JD Kills The Rally Monkey

Sox: 7 Angels: 5

The poor primate didn't stand a chance. With two strikes on him in the top of the ninth, JD Drew, man of huge post-season four-baggers, took K-Rod deep with Coco at second, running for Big Papi, who doubled to lead off the inning. This ginormous clutch hit capped off a night of drama for the Sox and Halos, who were tied going into the ninth. The Sox touched "the other Santana" for four runs in the first, thanks to Drew's RBI double (scoring Big Papi, who also doubled, starting the hitting with two outs in the inning) and Jason Bay's second homer of the series, a three-run job with Youk and Drew on. Dice-K took the mound and--quel surprise!--threw first-pitch strikes to the first seven batters he faced. Still, the middle of the order gave him some trouble as they produced the first Angels run. The Sox answered in the third with back-to-back doubles by Cora and Ells, making the score 5-1. The Angels, however, slowly chipped away at that lead, their big three, Teixiera, Guerrerro and Hunter, were hitting and getting on base like it was going out of style. The trademark Dice-K walks began in the fourth, and that walk came around to score the Halos' second run. The fifth was when the wheels came loose for Dice. He issues back-to-back freebies to lead off the inning and needs three dozen pitches to finally escape with only one run scored.

After five, Dice-K was done and the 'pen took over. Oki pitched the sixth 1-2-3, but couldn't extend his dominance into the seventh. He let two runners on and Masterson was summoned to put out the fire. The rookie did, but not before walking in Angels run #4. When Masterson came out for the eighth, the Rally Monkey was doing his thing and Chone Figgins roped a triple. Like the rest of us Sox fans, Tito had seen enough of the Rally Monkey and summoned Paps for a two-inning save. The relentless middle of the lineup managed to sac-fly in Figgins to tie the game and Paps was tagged with a blown save. He took care of the rest of the lineup, thanks to a highlight-reel catch by Youk, who snagged a fly ball in foul territory by the cameras.

That brings us to the top of the ninth, where this blog began. K-Rod got the last out of the eighth and was back on the mound to try to finish off the save. Try he did, but JD got the better of him. With the lead once again, Pap took care of the rest and, four hours after the game began, the Sox took their second victory in Anaheim. They go back to Fenway with a commanding lead in the series and Beckett takes the mound on Sunday night. Even if Beckett isn't in his '07 post-season form, Lester is waiting in the wings for Game 4.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!!