BOSTON — The Rockies’ decision to move rookie left-hander Franklin Morales to the bullpen had an immediate impact in the Series, with the Red Sox tinkering with their batting order.
Throughout the American League Championship Series, Boston batted J.D. Drew sixth; Jason Varitek seventh; the center fielder, either Coco Crisp or Jacoby Ellsbury, eighth; and Julio Lugo ninth. Wednesday against lefty starter Jeff Francis, Varitek, a switch-hitter, was sixth; Drew, a left-handed hitter, was seventh; the right-handed Lugo eighth and the left-handed Ellsbury ninth.
“With Francis pitching and Ellsbury playing, and they have three left-handers in the bullpen, we didn’t want to make it easier on them than we need to,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “If we do get to the bullpen, they don’t have an inning where they can have a lefty fly through three guys in a row. That would seem too easy.”
Coco not crisp. Even if Francona wanted to sit Ellsbury against Francis, chances are he wouldn’t have been able to. Coco Crisp, who started in center for the first five games of the ALCS, was still struggling with a knee he injured making a running catch to end the series against the Cleveland Indians.
“He’s been getting treatment,” Francona said. “We’ll watch him move around and the hope is that there is a lot of improvement. But as of yet, I can’t tell you for sure.”
Rolling along. The Red Sox’s four runs in the opening two innings Wednesday continued an impressive offensive display. Boston outscored Cleveland 30-5 in winning the final three games of the ALCS. Overall, the team set ALCS records for runs scored (51), team batting average (.318) and team slugging percentage (.521).
