ALDS GAME 1 LIVE BLOG

Sox/Angels on TBS. This might be my only chance to stay awake for the whole game.

Top 1st - I can't believe I just heard one of the announcers, Soup Campbell I believe, say that John Lackey won't get rattled because he's a veteran...ummm, Soup, just so you know the Sox kill this guy and he does get rattled against them, often! He might not tonight, but to say so succinctly he will is just nuts.
- Ellsbury hits a shot high off the wall and the ball is carrying in Anaheim, might not be a bad thing...of course my boy Pedroia grounds out weekly.
- Is there anything more aggravating than Papi hitting the ball into the shift with runners on base?
- Kevin Use- e - less rhymes with Youkilis grounds out as well. He is the only guy I have absolutely no faith in on this team in big spots. Inning over, now its time to see how Jonny Lester can do tonight.

Bottom 1st - The Gillette Fusion commercial they just showed reminds me of the fact that Fusion makes me break out so I've gone back to the Mach 3. Are we really supposed to believe that razors good enough for our fathers and grandfathers aren't good enough for us. I mean, we went from two blades to five in like six years. Its not like we moved on to lasers, just more blades. Capitalism at its finest.
- Figgins terrifies me because he gives the Sox fits on the basepaths, but he grounds out weekly. Jonny Lester basically needs to give us seven innings of two or less runs for us to stand a chance tonight. I know the Rally Monkeys and Thundersticks will scare him, but he'll have to find a way.
- Grrr...I miss the pink eye version of Garrett Anderson. This lineup is so much tougher with him in the two hole and not hitting fourth.
- Do you think Mark Texeira has already been fitted for a uniform with pinstripes?
- I'm continuing my negative slant here early in this game and this series, but that is a ball Jacoby Ellsbury has to get to in the playoffs. One of the Sox huge advantages right now is a plus fielding outfield at every position. You can't give away outs with Vladdy Daddy coming to the plate.
- Vladdy pops up quickly and JD Drew moved without his back flaring up..two birds with one stone
- Man this lineup is tooooons better this year with Hunter and Texeira. Last year I'm convinced I could have gotten outs against the Angels in the ALDS. This year, not so much.
- Seems like Jonny is getting squeezed a bit. His location isnt' great, but he's around the plate. Bad Lester is the guy who nibbles, we don't need Bad Lester tonight.
- Seriously, where was that pitch?!? Blood pressure rising.
- It seems like Lester's pitches are cutting across the plate...but the ump isn't buying it....
- Had em all the way...0-0 after one

Top 2nd - Capt Fragile is up for the Sox...I'm scared that we need a healthy Drew to even have a shot...Healthy Drew is a bit of an oxymoron isn't it.
- Now Soup admits the Sox hit Lackey hard traditionally...doubletalk...doubletalk...ground ball Drew. I'm underwhelmed!
- I am however TOTALLY GAY FOR JASON BAY!!! I love this guy. At least until he grounds out here, then he'll be moving towards the doghouse. Some guys just thrive on playoff baseball, I hope he's one of them. Hopefully that first at bat was no indication of his playoff prowess.
- Old Man Lowell is in the 7 hole, which means they are more worried about his injury than Drew's. How does this team not play Ortiz at first and DH Lowell. It just seems logical...and on a hard hit ball by Lowell Anderson makes a nice play. Inning over and I'm extremely concerned that we're not taking Lackey deep into counts.

Bottom 2nd - We desperately need Lester to settle down and throw strikes, but he's started off their fat catcher with 2 balls, then he fights back to 2-2. At least you know a guy who has beaten cancer and won a clinching game of the World Series isn't going to be afraid or nervous. Gets the K on a curveball. Nice.
- Craig Sager + Salmon Suit = Double Plus Awesome
- Tek makes a nice play on a tapper by Matthews and Boom Goes the Dynamite. Two down.
- Announcers are gushing over Lester...easy fellas, let's not jinx our boy
- Clearly the key to this lineup is holding down the bottom 3. They have guys you can get out down there and Lester does...we're cruising through a scoreless first 2 innings.

Top 3rd - Jed Lowrie figures out how to get on base without swinging the bat, which might not be the worse thing for him right now, but that just sets him up to be a part of the inevitable 4-6-3 Double Play our fearless Captain is about to hit into
- Wow...a bunt try, for a soft hitter, Varitek might be the worst bunter I've ever seen. He just doesn't get them down ever.
- Tek tried like hell to get the 1-6-3 double play, but Lackey couldn't field it clean and it turns into a Fielders Choice.
- Nice big league slide by Lowrie there
- Start swooning Pink Hats, Ellsbury is up...and he tries like hell to hit into a double play, but beats it out with his Golden Feet. I seriously feel like our whole playoff existence is going to be barely avoiding double plays.
- You want the MVP Pedroia. You prove it.
- Pitch out for Scioscia with a 1-1 count. Does he really want to see the LASER SHOW that badly. They are obsessed with Ellsbury over there. Now here's something brewing...3-1 count to Pedderass....come on big boy.
- Pedroia walks and somehow I'm disappointed by that. Ortiz just doesn't have the same feeling right now at the plate. Maybe the days off leading up to the playoffs and the rest days during will reignite him.
- See, that curveball looked like a ball, and its 0-1. So now they throw almost the same pitch....grrrrrrr, inconsistent umpiring
- Wow, Papi should be out on two checked swings, but instead he's out on a popup to the shortstop...Jonny Boy, we turn our hopes to you

Bottom 3rd - Pure filth from Lester. I like where he is at right now, but I'm still begging for strikes.
- After the 2nd hit from Anderson I'm calling for every attractive Massachusetts native living in Anaheim or LA to contract pinkeye and go hook up with this man. Do it for your nation, Red Sox Nation
- Yay, first pitch strike from Jonny.
- For my complaining about Soup Campbell early, he's doing an amazing job of analyzing pitch calling here. I remember long conversations between Pedro and Jim Rice back in the day and one of the things they were talking about it how if you get someone late on a fastball, the theories behind following with offspeed or continuing hard...never know who won that debate.
- Lester wins this one with Texeira, nasty curve. 2 away.
- Big AB for Guerrero here. Lester really has the curve working tonight. If he can mix in the cutter, we might be okay here tonight.
- Like I said earlier, you can't give teams outs in the playoffs. Jed Lowrie just gave the Angels an extra out...throwing up over here. Here comes Hunter.
- Lester is 50 pitches in. He needs to slow down on his pitch count. We need 7 from him tonight. He can't locate his fastball at all tonight it seems. 1-2 count now and Lester desperately needs to get an out here.
- I love nothing more than the gloves over the face at the mound. With HD, I promise there are guys in the clubhouse watching who would relay the info if they caught anything.
- YOU DONT GIVE EXTRA OUTS TO GOOD TEAMS. Bay and Lowrie both spit the bit in this inning. Bay has to get to that ball. Dangerous spot now.
- Great first pitch strike. Lester can't let contact happen here. He does, but its a tapper and we get out of it. Zero hard hit balls by the Angels and they get a run....1-0 after 3.

Top 4th - I just saw on Deadspin that the "girlfriend" of Hugh Hefner, Kendra, has dumped Hank Baskett, which leads me to this question. You are a quote/unquote Tomboy who posed in Playboy and is a National Celebrity, and the best athlete ass you can pull is Hank Baskett? Dude isn't even on a fantasy roster. It would be like Tony Romo dating the 8th runner up from American Idol last year. Come on Kendra. I'm thoroughly convinced you can do better.
- Youkilis with the AROD memorial meaningless single, especially knowing Drew is pretty much an out...
- Why are we not working the count against this guy? The Sox should know middle relief is their weakness, it doesn't look like the Halos will need it.
- BTW, the cultural differences between the Sox and Angels are fascinating. The Sox start 1 Dominican, a White Cuban, a Native American, a Canadian, and 5 White Guys from America. Basically thats 1 minority starter. The Angels on the other hand are almost exclusively Black and Latino. I'm a little surprised the Sox haven't dealt with any backlash about this recently. You can bet it will be brought up at some point.
- Bay looks awful, bright lights might be blinding him.
- Drew and Lowell look as bad as I was afraid they would. Mark it down...11:14 pm, Game 1. Corey is Nervous.

Bottom 4th - Terry Francona might be the person I've changed my mind about the most in sports ever. I hated him, railed against him and claimed the Sox won in spite of him in 2004. Now, I can't imagine the Red Sox without him. He has done a phenomenal job.
- Lowrie has done a nice job on a few grounders and maybe Lester can get out of this inning against the bottom 3 by throwing few pitches. We need Seven Jonny Boy!
- 0-2 to Aybar, huge pitch here....he got it. Great inning by Jon, now lets do something Sox!

Top 5th - Amelia had a Red Sox Rally at school today and was running around last night to make sure she had something Red Sox to wear. She eventually found her pink Coco Crisp t shirt and wore it to school. I figured that they'd talk about the Sox with their teacher, wear the clothes and move on. But they had a legit rally with singing, chants, teachers with megaphones, and posters to hang in the halls. Seriously, how cool is that?
- Lowrie out quickly, Tek will be sure to follow..why aren't we working the count with this guy....grrrrr, warning track power from Tek and two away quickly. I really wish I had a picture of Craig Sager for anyone reading this right now. Amazing!
- Nice job by Ellsbury with a bunt single and now its time for the LASER SHOW
- Man Jacoby is good at stealing bases...now Lackey better be real careful with Pedroia. DAMN...their outfielders are getting good jumps and we're not...this team may never score.

Bottom 5th - I called for 2 runs or under in 7 innings for Lester. I'm thinking 1 might be as high as we can afford.
- Good job so far by Lester of keeping Figgins off the basepaths. He is dangerous, but he hasn't had any chance to show it.
- Jonny Boy continues to cruise, we really need him to get into a groove here. He's thrown 74 pitches so far and if he can get Texeira here...i know, easier said than done...he'll be in a nice rhythm
- Not going to happen, Bay was playing back on the warning track and Texeira hits the ball in front of him...someone other than Lester or Ellsbury better show me something here at some point.
- Seeing eye single for Vladdy Daddy. I'm officially feeling a little pukey over here.
- Lester gets the silent fist pump from me after that grounder back to the mound...Boom Goes the Dynamite.

Top 6th - Color me Frustrated...Ortiz continues to be terrible right now. First pitch swinging? Really?
- USE E LESS walks and now I'm praying to the Gods of Back Trouble Drew can do something that doesn't involve him wincing. Soup Campbell is phenomenal. How does he not have a more national gig when Tim McCarver does?
- Drew's timing just looks awful. He's never late on pitches, he may miss some, but he's never late. Of course I'm praying for a walk here, but know that Bay is a curveball strikeout waiting to happen.
- JD Drew can do dramatic things, says Soup....how am I even supposed to respond to that.
-Bay is driving me nuts tonight, just crush one here and make it all better Jason...wow, he totally did
-I'm TOTALLY GAY FOR JASON BAY!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!
- Eat a Thunder Stick John Lackey.
- Thats just what the Doctor ordered. Come on Jonny Boy!

Bottom 6th - Hey, a Derek Jeter in the playoffs sighting. That was nice, think I'm going to go have a Gatorade now...hahahahahahaha.
- I feel like a broken record here, but Lester has to bear down here, especially since he's not facing 3,4,5
- Howie Kendrick is totally the name of a white guy by the way, he must be adopted...or he did some Don Draper stolen identity ish while he was in the minors.
- Love the bat flick by Bay after the homer. He then put his head down like he was embarassed. Don't worry Jason, you'll figure out what you're supposed to do after a few more of those.
- BTW, here's a preview of Friday's live game blog that I won't be doing because I can't possibly deal with a Dice K start on a live blog ----> THROW A ?!!@ING STRIKE DICE K....THROW A STRIKE...DEAR GOD HELP HIM THROW A STRIKE...GRRRR
- Lester gets his second strikeout of the inning, now he can attack Matthews Jr. Lester is up to 94 pitches, so he probably needs to get this out to throw in the 7th.
- Man, that curveball is filthy...Lester clearly does a great job of disguising it. Now in 3-2, he has to get into the strike zone here....fouls it off and let's do it again....GOT HIS ASS! The 100th pitch was a monster pitch.

Top 7th - I have little to no confidence in the bottom of the lineup right now. Lowrie and Tek are pretty much outs.
- Lowrie confirms my suspicions and strikes out on a questionable call and Tek rolls out quickly and quietly. Ellsbury is coming up with no one on base and a couple of outs way too often.
- Darren Oliver is getting loose. He fascinates me because he was a throw in in a trade to the Sox back in 2001 and we all thought he was washed up then. He was old, grumpy, and was roughly on par with Frank Castillo.
- Wow, Ellsbury just hit a liner to Gary Matthews and he looked silly...HGH must hurt your eyesight longterm. Laser Show...Laser Show...Laser Show!!!
- I would be very careful with Pedroia here, you just know you can get Papi out at this point.
- Wow, Lackey just missed a spot again. He is losing his control and I'm dying for him to make a mistake to the Little Big Man here. 3-1. They are being super careful.
- Wouldn't throw him a strike...Ortiz will be up, Old Uncle Darren will be facing him.
- I wish I could make a bet here that Ortiz pops out. Ortiz is 2 for 9 lifetime against Darren.
- Great swing on a fastball, but foul.
- Followed of course by a weak swing foul ball and I'm pretty sure I'd throw all soft stuff now...1-2.
- Being a little too careful and maybe Oliver can screw up and throw a wild pitch here for Ellsbury to scamper home to. Soft stuff misses yet again and with a full count, you might have to throw a fastball. Soup says he would not. 3-2 breaking ball gets Ortiz. We go to the bottom of the 7th, 2-1 Sox.

Bottom 7th - Good to see Tito leaving Lester in for the beginning of the 7th. The kid is a horse and I have more faith in him after 100 pitches than anyone in the bullpen right now. Essential to get outs here, before the 2-3-4-5 hitters come to the plate.
- Good 1-2 start for Lester...punch him out Jonny! Not quite, but a pop out to Pedroia will work.
- Now Figgins, who terrifies me. Lester needs to grind out this at bat. 1-2 again. When you're consistently ahead in the count, good things happen.
- Absolutely fantastic f#$@ing pitch by Lester and there is two away.
- Anderson has looked great tonight and now its a super big spot to get him out. 0-2 on a great inside fastball. Lester is hitting 95 miles per hour after 110 pitches. And on that one he got up to 97. He's trying desperately to close out this inning. 1-2 now. Filthy curve buckled Anderson's knees and he didn't get the call.....ugh. Anderson thought he was out.
- Throws it again, but Anderson fights it off. I think you go one seamer in on the hands here. He almost threw the fastball by him but Anderson is battling. Lester needs to get this out here. Broken bat pop to second...and Pedroia makes the play.
- 117 phenomenal pitches by Jon Lester with absolutely zero mistakes. The run was unearned on two poor defensive plays and other than that, he went aces. Now Francona has the whole pen to get through Texeira, Hunter, etc in the bottom of the 8th.

Top 8th -USE E LESS gave one a ride, but it didn't quite get out.
- I know they want to have oliver pitch to Drew but with your whole bullpen available in the 8th, why would you let him pitch to Youkilis? Seems strange. They have too many bullets in the pen to leave them there.
- Use e less teases us with an almost bomb and then flies out...Drew follows with a weak grounder and Scioscia gets away with pitching Oliver to three batters. Darn.
- Watching this broadcast on TBS makes me wonder one thing. I agree wholeheartedly that Frank Caliendo is sometimes funny, especially when he does his John Madden, when you got Brett Favre, you have Brett Favre speal. What I can't figure out is if anyone actually finds him funny enough for him to have viewers for his TV Show, entering its 2nd year mind you. Who watches Frank TV. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
- Bay is starting to like this whole postseason thing...drills a double to right off Shields. Maybe, just maybe the Sox can push across a nice insurance run here. Old Man Lowell comes up in a fairly big spot.
- Shields throws a breaking ball that could have been drilled, Lowell takes.
- Ugh..that check swing killed Lowell...not a good thing. 3-2. Lowell can barely run. He's such a gamer, but this might not be working out for us. Bottom 8, here we come.

Bottom 8th - Masterson Time Baby. You have to wonder how hard it is to go from facing a lefty facing a sinker ball righty...Masterson looks all jacked up. wow, thunder sticks are annoying. 3-2
-Be careful here Justin...baserunners are evil.
-ELLSBURY REDEEMS...I was mad about the earlier ball that dropped in front of him, but he just made a ridonkulous play on a texeira broken bat blooper.
- Guerrero time, heart in throat. Way early on a fastball and its 1-1. These announcers are desperate to reverse jinx Guerrero btw...smoke job to the left of Lowrie...the tying run is on.
- With Hunter coming up, will they run for Guerrero? Apparently not, so at least you aren't dealing with a ton of speed at first. We'll find out a lot about Masterson here. Might as well find out what we have, right Tito?
- Masterson is Home Run prone we're hearing, I think I hear the announcers using Thundersticks
- USE E LESS made a huge play throwing out Guerrero on a bloop single...two phenomenal plays by the Sox and a great throw by Youk!!!
- See Scioscia, thats why you run for his slow, gimpy ass there.
- Also, the hit by Hunter was a pathetic swing bloop, totally shouldn't be the way they get back in this one.
- Masterson falls behind 2-0...gotta find a way to get out of this inning here.
- They're burying Vladdy Daddy for going there, honestly, the play by Youkilis was ridiculous. Very few guys make that play...like none.
- Great pitch freezies Abercrombie and Kendrick, 2-2. Masterson with a chance to pull a Houdini here and give Papelbon a chance to face the bottom 3 in the 9th. Kendrick is battling hard.
- Pitch #8 to come - heart is in throat! To short and we survive. We go to 9, leading 2-1.

Top 9th - The official first beer of the playoffs has been cracked. How sad is it that I had to wait until now to make sure I had a shot to stay awake for the full game.
- Big base knock by Lowrie, let's manufacture a run here fellas.
- TEK GOT A BUNT DOWN!!! WOOOOOOO!!! First sac bunt in two years.
- Far and away our best player of the night, Jacoby Pinkhatsbury, steps to the plate.
- It is amazing that Jacoby is a rookie...as Soup reminds us.
- You would have to expect we may see Crisp in right field in the 9th, because of Drew's back.
- Shields just tried to throw an inside fastball to Ellsbury, everyone did that early in the year, right now he's doing a much better job handling it.
- Shields just missed his spot and Jacoby didn't take advantage, darn.
- Jacoby does it again...huge base hit to right and Lowrie does a great job running the bases. 3-1 Sox. Huge.
- Now LASER SHOW POTENTIAL
- Jacoby steals another base and now a base hit from the MVP would get us a huge 3 run lead.
- Petey just killed Napoli in the nuts...laser to the nuts, laser to the nuts...oh, okay, the knee cap
- Laser foul....then a tapper back to Shields, Ellsbury to third.
- Yes...the shift taketh and the shift giveth away...it gaveth away there on an Ortiz dribbler...4-1 Sox. Papelbon must get in and out quickly so they can put fear and doubt in the hearts of the Halos.
- Nice play by Figgins ends the bleeding...will we see Papelbon or Papeldouche tonight?

Bottom 9th - We'll see if Papelbon can mix in some other pitches tonight...so guys aren't sitting dead Red. Quickly to 1-2 on Napoli. Didn't get the pitch high enough for Tek, but Napoli swings through it. One Away.
- Kendry Morales comes in to pinch hit for Matthews, obviously Matthews must have terrible numbers against Papelbon.
- You get the feeling with Papeldouche that he needs the big stage at this point to really have his best stuff. Like random games in August don't give him the thrill anymore. Or maybe Morales is just a fastball hitter like Trot Nixon, base knock to right.
- Rally Monkey is on the board...so annoying, but unfortunately somewhat effective. 0-1 to Aybar.
- Pap uses the splitter and its a good one...1-2, with Morales taking 2nd with Defensive Indifference.
- Swung through a pitch in the dirt...two away.
- The time off between games is so huge for the Sox, knowing they can use Papelbon for two on Friday if they need him, even if he throws a ton of pitches tonight...and he gets Figgins to 0-2.
- Pap gets him on a strikeout and the Sox grab Lady Mo by the hair and take her back to their hotel
- Huge win...