All Entries Tagged With: "ALCS"

There’s A New Beast in the AL East

The Tampa Bay Rays Advance to the 2008 World Series

After being beaten in game 6 by Josh Beckett and the Red Sox, a game the Rays should have won, the Rays beat Jon Lester in game 7, a game they should have lost. Bottom line: the Rays played better in 4 of the 7 games played and that’s all that really matters.

Both sides had injuries to key players. Boston was…

Boston Forces Game 7 in the ALCS Against the Rays

Josh Beckett out performed James “Big Game” Shields to get the win in game 6 and for the second year in a row, have come back from being down 3 games to 1 and force a deciding game 7.

In tomorrow’s match up we have Boston’s new Ace of the staff, Jon Lester going up against the Rays # 3 starter in Matt Garza who pitched very well in game 3.

But,…

Last Chance for the Rays…the Bottom of the 9th

In comes the Boston closer, Jonathan Papelbon with his patented stare.

First up is the scary rookie 3B Evan Longoria. This is the biggest at bat of the inning in my opinion. Longoria grounds out to SS Jed Lowrie. 1 out!

Boston is 2 outs away from forcing a 7th game once again!

CF Carl Crawford is up with 1 out and just swung at a ball for strike two. The Rays hitters…

Boston Leads 4-2 Going into the Top of the 9th

RF Drew faces Bradford to lead off the 9th and hits a line drive to LF Crawford. 1 out.

LF Bay is 5 for 8 against Bradford in his career. He grounds out to the SS.

The Rays remove Bradford for Trevor Miller.

I’m not sure about this move. It doesn’t make much sense as Bradford has been doing well and he’s gotten two outs in the inning.

1B Kotsay faces Miller and swings…

Bottom of the 8th

New pitcher for Boston is rookie and former starting pitcher Justin Masterson.

SS Jason Bartlett is leading off the 8th down 4-2. He was hit by a pitch again. No outs, man on first.

2B Iwamura is 0-3 tonight. Masterson looks a bit nervous up there right now, but Varitek, with a 1-0 count goes out to speak with him. The count is now 2-0 and pitching coach John Farrell checks in…

Top of the 8th

CF Crisp faces Balfour and has a leadoff walk.

Manager Joe Maddon, probably this year’s manager of the year has just taken out Balfour, replaced by Chad Bradford, the knuckelscrapping submarine pitcher to face 2B Pedroia.

2B Pedroia faces Bradford with Crisp on 1B without any outs. Will Crisp take off to remove the possible DP? Pedroia is 4 for 6 against Bradford and hits it off Bradford who knocked the ball…

Bottom of the 7th as Boston Leads 4-2

Willie Aybar is pinch hitting for DH Cliff Floyd, but he pops up in foul ground to 3B Kevin Youkilis. 1 out.

C Navarro is up and the count is 0-2 then he hits a towering pop up in foul ground to LF Jason Bay. 2 outs.

RF Zobrist flies out to the warning track in CF as Crisp makes the catch for the third out.

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Top of the 7th as Boston Leads 4-2

RF J.D. Drew leads off and popped up for the first out.

LF Bay is hit by a pitch on the hip.

1B Kotsay is 1-3 in the game, a single in the second inning. He hits a high chopper to Howell, the pitcher and is thrown out at 1B. Bay moves onto 2B.

Howell comes out of the game with Grant Balfour coming into the game. By the way, this is not…

Rays Half of the 6th Inning

Okajima is now pitching for the Red Sox. The Red Sox are leading 4-2

CF B.J. Upton and he lines out to 3B Youkilis. 1 out.

1B Pena, whos is hitting .350 with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs in this series is now up with 1 out. Full count. It was a late call, but Pena strikes out looking. 2 outs.

3B Longoria is 0-2 tonight and is hitting .125 in his last…

Red Sox Half of the 6th Inning

Ben Zobrist stays in the game playing RF for the Rays!

1B Kotsay leads off for the Sox. What an amazing leaping stab by 2B Iwamura with that alligator glove of his! Wow! What a play! He has definately adjusted to his move to 2B as his whole career, even in Japan, he was a third baseman. 1 out.

SS Lowrie struck out for out number 2.

C Varitek is up with 2…

5th Inning – Rays

The commentators are saying that Beckett is pitching in pain and is taking some extra time warming up before the start of this half inning.

C Navarro ropes a single to RF.

PH Ben Zobrist is hitting for RF Gabe Gross. Count is 1-2 then Zobrist pops out to CF and is now 0-3 this post season.

SS Jason Bartlett is up with Navarro on first. Navarro has become a leader on this…

5th Inning – Boston

DH Ortiz, who’s hitting .143 with 1 HR and 3 RBI leads off…who hits Shields’ 91st pitch as a pop fly to LF. 1 out.

Youkilis lines out to the next rookie of the year, 3B Evan Longoria. 2 outs.

Drew hits another 2-out line drive double over the head of RF Gabe Gross.

Bay pops out to RF for the last out of the inning.

Shields has calmed down after his earlier struggles,…

Bottom of the 4th Inning

Former Sox 1B and Northeastern University graduate from Haverhill, MA, Carlos Pena pops up to 3B Kevin Youkilis for the first out of the inning.

3B Evan Longoria flied out to CF. 2 outs.

LF Crawford is 0-5 after going 5 for 5 in a previous game in this series. On Beckett’s 54th pitch of the game, Crawford practically threw the bat at the ball for a bloop hit into LF.

DH Floyd…

Top of the 4th Inning

Darrell Cousins, the home plate umpire has left the game due to injury. If there was ever a time for Ques Tec, now might have been one of those times.

I wonder if this delay will affect James Shields who isn’t pitching as dominant as he was earlier in this series.

This is ridiculously long! I feel bad for Shields who has thrown 68 pitches after 3 innings.

Tim McClullen will take over…

Bottom of the 3rd

RF Gabe Gross leads off the Rays third inning. Beckett’s fastball is a few mph slower than usual, but he’s pitching well as Gross strikesout looking. 1 out.

SS Jason Bartlett is clipped by a pitch. Bartlett didn’t even attempt to get out of the way. He barely moved.

2B Iwamura, who struckout in the first. The Rays have not been thrown out yet in this post season (16 for 16). There’s…

Top of the 3rd

CF Coco Crisp leads off and is hitting .462 in the ALCS so far. Coco was a key part to the other nights second best comeback in playoff history. He had a bunt single in the first, but was picked off 1B soon after. The count is 2-2 and Crisp flies out to his counterpart in CF, Upton. 1 out.

2B Dustin Pedroia is up next. He walks and is the…

Live Blogging ALCS Game 6

Hi everyone!

I will be live blogging tonight’s game 6 of the ALCS between the visiting Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tonight, we will see Tampa’s James Shields matching up against Boston’s Josh Beckett.

The Rays lead the series 3-2.

See you during the first inning!

Help support Baseball Reflections and buy me a coffee with PayPal!

A Great Awakening

Pete’s Rose Writes Again! Thank you Red Sox!

After a long dormant spell of around 11 months, Pete’s Rose is once again heard on Baseball Reflections and it took the second best comeback in baseball playoff history to do it.

I woke up this morning realizing that I don’t have what it takes to be a Red Sox fan. And I have the feeling I’m in very good company, although most people won’t…

Brilliant or Naive, You Decide

It’s official, Scott Kazmir has switched places with James Shields and will start game 5 of the ALCS against the Red Sox at Fenway Park tonight. The Rays lead the series 3 games to 1, a familiar spot for the Sox in recent years (2004 and 2007).

The thinking behind this, or so I’m told, is that Shields is 0-3 against Boston in Fenway this year and Kazmir has a good record against the Red…

Can They Do It Again?

Boston’s Ray of Hope

Out of the 4 teams in ALCS history to be down 3-1 only to come back to win the series, Boston holds claim to 3 of them. First in 1986 against the Angels, then historically in 2004 against the Yankees (where they were down 3-0) and again last year (2007) against the Indians. I guess you can say that Boston has a flair for the dramatic! I…

Rays and Phillies Move Closer Together

Tampa Bay Rays Lead the Series 2-1

Yesterday afternoon saw what some thought was the unthinkable in this post season. Jon Lester got hit hard and earned the loss against the Rays. Yesterday I called Lester “the Beast of the East” and if this series goes to game 7 and he pitches like he has the past three months, then I will stand by that title, but he was nothing close to…

League Championship Series Update

ALCS

In today’s matinee, the Red Sox will host the Rays at 96 year old Fenway Park in game 3 of their ALCS showdown. The series is tied at 1 game a piece going into these 3 games in Boston. The Rays need to win only 1 game in order to bring this series back to Tampa Bay and Tropicana Field!

This year’s beast of the east might just be seen in the likeness of Boston’s…

Pete’s Preview and Prediction of the ALCS

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Right off the bat, you have to mention the injuries. Boston is without 3B Mike Lowell and Tampa is without closer Troy Percival. Boston’s replacement on the roster goes to RP Mike Timlin, while Tampa has added SP Edwin Jackson.

On…

Moving Onto The League Championship Series

Last night, both beasts from the east advanced into the ALCS. The Tampa Bay Rays will host the Boston Red Sox in game 1 on Friday, October 10th at 8:35pm. I predict that this one will go to 7 games. There will definitely NOT be a sweep of any kind.

The Angels are upset right now, but they should be upset with themselves. They were the favorites going into this series, but history…