Man, another game for the ages from Josh Beckett. His performance has been truly astounding. Last night’s eight innings pitched, eleven strikeouts, one walk and one earned run on five hits simply added to what was already an impressive postseason resume. If the Cy Young voting existed in a vacuum the award for outstanding regular season performance would go to C.C. Sabathia, but it’s hard to imagine Beckett’s clear dominance in their two head-to-head matchups will not sway numerous voters.
Beckett’s injection of conference and swagger kick-started this ballclub, too. After the debacle that was game four, Red Sox nation had lost their edge. Manny made the unfortunate choice of miswording his postgame comments to make it sound like he could settle for a World Series ring next year rather than this year. Terry Francona’s postgame interview seemed confident enough, but bore the subtext of a genuine worry in his team’s ability to win out. Heck, I even had a conversation with a friend about next year. Beckett, though, came in confident that he could win and confident that his win would jumpstart this team into fighting their way all the way to the World Series. Beyond the jawing with Kenny Lofton, which served to illustrate Beckett’s metaphorical “get behind me and follow me” performance, everything about his performance was brash and confident: his challenging of the biggest hitters in the Indians lineup, his willingness to go inside, his steel cool.
Perhaps the tone set by his confidence was just what some of the slumping Red Sox needed to rise above the individual pressures that had been holding them back up this point. Dustin Pedroia, who came into the game hitting .172 in the postseason, reached base three times in five plate appearances and setting the tone for run-scoring rallies in the third and seventh innings. Though he came into the game late, J.D. Drew had two productive plate appearances, including a walk to start the big eighth inning rally. While Kevin Youkilis was not exactly struggling, bringing a .333 BA and a .999 OPS into the game, he had driven in only 3 runs in 31 plate appearances. His three RBI last night led the team, and his home run in the first inning took the first chunk out of C.C. Sabathia.
The one hitter who didn’t take any steps in comfort or performance was Coco Crisp. He has looked tense at the plate all postseason, resulting in a .143 BA. Last night he went 0 for 5 and left four runners on base. Even prior to his struggles last night, fans and media have been calling for Jacoby Ellsbury to start at least one game in center field. I think game six these calls should come to fruition: Coco Crisp posted just a .697 OPS from the left side of the plate this year, which is where he would be on Saturday against Fausto Carmona. This would also free up lineup options; Ellsbury could hit in the eighth spot, where Crisp does ordinarily, or could fill the leadoff spot, pushing Pedroia to second and Youkilis to sixth (Youkilis should hit sixth rather than fifth, as having Ramirez, Lowell and Youkilis consecutively is setting up a late-inning Rafael Betancourt) heartbreak.
In any case, it doesn’t matter what the bats do if the pitching doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Schilling and Matsuzaka are both coming off rough first starts in the ALCS, but there are reasons to expect better games from both:
First of all, Curt Schilling has a fantastic track record of postseason success. As Red Sox fans we know this. In fact, other than his 2004 ALCS game one, his game two start last week was his only postseason start since 1993 in which he allowed more than two earned runs. And he will be pitching in the friendly confines of Fenway, also. He has had a ludicrously good postseason track record at home: 9 starts, 67 innings pitched, three complete games including two shutouts, a 5-0 record, fifty hits, 12 ERs, 10 walks and 65 strikeouts. That’s a 1.61 ERA and a 0.896 WHIP.
And as for Daisuke, he pitched much better this season on five days rest (3.88 ERA) than on four days rest (5.29 ERA). For game seven he will have five days rest. And we signed this guy because he was lights-out in critical situations, right? Remember the World Baseball Classic? Well, if Daisuke pitches again in 2007 it will be the biggest game of his life. No better time to shine.