POLL: What will happen in Game 3?

New Poll Question: What do you expect out of the Kaz/Buchholz game Sunday?

• Gotta love that home cookin', baby.
• For Kaz to be a Sox killer again and Buchholz to wilt.
• A pitching duel with the Sox bats not showing up again.
• It'll come down to who hits more home runs.

I'm choosing to be optimistic and say it's all about the home cooking! Leave your line predictions in the comments and vote in the poll on the right.

Do Sox stand a fightin’ chance to emerge victorious?

The Red Sox are in such dire straits offensively, I'm pining for the offensive slump the team was in that precipitated the Victor Martinez trade. Across two games, Boston's come up with just eight measly hits, only two of them extra-base hits (and not of the four-bagger variety). Putting aside for the moment whether Terry Francona messed up on such decisions as leaving Josh Beckett in too long, where do the Sox go from here?

Commiserating after a loss

I'll be back with more Saturday morning, guys, but I'm throwing up this thread so we can all drown our sorrows. You probably don't need to hear this again, but Boston is now down 0-2 to the Angels, with the series shifting to Fenway. Is there more Red Sox magic to be had, or is Boston down for the count?

10/9: Can Beckett do it?

10/8: The first marble

Heeeere’s your ALDS roster!

No Rocco Baldelli or Manny Delcarmen.

Wholesale Keychain TRIVIA: Five-parter dream

THIS IS THE LAST TRIVIA QUESTION TO GAIN THE PERSONAL ENGRAVED RED SOX KEYCHAIN. This is a five-parter question, each answer worth one point. If you do not have any points (trivia leaderboard here) you can still pull out a win as the leader, Daniel Rathman, has 4.75!

1. Boston's largest margin of victory ever was 20. Name the date and opponent.
2. In the year this was accomplished, Boston had losing head-to-head records against only two teams. Name the teams.
3. What was the name of Boston's top minor league affiliate in this year? (City and nickname, please.)
4. A future Red Sox All-Star led said minor league team in innings pitched during this year. Who?
5. The answer to No. 4 gave up his first career home run to who?

Looking at the rest of the postseason field

Fire Brand has been very aggressive these past few days at completely breaking down the Angels from Boston's perspective. We've brought to you a look at the hitters, pitchers, the running game, Angels' official postseason roster, other breakdowns and of course... predictions. Let's take a (short) break and look at the other series which begins tonight.

Wholesale Keychain TRIVIA: 292.5 games behind 1st

In what six-season span did the Red Sox finish a cumulative 292.5 games behind first place?

New Fire Brand shirt: Jacoby Ellsbury’s “There’s No Place Like Home”