BOSTON — For much of the 2007 season, as well as the playoffs, the Boston Red Sox haven’t had much to show off in the way of impact acquisitions.
Reliever Eric Gagne, picked up at the trading deadline, has been a bust from the first time he put on a Boston uniform. Daisuke Matsuzaka, the team’s prized free-agent signee from Japan, has struggled in the postseason after winning just 15 games during the regular season – not a good return on a $103 million investment.
And then there was J.D. Drew. After being signed to a five-year, $60 million deal in the offseason, the right fielder had become known for two things – being vastly overpaid for under-producing and coming out on the short end in comparison to his younger brother, Arizona shortstop Stephen.
While the latter didn’t make it to the World Series, the Diamondbacks losing out to the Rockies, on Saturday night in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, J.D. made sure Boston still has a chance to get there.
Drew cracked a grand slam in the first inning, drove in another run in the third, and finished with three hits, leading the Red Sox to a 12-2 victory. With the win, the team that has twice overcome 3-1 deficits to take playoff series, the most recent time just three years ago against the New York Yankees, is in position to do it again.
“We’re excited,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “We’d be crazy not to be excited. We have a Game 7 at Fenway.”
Not even the fact Matsuzaka and his 6.75 postseason ERA will be on the mound tonight for the Red Sox could put a damper on the bliss in Beantown. Just as the phrase “series momentum” can firmly be applied to the Red Sox, it’s not difficult to find words to describe the way Cleveland has performed in the last two games. “Hapless” certainly comes to mind.
At this point, other than the fact they’re still alive in the series, there doesn’t seem much to suggest that the Indians will become just the second team to lose Games 5 and 6 and still advance to the World Series. In 1992, Atlanta lost all of its advantage before beating Pittsburgh in Game 7 of the NLCS.
On Saturday, the Indians made two errors, giving them three in the past two games. At the plate, they’ve been almost helpless against Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling. Even Gagne pitched a 1-2-3 ninth on Saturday.
“It just wasn’t in the cards for us tonight,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. “It just has to stop, and it has to stop tonight. They need to go to bed tonight with clear heads and come here tomorrow expecting to win.”
Jake Westbrook will start for Cleveland in a game between two teams, Wedge said, that each won 96 games in the regular season, more than any other teams in baseball. As such, it’s no surprise that little things have perhaps made the difference in each game. On Saturday, that thin line was on display in the first inning. Leading off the game, Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore barely missed a home run that went foul down the left-field line.
In the bottom of the inning, Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona seemed to be the victim of a tight strike zone by home plate umpire Dana DeMuth, which eventually led to the bases being loaded for Drew. Regarded as injury-prone, Drew has never played 150 games in a season in his 10-year career.
This season, he appeared in 140 games, hitting .270 with 11 homers and 64 RBIs. As such, he often incurred the rancor of the demanding Boston fans, but on Saturday he decidedly worked his way back into the good graces of Red Sox Nation, drilling a 3-1 fastball from Carmona over the center-field wall.
“It has been a tough year. My expectations are high and I didn’t have the year I wanted to,” Drew said. “In that situation, you couldn’t ask for anything better.”
ALCS Game 7 pitching matchup
Indians pitching. With 19-game winners C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona unable to do the job, the Indians may not be in as dire a position as one might expect. As it turns out, their best pitching performances were turned in by Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd, both of whom could possibly be called on in Game 7. Westbrook was the starter in Cleveland’s 4-2 Game 3 win, allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings. Byrd was almost as sharp, also yielding but two runs in the Indians’ 7-3 Game 4 triumph. Byrd has been more of a known commodity, winning 15 games in the regular season and another two in the playoffs. Westbrook was 6-9 during the regular season.
Red Sox pitching. When Boston invested some $103 million to bring Daisuke Matsuzaka over from Japan, the team certainly had games like this in mind. Up to this point, however, the right-hander has been something of a disappointment. “Dice-K” was the loser to Westbrook in Game 3, giving up all four Cleveland runs and topping 100 pitches in just 4 2/3 innings. He also was rocked by the Angels in the division series, so don’t be surprised if Boston manager Terry Francona is ready with a quick hook, clearing the way for either Tim Wakefield or perhaps even Josh Beckett, the Red Sox’s winning pitcher in Games 1 and 5.
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
