October 12, 2008
TB 9, BOS 8: Homers pace Rays win
There were plenty of home runs and plenty of excitement in Game 2 of the ALCS between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay as the Rays took this one in extras, 11 innings to be exact, 9-8 on a sacrifice-fly from B.J. Upton.
Both teams combined for seven home runs on the night in the slugfest.
Goats of the Game : Beckett/Timlin
It is nice to see the Josh Beckett of circa two years ago resurface and also see the deterioration of Mike Timlin happen in the same game.
Next Game: Yet again...
Jon Lester will have to pitch another big game for Boston.  Hopefully, he gets it done again.
Discussion
21 Comments on "TB 9, BOS 8: Homers pace Rays win"
#1
Posted by Bob, October 12, 2008 12:09 AM
I'm not going to criticize Tito, I think he's more than proven himself in the postseason. I think game 3 definitely favors the Sox, Garza has struggled late in the season and on the road, and we all know about Lester. What terrifies me is that game 4 is about as close to an automatic loss as we can expect and we still have to send Beckett out there again (hold on I have to go throw up)
#2
Posted by Bob, October 12, 2008 12:10 AM
By the way I think Timlin blows, but the strike zone was ridiculous in the last inning, aren't veterans supposed to get more leeway than rookies? In any case, it's time to send Timlin to the glue factory, put him in the same trailer as Vartiek, maybe they can get a 2-1 bargain
#3
Posted by M.A.G, October 12, 2008 12:40 AM
Timlin has been sucking fr a while, now. Don't get me wrong, I respect the guy for his trajectory, and for all he has done for the team in the past. But the guy is finished, let him retire with some dignity, and let us keep a good memory of him.
#4
Posted by M.A.G, October 12, 2008 12:47 AM
By the way, I think Steven Roth has make an excellent point about Papi. The way he is playing right now is unacceptable for the 3rd hole. Especially if you have hot bats like Bay. Put Ortiz down in the order until he regain some form.
That's what I mean with versality. You need to make some moves in emergency situations.
#6
Posted by Gerry, October 12, 2008 12:51 AM
That strike zone came and went. In the last inning it went far away for our hitters and for Mike Timlin. Perhaps umpires should rotate from behind the plate when extra innings start, as their eyes seem to fade as games age.
Mike may no longer be one of the premier relievers in the game, but he is still above average, and might have gotten through the inning with accurate calls.
#7
Posted by Colin, October 12, 2008 2:09 AM
Saw this coming a mile away. I mean when Beckett gave up 8 runs and our offense tried its damnedest but got nothing, I knew the Rays would take this.
Sad to see another cliffhanger Game 3, but then again...this is the ALCS and the Red Sox are in it. It's not going to be easy.
#8
Posted by maxwell horse, October 12, 2008 2:30 AM
I have to disagree with the Timlin inclusion. It looked like to me that the umps wanted to go to bed, so they started making ridiculous calls in the Rays favor.
If Beckett must share Goat of the Game, then Tito belongs with him. Everyone watching the game knew that Beckett wasn't right. Everyone. But Francona kept putting him in there inning after inning to repeatedly cough up the lead. Why is Byrd even on the roster, if not to come in for emergency situations like this?
#9
Posted by SamR, October 12, 2008 2:47 AM
Everyone but Beckett showed up tonight ... Our offense destroyed Kazmir ... Our bullpen tried its best to hold it all together (until Timlin of course but he never had a chance and everyone knew it) ... but Beckett sucked ... plain and simple ... and this one goes on him alone
We just have to turn our heads towards the next game and leave this one behind ... I have no worries about a momentum shift ... I didn't expect to win this one the moment Beckett gave up the homer to Longoria ... and once Wheeler (player of the game IMO) held it together through the heart of our lineup I knew it was over ... everyone in Boston did ... Let's just pull it back together and keep the offense rolling for Big Jon ... We split on the road and we are looking good ... Go Sox!
#10
Posted by Daniel Rathman, October 12, 2008 3:10 AM
The goat of this game is Terry Francona. I don't criticize him that often, and I think he's a great manager, but this was not his night.
1. Putting a slumping Ellsbury in the leadoff spot against an elite lefty. Ellsbury's only big hit this postseason is the 3-run blooper. If he wanted to put Coco in the lineup, he should've put him in the leadoff spot and hit Ellsbury 9th. Or just started Drew, who, even though he would've been facing Kazmir, has been a lot better than Ellsbury at the plate of late.
2. Staying with Beckett even though it was clear he didn't have it. Paul Byrd was sitting there with nothing to do, and he should've been in the game in the 4th or the 5th.
3. Not staying with Papelbon. He'd thrown 17 pitches, and could've gotten through the bottom of the Rays order a hell of a lot better than Timlin, giving our guys at least one more shot.
________
All of that said, if you'd told me 3 days ago that we'd be heading back to Boston tied 1-1, I would've been thrilled. Not so at this point, but at that point I would have. I still think this will go 7. But that may not be a bad sign for us, with Lester scheduled to take the mound in that one.
#11
Posted by M.A.G, October 12, 2008 9:34 AM
I aaree with Daniel completely.
When I saw Timlin in I turned off my tv. That's how little faith I got in him. Everyone knows he is finished... Well, except for Francona.
Tito has been praised for his loyalty with his players, and that's really a good thing in regular season. But October is another thing entirely. Regular season is a marathon, the playoffs are a sprint.
In October you need to be versatile, and be able to make quick adjustments when something is not working out, because there is no tomorrow. You need to win NOW.
#12
Posted by Tom A, October 12, 2008 10:18 AM
How can Timlin be the goat of the game? He gave up two walks that if the strike zone had been the same for him as it was for Price would have been Ks...
Blame Tito all you want, particularly on Beckett and Ellsbury, but the fact of the matter is that Timlin wasn't awful at all. Really Beckett is the goat since if he'd even been a shadow of himself we would have won this 8-4 in a laugher.
#13
Posted by Steven Roth, October 12, 2008 10:31 AM
Puh-lease, Timlin was definitely the goat. Anybody that comes into the game and makes 90% of Red Sox Nation shut off their TV and go to bed is overqualified in my opinion to be a candidate for the goat. I stayed up to watch and it was horrendous. He's done. I never want to watch him pitch again.
They should have brought in Papelbon for another inning and if he struggled, bring in Byrd for as long as it took!
PS. David "Little Papi" Ortiz sucks. Drop him down in the order because he flat out sucks right now. Put him down in the 5th or 6th spot until he commands the respect he got back in the '04-'05 season.
#14
Posted by Steven Roth, October 12, 2008 10:33 AM
PSS. If Ortiz learned to hit the ball the other way....that's all I'm going to say.
#15
Posted by JaredK, October 12, 2008 10:57 AM
I was hoping that Tito would have used Paps to start the 9th and let him throw two innings....saving Masterson to work a full two or three innings. I knew Paps was are last good reliever and was pissed to see Masterson wasted on two outs. If Paps was allowed to go the 9th/10th we could have stretched out Masterson through the 13th if needed. Either way, Beckett/Ellsbury were my goats....Ellsbury can't square up on a ball with a balanced swing to save his life... I hope its Coco in center for the rest of the series.
#16
Posted by Tom A, October 12, 2008 3:08 PM
Absolutely love the fun negativity coming up whenever we lose...we're all still such happy fans when we lose! :)
Personally however sour the aftertaste was with that game, I'm happy to be coming home with a split and Lester pitching on Monday.
#17
Posted by Sean O, October 12, 2008 5:07 PM
The way I see it, if we lose in a 2 1/2 hour game, it's one thing. Sure it sucks, but whatever. But investing almost 6 hours in a ballshot loss is just abject misery.
#18
Posted by SamR, October 12, 2008 6:20 PM
Wow ... you said it Tom ... the amount of negative bs flying around this board is pathetic ... I know "we're only fans" but cmon ... we're not dropping David freaking Ortiz down in the lineup or benching Josh Beckett for Paul Byrd ... we aren't sitting Jason Varitek because he's playing like the same player he's been all year ... we are who we are ... yes adjustments can be made (Crisp for Ells) ... but we cannot start panicking and changing the entire makeup of the team just because we aren't necessarily playing perfectly ... we split on the road ... we are looking good going home with our ace yet to pitch in the series ... let's let the team play and stop spewing crap about how shitty our team or our manager or even the umps are ... let's move on ... thats the only way we are going to win this thing
#19
Posted by tbrennan, October 12, 2008 8:01 PM
timlin way past his prime. must of had some dirt on tito to be put on the roster. There was not one single instance that i saw him come in where he didn't look tired and way past anyones prime. i do not have issue with much the past few weeks but having him on the alcs roster was a mistake and putting in a position of such importance when you clearly had a better option was a huge mistake. all in the rear view mirror. driving 5 hrs tomorrow for games 3 &4. would have been happy with split heading into this. everybody stay positive. handful of key guys on this team need all the positive energy we can all muster.
#20
Posted by Sam K, October 12, 2008 8:19 PM
Hey, I consider myself lucky. I watched this game from the opposite side of the world, meaning that I'm 13 hours ahead of you guys. In other words, I watching this 6-hour misery marathon in its entirety, but it started at 9:30 in the morning for me, ruining only my day. For you guys, if you watched the entire debacle, it ruined your night and probably the next day as well.
All of which is my sarcastic way of saying that the negativity is quite justified, thank you. We should be going back to Fenway up 2 games with our ace going for Game 3.
If benching Beckett for Byrd or dropping Popless from the 3-spot improves our chances, we have to do it. It's October. Win or go home. Produce or sit down.
#21
Posted by Anonymous, October 12, 2008 11:44 PM
We could just as easily have lost game one and won game two. I am grateful for the split. We all know by now, I hope, that Daisuke Matsuzaka is a money player, that Beckett is still hurt and, like Timlin, is more frustrated than we are, that Ells/Pedey/Papi/Coco/Kotsay can go from on fire to slump to on fire. It's baseball. SamR is right. Let's get the WS champion positive spin going, which is about all we can do to inure another title.
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