flies one to right and Kenny...catches it with his wrist, I guess. Youkilis scores easily from third. 4-1.
But that's fine. Beckett has looked terrible all night, it'll be easily to get a couple off him. And who's their closer? I don't even know.
10:52 Betancourt should just stand there with his hands up after that K of Manny.
10:59 Peralta grounds out to Lowell to lead off the 7th.
Sorry, I'm not terribly enthusiastic at this point, I just don't see this ending well. Hopefully I'm proven wrong.
11:03 Well, maybe we've found something Josh Beckett isn't good at. He lets an easy comebacker go right between his legs. One on, one out, for Gutierrez.
This would all be very exciting if it was 2-1. Thanks, Mr. Wedge.
11:05 The umpiring continues to be a joke. 2-1 to Gutierrez was clearly a strike.
But it doesn't matter, as he has no interest in on getting on base, and weakly flies out to center.
I like how they actually have this stat: "Manny Ramirez, 390' RBI Single in 3rd".
11:08 Blake strikes out. The Indians' 5-9 hitters are now 1/14 with 6 Ks and a walk. Beckett up to 96 pitches; they probably bring him out for the 8th but have somebody ready.
11:13 Eric Wedge apparently remembered that Rafael Perez is in his bullpen. He hadn't pitched since G2.
11:18 Did they seriously just try to tie in the Red Sox bullpen with their new "Great American Band" (or whatever) show?
Varitek flies out. One on, one out for Coco.
11:19 Well, nothing is going right tonight. An easy comebacker to Perez that should have been a 1-6-3 DP, but he throws it in the dirt to Peralta, who can't pick it, and they don't even get an out.
At least Lugo is up now.
11:22 Well, Lugo obviously can't hit, but that was a pretty nice bunt. Raffy gets pulled, leaving the bases loaded and one out. He didn't exactly pitched poorly though- a walk, an error (by him), and a bunt. Wedge won't realize this and probably won't use him the rest of the series.
11:25 I would love to know why Tom Mastny is in right now rather than Jensen Lewis.
And as I'm typing that, he throws one to the backstop. Okay, that's totally Victor's fault. Straight up missed it.
11:33 7-2, two outs, Manny up.
Sorry, I gave up when Wedge brought Mastny in. He clearly did as well.
11:36 And Lewis Ks Manny to "end the threat".
7-1, mid 8.
11:54 Saturday, Brian. Saturday. Remember, they only play every other day. Which is really wonderful.
11:57 Papelbon in for the 9th. Victor, Garko, Peralta.
12:08 I have no idea, hoody. I'm barely even watching anymore.
Two on, two out for Gutierrez.
12:10 Gutierrez flies out to the warning track in right-center, and that'll do it. 7-1 finals.
Another brilliant performance by Beckett- 8IP, 5H, 1R, 1BB, 11Ks. That's it for him in this series though, unless he comes back in relief on two days rest in game seven. Thanks, Tito.
Schilling vs. Carmona on Saturday night. Hope to see you then.
