Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, a baseball team called the Boston Red Sox had the best pitcher in the world. He was a fellow by the name of Pedro Martinez. Pedro, you see, could be counted on to win almost any time he pitched, especially if it was a big game.
One memorable year, the Red Sox faced the Cleveland Indians in the first round. It was a hard-fought series that went the full five games. The teams were tied 8-8 in just the fourth inning of that final game. Were the Red Sox worried? No. They had Pedro. Sidelined by an injury in Game 1, Pedro returned to the mound to stop the bleeding. He went the rest of the game-six clutch innings-and didn't give up a single hit. Boston, of course, won.
Was he done? Far from it. In the next round, the Red Sox faced their hated rivals and eventual mirror image, the New York Yankees. Pedro was called on to pitch once again. And once again, he was masterful. He went seven innings, stuck out twelve, and gave up no runs in Boston's 13-1 victory. In other words, Pedro was completely dominant.
Tonight, following up a clutch performance against the Cleveland Indians, Josh Beckett dominated the Rockies in another 13-1 Boston victory. He went seven innings and struck out nine batters. If history tells us anything, it's that one dominant performance like that will always change a series. Boston will go on to win the World Series, right?
Oh, I almost forgot. Funny thing about that Pedro story. You see, he made the New York Yankees-a fantastic team-look like a bunch of Little Leaguers that night. Kind of like the way the Rockies looked tonight. So how did that 1999 ALCS end, anyway? Well, the Yankees won it in five games, then won the World Series.
I'm not saying the Rockies will win in five. But don't give up yet.
5 comments:
My thoughts exactly. Game 1 was far more important to Boston than it was to us - they were at home and had their ace on the mound. I fully expected to lose to Beckett. I wish we had done a little bit more, but it is far to early to call this one in.
OK it would appear that some "I told you sos" are in order after last night. Beckett is freaken amazing. I hate him.
However, I was more concerned with how poorly the Rockies pitched last night. They let the Sox score all but 2 of their runs with 2 outs. What's up with Speier walking in 3 straight batters.
If Jimenez can throw some strikes and trust the Rockies amazing defense I think we will be fine tonight. They definitely can't walk 8 batters and win.
Well, not to be a complete wise-a, but I think the game was equally important to both teams. I just think that, thanks to Beckett and playing at home, the Red Sox were a better team last night than they will be for the rest of the series.
Blaine, I'm in no mood for "I told you so"s. The walks were just murder, though. Really painful.
Actually, let me correct that. The worst part was seeing that freaking kid dancing in the stands during the sixth or seventh inning or whatever. Man, that hurts. That's the last thing I wanted to see, the typically-paranoid Boston fans toying with us.
I still think last night's game was more important to the Sox than it was to us - if we had won, we would have been in command of the series (by virtue of having beaten Beckett and taken away home field advantage), but their win does not put them in quite the same position.
I agree that our pitching needs to improve if we are to have a shot - it's like our guys were so afraid to give up hits that they chose to walk everyone (home) instead.
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