Boston – Before Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona was asked about relief pitcher Eric Gagne. The night before, what should have been an easy mop-up assignment became something of an adventure – a common occurrence since the right-hander was acquired from Texas at the July trading deadline.
“When he went to using all his pitches he was very effective, and when he got away from that … he ran into a little bit of trouble,” Francona said of an effort in which Gagne gave up a hit and walked two other batters but still struck out the side.
Hours later – many, many, many hours later – there was no yin and yang from Gagne, and very few strikes, either. In a third of an inning, the man who once closed 84 consecutive victories for the Los Angeles Dodgers and had converted almost 95 percent of his career save opportunities, the best mark in baseball history, was incurring the wrath of Red Sox Nation.
Two of the first three batters Gagne faced reached base; both scored. That was just the start of a seven-run 11th inning, the difference in a 13-6 Cleveland Indians victory that evened the best-of-seven series at a game apiece. Game 3 will be played Monday following an off day – which won’t be as long as anticipated, given that Game 2 didn’t end until 1:37 a.m. local time, more than five hours after it started.
Not that the Indians minded.
“It’s kind of ridiculous, playing at 1:30 in the morning. I’m just glad we hung in there,” Indians reserve Trot Nixon said.
The former Red Sox mainstay singled in the go-ahead run in the 11th. When Cleveland followed that up with another six tallies, it effectively drew the curtains on a stupefying evening. The game certainly fit the normal parameters of Boston’s postseason victories. When Cleveland, as was the case with Los Angeles in the division series, continued to pitch around David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell made them pay, driving in three runs for the second consecutive night.
When the Indians did pitch to Ramirez in the fifth, the enigmatic left fielder hit a two-run homer, the 23rd in his postseason career, another all-time best.
At the end of the inning, the Red Sox had the lead. In a similar situation Friday in Game 1, the Indians went paws up, falling 10-3. On Saturday they battled back, tying the game in the sixth, then holding steady as late night turned into early morning.
Eventually, it was the Red Sox who broke. Even after Gagne departed, the Indians kept hitting, eventually sending Javier Lopez to the showers as well.
“It was a great effort. People really stepped up,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.
As a result, what once looked to be a walk-through, with the Red Sox taking a commanding 2-0 lead to Cleveland, has now taken on the air of something entirely different.
“It was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been a part of,” Francona said. “There was so much great baseball being played, apart from the last 15 minutes. It just didn’t end the way we would have wanted it to.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Sizemore cf 5 3 3 1 1 0 .300
ACabrera 2b 5 1 1 0 1 1 .250
Hafner dh 5 0 2 0 0 0 .375 1-Barfield pr-dh 0 0 0 0 0 0 –
a-Nixon ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 1.000 3-Michaels pr-dh 0 1 0 0 0 0 –
VMartinez c 4 2 3 1 2 1 .375
Garko 1b 6 2 2 1 0 0 .375
JhPeralta ss 5 3 3 4 1 2 .444
Lofton lf 6 0 1 0 0 0 .300
Gutierrez rf 6 1 1 4 0 1 .100
Blake 3b 6 0 0 0 0 4 .222
Totals 49 13 17 12 5 9
Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Pedroia 2b 4 1 1 0 1 2 .250 2-Ellsbury pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 –
Cora 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 –
Youkilis 1b 4 0 1 0 1 1 .375
DOrtiz dh 4 2 1 0 1 0 .500
MRamirez lf 4 1 1 3 1 1 .500
Lowell 3b 5 1 2 3 0 1 .375
JDrew rf 5 0 2 0 0 0 .286
Varitek c 5 0 0 0 0 2 .100
Crisp cf 5 1 2 0 0 1 .333
JLugo ss 4 0 0 0 1 2 .125
Totals 40 6 10 6 5 10
Cleveland 100 311 000 07 – 13 17 0
Boston 003 030 000 00 – 6 10 0
a-singled for Barfield in the 11th. 1-ran for Hafner in the ninth. 2-ran for Pedroia in the ninth. 3-ran for Nixon in the 11th.
LOB – Cleveland 8, Boston 6. 2B – Sizemore (1), VMartinez (1), JhPeralta (1). HR – Gutierrez (1), off Lester; Lowell (1), off RPerez; MRamirez (1), off RPerez; Sizemore (1), off Schilling; JhPeralta (1), off Schilling. RBI – Sizemore (1), Nixon (1), VMartinez (1), Garko (1), JhPeralta 4 (4), Gutierrez 4 (4), MRamirez 3 (6), Lowell 3 (6). SB – Barfield (1), Ellsbury (1), Crisp (1).
GIDP – Gutierrez, MRamirez, Varitek, JLugo.
Runners left in scoring position – Cleveland 5 (Hafner 2, Garko 3); Boston 2 (Youkilis, JDrew). Runners moved up – Gutierrez. DP – Cleveland 3 (JhPeralta, ACabrera and Garko), (Blake, ACabrera and Garko), (JhPeralta, ACabrera and Garko); Boston 1 (JLugo, Pedroia and Youkilis).
Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Carmona 4 4 4 4 5 5 100 9.00
RPerez 3 2 2 0 0 13 54.00
Lewis 2 0 0 0 0 1 25 6.00
RBetancourt 2 1 0 0 0 3 42 0.00
Mastny W, 1-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 0.00
Borowski 1 2 0 0 0 1 13 0.00
Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Schilling 4 9 5 5 0 3 85 9.64
Delcarmen 1 1 1 1 0 16 13.50
Okajima 1 1 0 0 1 3 30 0.00
Timlin 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0.00
Papelbon 2 1 0 0 1 1 36 0.00
Gagne L, 0-1 1 2 2 1 1 10 13.50
Lopez 0 2 3 3 1 0 11 36.00
Lester 2 2 2 0 1 10 27.00
Carmona pitched to 1 batter in the fifth, Lopez pitched to 3 batters in the 11th.
Inherited runners-scored – RPerez 1-0, Lewis 1-0, Delcarmen 2-0, Okajima 1-0, Lopez 2-2, Lester 2-2.
IBB – off Lopez (VMartinez) 1, off Papelbon (VMartinez) 1, off Okajima (Sizemore) 1. WP – Lopez.
Umpires – Home, Kerwin Danley; First, Brian Gorman; Second, Paul Emmel; Third, Gary Cederstrom; Left, Dana DeMuth; Right, Randy Marsh.
T – 5:14. A – 37,051 (36,525).
ALCS Schedule
Series tied 1-1
All games on KDVR-31
Friday Boston 10, Cleveland 3
Saturday Cleveland 13, Boston 6, 11 inn.
Monday Boston (Matsuzaka 15-12) at Cleveland (Westbrook 6-9), 5:10 p.m.
Tuesday Boston (Wakefield 17-12) at Cleveland (Byrd 15-8), 6:21 p.m.
Thursday Boston at Cleveland, 6:21 p.m.
Saturday Cleveland at Boston, TBD, if necessary
Oct. 21 Cleveland at Boston, TBD, if nec.
