Tag: 2008 MLB Playoffs (Page 6 of 10)

      No fear for Rays in Game 2

      October 12, 2008 /

      As Ron Borges of the Boston Herald writes, the Tampa Rays showed no fear in their Game 2 victory over the Red Sox to tie the ALCS at 1-1.

      Tampa Bay RaysLess than 24 hours after the Soxs designated psychoanalyst implied hed seen unease, if not terror, in the bulging eyes of the youthful Rays in Game 1 they came back and slapped Josh Beckett [stats] silly, clobbering three home runs off him to drive the Sox designated post-season stopper to the bench after just 4 1/3 innings and they didnt stop at that.

      Four times the resilient Rays came back on the Red Sox [team stats] before a bases loaded sacrifice fly by B.J. Upton in the bottom of the 11th inning off Mike Timlin [stats] scored pinch runner Fernando Perez to gave the Rays another improbable 9-8 victory that evened the ALCS at 1-1 and made clear to anyone who doubted them that the same dogged determination that saw them twice hold off late-season efforts by Boston to pass them in the AL East standings remained a critical part of their makeup.

      What the Rays proved Saturday night was Maddons faith in them is well placed. It was Game 1 that was atypical, not last night. Perhaps, for one game the stage was too big for them but that moment of self-doubt didnt last long.

      The Rays really have something special building, regardless of whether or not they eventually win the ALCS or World Series. They have a nice young core of players that believe they can win and Saturday night they showed grit when the game started to slip away from them following the wild pitch that tied the game. Hopefully the rest of the series is as exciting as the first two games have been.

      MLB

      Experience pays off for Sox in Game 1 win over Rays

      October 10, 2008 /

      Boston Red SoxAs play-by-play announcer Chip Caray said during the final inning of Boston’s 2-0 win over Tampa in Game 1 of the ALCS Friday night, “Experience trumped exuberance tonight.” (I can’t believe I’m quoting Chip Caray, but the comment was spot on.)

      For six innings, Boston ace Daisuke Matsuzaka was un-hittable. Literally.

      The Rays didn’t record their first hit until Carl Crawford singled to lead off the top of the seventh. But once Crawford reached, Cliff Floyd followed with a single of his own, moving Crawford to third and all of a sudden Tampa was in business despite trailing 1-0 since the top of the fifth.

      This is the situation where good teams – World Series contender or other – score that runner from third with less than two outs. But the Rays failed to do so as Dice-K got Dioner Navarro to fly out to left, then struck out Gabe Gross before finishing off Jason Bartlett with a fielder’s choice to the shortstop.

      Inning over.

      Again the Rays struck in the bottom of the eighth after the first two batters reached safely to start the inning. Yet once again they came away with nothing as the Boston bullpen got Carlos Pena to fly out to right and Evan Longoria to ground into a double play.

      In nine innings Friday night, the Sox showed what it takes to be a champion. They’ve still got a long way to go in their chase to defend their title, especially with how good Tampa is. But great teams separate themselves in these types of games and the performances by Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia and the BoSox bullpen were outstanding.

      That said, Rays’ starter James Shields was phenomenal and on a normal night when the Rays’ bats are on, he walks away from such a masterful performance with a victory. And Tampa will learn a lot from a game like this and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond in Game 2 on Saturday night.

      MLB

      The pitch that turned around the Rays’ season

      October 10, 2008 /

      When people look back at the June brawl between the Red Sox and Rays, they’ll remember the James Shield’s punch that Coco Crisp so eloquently dodged out of the way of. But as John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times writes, it wasn’t Shield’s punch that affected the Rays’ season – it was his message pitch.

      Red Sox-Rays brawlIn case you have forgotten, the underlying cause of Tampa Bay’s brawl with the Red Sox in early June was Crisp’s cheap shot on Aki Iwamura at second base the night before. Crisp was annoyed that Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett had blocked the base earlier in the game, and he took his frustrations out on Iwamura.

      Obviously, there is no manual on how to deal with such a transgression. And there is no one in charge of dispensing justice. It is simply expected that someone hold Crisp accountable.
      And, at times, that had been a problem in the Rays clubhouse.

      Over the years, Rays hitters have not always felt protected by Tampa Bay pitchers. The point was driven home most publicly in the spring of 2007 when Ty Wigginton yelled at his own dugout after being hit by a pitch.

      And so it was that Shields, 26, took the mound on June 5. The Rays had lost two in a row, had fallen out of first place the night before, and Shields had not won a game in nearly a month. And, at that moment, none of it mattered.

      On his second pitch to Crisp in the second inning, Shields drilled him in the hip.

      In a lot of ways, this fight was costly to Tampa Bay. Shields was suspended for six games, Gomes for five, Edwin Jackson for five, Carl Crawford for four and Iwamura for three.
      But for all the Rays lost, they say they gained far more.

      Much like the brawl with the Yanks in spring training, the Rays believe the fight with the Red Sox was a statement, both in their dugout and the opposite dugout.

      You could argue whether Shields chose the right moment. Yes, maybe he could have waited until later in the game, so he wouldn’t have put such a burden on the bullpen. But loyalty doesn’t work on such strict timetables.

      The brotherhood in baseball is part of what makes the game so great. Players in other sports obviously come to their teammates’ defense, but in baseball it’s different – it’s an unwritten rule. When 25 guys are together virtually every day from March until late fall, there’s going to be a bond that’s forced. And it’s kind of cool to see that bond unfold like it did in the Rays-Sox brawl, although obviously I don’t advocate teams fight nightly to show their unity.

      MLB

      Phillies rely on star Utley, finally figure out Lowe

      October 10, 2008 /

      The Philadelphia Phillies took Game 1 of the NLCS, relying on a struggling bat to get them past a Los Angeles Dodgers team that was cruising behind a masterful performance by starter Derek Lowe. That struggling bat was Chase Utley, who hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to give the Fighting Phils a 1-0 lead in the series.

      Chase UtleyLowe had been great to that point. He had gotten all but one of the outs either on ground balls or strikeouts as he employed a sinking fastball and a very sharp slider. But when Los Angeles shortstop Rafael Furcal began the bottom of the sixth with a two-base error on a grounder by Shane Victorino, Lowe left a sinker out over the plate and Utley turned on it and sent it into the right-field stands.
      “He was able to pull the ball. He got out in front of it,” manager Charlie Manuel said.

      Just that quickly, a game the Phillies couldn’t seem to grasp was falling into their hands. When Burrell also got a fastball he could drive and put the Phils ahead, Dodgers manager Joe Torre was out of the dugout and Lowe was out of the game. Just that fast, just minutes after Lowe had seemed indomitable.

      Maybe it wasn’t exactly like Gibson in 1988, maybe Utley didn’t limp haltingly toward the plate, but there was a concern about his physical status coming into this series.

      Bothered by a sore left hip for much of the second half of the season, Utley was just 2 for 15 in the division series against Milwaukee. His regular-season numbers presaged the trouble he has experienced recently. He had 23 home runs and 65 runs batted in before July 1 and 10 homers and 39 RBIs after it.
      “I think when Chase Utley’s hip is bothering him enough where he can’t play, he’s going to walk in and tell me,” Manuel said earlier this week. “He ain’t nowhere near there yet.”
      Apparently not. At least not last night.

      “It’s all about trying to put some hits together,” Utley said last night. “We had a runner in scoring position and I was just trying to get him over. No matter what, I was trying to get him to third base. I squared up a sinker and it went over the fence. For Derek Lowe, it was up, but it wasn’t a bad pitch.”

      The Phillies need their stars to shine in this series, unlike last year when they were bounced in the first round. Utley had been fantastic earlier in the season and had really struggled as of late. But great players rise to the challenge in these games and Utley did just that Thursday night.

      MLB

      Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels continues to mature

      October 9, 2008 /

      Philadelphia Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels will start in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday night. And as the Philadelphia Inquirer points out, the 24-year old pitcher learned in his one postseason start last year that the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season.

      Cole HamelsBut talent isn’t enough in the playoffs, which Hamels realized last season when he walked an uncharacteristic four batters and allowed three runs in his postseason debut against the Rockies. In front of a packed house, with a nip in the air, and the realization that every pitch can hasten the end of a season, the psychology of the game can change.

      The X-factor is to harness that change. And, ultimately, to ignore it.

      Hamels admitted that in the past he has allowed the emotions of pitching in a big game to affect him. But in Game 1 of the NLDS last Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, he pitched one of the finest games of his career. He threw eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out nine.

      Hamels attributes the success to a peace of mind he achieved through his workout routine.

      “I think when [I’m] so focused on making myself feel healthy and feel strong, then you don’t really think about the game as much,” he said. “You just think about trying to be in the best possible shape I can be in…I think that’s taken a lot of my thought processes away from all the games I had during the season…And I think it’s helped me right now, because I want to be that guy that can go out there into the postseason and have success. And I think the success for me is not necessarily what’s on the scoreboard, but feeling healthy, because I know if I do feel healthy I can help this team out.”

      I hope this kid succeeds. He’s got a great head on his shoulders and you can tell in his comments that he respects himself and respects the game. It’s incredibly hard for young players to perform on the postseason stage when they’ve never been there before, but succeeding in the playoffs is what great players do.

      Can’t wait to check out Hamels vs. Manny Ramirez.

      MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑