4B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MLB
MONDAY,OCTOBER 22,2007
Red Sox finish comeback with 11-2 victory
Six-run eighth puts Indians away for good, sends Red Sox back to World Series; Sox to face Rockies
BY JIMMY GOLEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON—Daisuke Matsuzaka,
Dustin Pedroia and these Boston
Red Sox are taking a sweet streak
into the World Series, too.
Boston charged to its third straight win, completing yet another October comeback by overpowering the Cleveland Indians 11-2 Sunday night in Game 7 of the AL championship series behind a new pair of rookie Sox.
Matsuzaka pitched five solid innings, Pedroia drove in five runs and the Red Sox — helped by a key blunder by an Indians base coach — finished off their rally from a 3-1 deficit.
Having ended their 86-year title drought in 2004 after digging out of a 3-0 hole against the Yankees in the ALCS, the Red Sox now have a date with Colorado in the World Series.
The Red Sox outscored the Indians 30-5 in the last three games.
"We started to click at the right time. When your team's back is against the wall, it shows the type of ballclub we have. We're down 3-1 and we believed." Pedroa said.
The Rockies, who have won 10 in a row and 21 of 22, will come back from a record eight days off for Game 1 at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
While Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and ALCS MVP Josh Beckett helped the Red Sox win their 12th pennant, the Indians only added more misery to a city that hasn't celebrated a World Series championship since 1948.
They appeared to take control of this series with three consecutive victories, but aces C.C. Sabathia
The Indians were a double-play grounder from winning the crown at Florida in 1997.
and Fausto Carmona failed to close it out.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jake Westbrook pitched valiantly in Game 7, and still the Indians came up short. They had a chance to tie it at 3 in the seventh inning, but third-base coach Joel Skinner mistakenly held up speedy Kenny Lofton as he rounded the bag.
Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia, right, jumps into the arms of David Ortiz after Pedroia's two run home off Cleveland Indians pitcher Rafael Betancourt in the seventh inning of Came 7 of the American League Championship baseball series on Sunday at Fenway Park in Boston. Boston won 11-2 and will face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.
With runners at the corners, Casey Blake grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Then, the Red Sox blew it open,
Pedroia, who homered earlier,
hit a three-run double and Kevin
Youkilis launched a bottle rocket,
a two-run drive off the giant Coke
bottle above the Green Monster.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched two innings for a save and Boston finished it off in style.
Center fielder Coco Crisp racing back into the center-field triangle to catch Blake's drive for the final out before crashing into the wall.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Boston Red Sox Dustin Pedroda hits a two-run home run off Gleaveal Indians' Rafael Betancourt in the seventh inning of Game 7 of the ALCS Sunday at Fenway Park in Boston.
Boston kept the bases busy early against Westbrook, but three double plays in the first four innings kept the Indians in the game while their starter settled down. The Red Sox scored once in each of the first three innings, and Matsuzaka retired the first eight batters he faced.
Cleveland cut the deficit to 3-2 through five, then had a chance to tie it in the seventh when Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo dropped Lofton's seemingly harmless popup in shallow left. Lugo drifted back, tracking the ball with his glove in the air and holding off incoming left fielder Ramirez with his right hand.
But the shortstop let the ball bounce off his glove, and Lofton was safe on second.
Franklin Gutierrez hit a sharp grounder over third base that bounced off the photographer's box in front of the grandstand and into shallow left. But Skimmer held up both hands for the speedy Lofton, and the 40-year-old out-
Lofton looked back for the ball and, seeing it in no man's land in shallow left, snapped his head back to stare at Skinner.
Papelbon closed, sending the sold-out Fenway into a frenzy.
Westbrook settled down after
spotting Boston a 3-0 lead, retiring seven consecutive batters before lacoby Ebbisbury — another rookie
jacoby Ensbury — another rookie — bounced a chopper through third baseman Blake for an error. After Lugo's sacrifice bunt, Pedroia was up.
man, with eight major league homers to his credit, hit an 0-1 pitch into the first row of the Monster Seats to make it 5-2.
The diminutive second base-
He also doubled to clear the bases after Boston loaded them in the eighth against Rafael Betancourt.
》 MLB
Beckett receives MVP award Boston Red Sox pitcher earns second post-season honor
BY HOWARD ULMAM ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Josh Beckett needs a bigger trophy case: Now he has an AL championship series Most Valuable Player Award to go along with his 2013 World Series MVP.
Unflappable and close to unhittable, Beckett shut down Cleveland twice, including a victory in Game 5 that started Boston's comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series.
Beckett wasn't even needed in Sunday night's 11-2 Game 7 victory over the Indians and will be well rested when he faces the Colorado Rockies and Jeff Francis in Wednesday night's World Series opener at Fenway Park.
"I'm looking forward to it" Beckett said. "I'd like to have another ring."
He had a 1.93 ERA in going 2-0 against the Indians, allowing three runs in 14 innings. He's 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA in three postseason starts — after becoming baseball's first 20 game winner since 2005 — perhaps the biggest reason the Red Sox are back in the World Series for the second time in four seasons.
"He's the best pitcher I've ever seen," Boston pitching coach John Farrell said. "He's a special, special pitcher."
Beckett gave a lot of the credit to his catcher, Jason Varitek.
"I don't know if we'll cut it in half or not." Beckett said of the award. "It's a team deal. I don't even know how I'm sitting here holding this. There's a lot of MVPs in here to
After center fielder Coco Crisp made a running catch on Casey Blake's drive for the final out, Beckett ran in from bullpen, raised his arms and hugged third baseman Mike Lowell, his former Florida teammate, in the infield. Beckett offered to pitch in relief on two days' rest — he did that for the Marlins in Game 7 of the 2003 NL championship series — but the Red Sox didn't need him.
At home on the mound, he was less comfortable in the unfamiliar confines of the bullpen.
me."
"He was like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers," reliever Mike Timlin said. "He didn't know what to do, really. He didn't know when to throw, when to warm up. He was occupying himself.
lifestylez
PRESENTS WINTER PARK-MARY JANE!!
DON'T SIT AT HOME THIS WINTER BREAK! Light up the mountain as we represent KANSAS on the slopes.
WITH 500+ KU STUDENTS ALREADY SIGNED UP. TIME'S RUNNING OUT!
REPRESENTIN' YOUTH, MUSIC. CULTURE & PHYSICAL STIMULATION!
January 6-11th
Prices starting under $420
For info call 888.399.9335 | www.lifestylez.com
Performances by.
Ying Yang Twins
Distance to empty
The Hipnecks
Cold shot
The everyday people
and more!!
MLB
WINTER BREAK PARTY
DEPOSITS DUE NOW!
"I have nothing to hide," Byrd said Sunday about two hours before Game 7 of the AL championship series against the Boston Red Sox. "Everything has been done out in the open."
BY TOM WITHERS
Associated Press
BOSTON — Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd acknowledged using human growth hormone for a medical condition, but claims he never injected the banned drug without a doctor's prescription.
Indians pitcher admits HGH use Byrd said he used banned drug with doctor's prescription
Byrd, whose win in Game 4 of the ALCS moved the Indians within in one victory of the World Series, bought nearly $25,000 worth of HGH and syringes from 2002-05, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.
Byrd, known for his old-school windup and savvy on the mound, purchased HGH from a Palm Beach, Fla., anti-aging clinic under investigation by authorities for possible illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, the paper said.
"I have never taken any hormones or any drugs not prescribed to me." Byrd said.
Byrd was available to pitch out of the bullpen in Game 7, and was hoping his situation would not be a distraction for the Indians, who led the best-of-seven series 3-1 before losing the past two games.
Standing in front of a media throng outside the Indians' clubhouse, Byrd said he has a pituitary gland condition that required him to take HGH.
Pressed on when he was diagnosed and the nature of his condition, Byrd declined several times to give any details. HGH is banned by Major League Baseball and the International Olympic Committee.
The Chronicle, citing an anonymous law enforcement source, said two of Byrd's prescriptions for HGH were not written by a physician.
Byrd claims baseball officials have known that he's been taking the drug, which he said he has stored in clubhouse refrigerators. Byrd promised to address his situation in more detail once Game 7 is completed.
However, it created a circus-like atmosphere in the narrow passageways inside Fenway Park as Indians players had to step around reporters and camera crews on their way to the batting cages.
After Byrd spoke for about 10 minutes, general manager Mark Shapiro addressed the media.
Byrd spoke to his teammates before the game.
Shapiro, who has known Byrd for 14 years, said he was not made aware of the pitcher's condition or the 36-year-old's use of HGH until Friday.
"They understand the situation and we respect each other," Byrd said. "These guys have worked way too hard to let something like this distract them at the last minute."
.