What a game. Jake "The Snake" Westbrook was masterful. Kenny Lofton was magical. The crowd was unreal. It all lead to a 4-2 win by the Tribe over the Red Sox to take a 2-1 lead in the ALCS.
Westbrook had pinpoint control all night, minus the one pitch to Varitek in the 7th, and induced ground ball after ground ball after ground ball. The three double plays were huge starting with the amazing one in the first inning off the bat of David Ortiz turned, out of the shift, by the As Man to Blake to Garko. The one in the second was huge as it got the Tribe out of a bases loaded, no out jam without a run being scored. The last one of the bat of Manny “Scum” Ramirez was a delight to the entire Jacobs Field crowd. Enter Jensen Lewis, Rafael Betancourt and Joe Borowski and game over.
Kenny Lofton continues to push this team as he ignited the crowd in the Bottom of the 2nd with a 2 run homer that barely got out of the park, and over J. D. Drew’s glove, a half inning after Westbrook worked out of the bases loaded no out jam. The As Man delivered a clutch RBI single in the 5th followed by a moment of heart and hustle from Pronk to beast out a potential double play ball to allow the 4th run to score on a fielder’s choice.
So it’s on to Game 4 tonight at The Jake. Paul Byrd versus Tim Wakefield. The Indians struggle against the slow stuff. It will be interesting to see how they work Wakefield. The Red Sox thrive against finesse pitchers like Byrd so he will have his work cut out for him. Regardless, the Indians have the upper hand and can put themselves in prime position with a win tonight.
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