BOSTON — Having mastered the comeback from a dire situation themselves, now that the Boston Red Sox have a 2-0 lead in the 2007 World Series, did you think that the team was going to come anywhere near saying they have the upper hand in the best-of-seven showdown with the Rockies?
While there are statistics that show what kind of hole Colorado has dug for itself – 39 of the 50 teams that have won the first two games of the Series went on to win the championship, including the past six – the Red Sox know how little numbers mean when it comes to the postseason.
“What we’ve said all along is not going to change,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “The next game ahead of us is the most important thing on our radar. That will never change, no matter what the odds or our record.”
After winning their previous four games by a run total of 43-6, the Red Sox won their fifth consecutive postseason game Thursday night by playing small ball, taking a 2-1 lead into the fifth inning and then relying on their pitching and defense to get through the final innings.
With its massive offensive output of late, Boston hasn’t really needed much of the former, particularly from its bullpen. But on Thursday, the most dominant effort from the winners came from relievers Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. Okajima came in for starter and eventual winner Curt Schilling in the sixth inning with one out and men on first and second.
Okajima got out of that inning with a groundout and strikeout, and then retired the next five hitters he faced, adding three strikeouts. Papelbon came in at that point and allowed just one hit in his 1 1/3 innings, a single to Matt Holliday. The exuberant right-hander then picked the Rockies’ left fielder off first base.
When he struck out Brad Hawpe to end the game, Papelbon pumped his fists like Tiger Woods sinking an eagle putt at the Masters. In golf, however, a player is entirely on his or her own. Since finding themselves on the brink of elimination last week, falling into a 3-1 hole against Cleveland in the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox have made a habit of picking each other up.
“We’re a group that loves to have fun, loves to have challenges,” Papelbon said. “And we all love to feed off of each other. That’s what we did tonight, we fed off of each other.”
It enabled Boston to come back against Cleveland, the third time in franchise history a team has escaped from such a deficit. It could be the attitude that keeps the Red Sox’s collective emotions in check as they move West for a weekend in Colorado.
There’s a chance that when the Red Sox return to Massachusetts, there could be a championship trophy making the rounds on their charter flight – not that any of the Boston players would entertain that possibility.
“We just have to go out there and try to outplay them,” catcher Jason Varitek said.
