Sox put a chill on Indians in opener

Beckett cruises to win as bats erupt early

October 13, 2007|Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff

They have assumed their place as America's Team, favorites to win the World Series, and the only legitimate television draw still active in baseball's Octoberfest.

Gone is the agita that walked hand in hand with the Red Sox in their 86-year quest to win a World Series. There's a sense of inevitability about their 2007 playoff march, demonstrated again last night in a methodical 10-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the first game of the American League Championship Series. Josh Beckett picked up the win with six innings of four-hit pitching and the Sox chased 19-game winner C.C. Sabathia (eight earned runs) in the fifth.

Like their brawny brothers in Foxborough, these Red Sox have a way of sucking the drama out of games before many fans settle into their seats. The Sox have won four consecutive playoff games by an aggregate count of 29-7.

Sox sluggers Manny Ramírez and David Ortiz look like high school seniors playing in the Little League World Series. The Dominican duo hit .533 with four homers and seven RBIs while reaching base 19 times in three games against the Angels in the AL Division Series. Last night they reached base 10 times in 10 plate appearances.

Ruth and Gehrig? Mays and McCovey? It's doubtful any duo ever reached base with more regularity (29 times in 36 combined postseason plate appearances). Ortiz and Ramírez are playing in a higher league.

"I've never seen anything like it," said third baseman Mike Lowell. "They're just both putting together tremendous at-bats. For them to get on base like they did today is a little bit ridiculous."

Going back to his last four games of the regular season, Ortiz over an eight-game stretch has reached base 29 times in 35 plate appearances. That means he has made only six outs in eight games. Ramírez in the playoffs has reached base 13 times in 18 trips to the plate.

"We are aware of it," Ortiz said when asked about the astronomical numbers. "We're seeing the ball good and we've got to keep it that way, especially in the playoffs."

Meanwhile, Beckett, emerging as a modern-day Bob Gibson, smothered the Tribe, striking out seven, walking none, and allowing two earned runs in a rocking-chair start. He allowed only one base runner in the first four innings.

"They got a lineup full of guys that can hit," allowed Beckett. "I'm just out there trying to execute pitches."

"He gave us just what we needed," said manager Terry Francona. "When you're facing a guy like C.C., you better have someone you believe in, and we do."

The Sox' lineup battered Sabathia, scoring five times in the first three innings as 36,986 shivered on the first cool night of autumn. It was 8-1 after Sabathia was driven from the mound in the fifth.