Fenway Park is the perfect venue for a Game 7, with its storied history of legendary comebacks and epic disasters.
The Boston Red Sox have been on both sides of the fence before, and everyone in the ballpark for Game 7 of the American League Championship Series knew that one way or another, the night was destined to end with a bang.
And that’s exactly what happened Sunday as the Red Sox rolled to an 11-2 win over Cleveland to advance to their second World Series in four seasons.
Game 1 of the World Series begins Wednesday night, with Boston playing host to Colorado.
Boston led 3-2 in the fateful seventh when a costly baserunning decision by Indians third-base coach Joel Skinner prevented the tying run from scoring. Moments later, Casey Blake’s two-base error preceded a two-run homer by Dustin Pedroia in the bottom of the seventh, as the Red Sox grabbed a 5-2 lead.
Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, the expensive Japanese import who appeared devastated after his Game 3 loss in Cleveland, pitched five strong innings, allowing two runs and redeeming himself for his previous postseason flops.
“I think his teammates legitimately wanted to give him another crack,” manager Terry Francona said before the game. “It honestly means a lot to us to play another game and try to win. But I think Daisuke is taking this kind of personally and wants to do something to help our cause.”
Boston was trying to become the 11th team in postseason history to come back from a 3-1 deficit and win the series. They were buoyed by the fact they’d done so against the New York Yankees in 2004, when they were down 3-0 in the series.
“We’ve been down before, and we know how to come out,” David Ortiz said. “So all the new kids around, they’re seeing the older guys, how we keep it together.”
Boston grabbed a 1-0 lead off Jake Westbrook in the first, though it could’ve been much worse. After back-to-back singles by Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis started it, Manny Ramirez hit a hard shot with one out that took a big hop and glanced off the top of the glove of shortstop Jhonny Peralta, bringing home Pedroia.
Mike Lowell followed with another scorcher to left, but the ball was hit so hard that Youkilis couldn’t score from second, leaving the bags loaded for J.D. Drew, the Game 6 hero who’d belted a first-inning grand slam Saturday.
But Westbrook induced Drew to ground into a first-pitch double play, ending the inning with minimal damage.
Jason Varitek started the second with a double off the Green Monster in left and advanced to third on a slow-moving single by Jacoby Ellsbury that found a hole between third and short.
Westbrook induced another double-play grounder from Pedroia as Varitek waltzed home with the second run.
When the Red Sox made it 3-0 in the third when Youkilis led off with a double and came around to score on Lowell’s sacrifice fly, it looked like Boston was off and running toward its third straight blowout.
But the Indians bounced back with Ryan Garko’s two-out RBI double off the wall in the fourth and Grady Sizemore’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Cleveland might have added another run in the fifth, but second-base umpire Brian Gorman called Kenny Lofton out after Lofton tried to stretch a single that deflected off the left-field wall and into the hands of Ramirez.
Replays showed Ramirez’s throw was an instant late.
Franklin Gutierrez followed with a single that would have easily scored Lofton.
Left-hander Hideki Okajima replaced Matsuzaka in the sixth and retired the first four batters he faced before Lofton hit a pop-up to short left.
Shortstop Julio Lugo backpedaled on the play but let the ball deflect off his glove for an error, leaving Lofton on second with one out.
Gutierrez followed with a single over the third-base bag that ricocheted off the wall of a camera pit and into short left field. But Skinner held Lofton at third, leaving runners on the corners with one out. The decision to stop Lofton proved costly moments later when Blake grounded into an inning-ending double play, squelching the rally.
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psullivan@tribune.com
