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Wet clubhouse reaction

Jonathan Papelbon:

“We’re starting to feel the flow and it doesn’t matter who we go up against. We’ve got a lot of momentum in our dugout right now, and hopefully we can keep it.”

Papelbon on Schilling:

“He’s the one guy we want out there to pitch for us. He’s obviously a big-game pitcher. The big-daddy Curt came through; there’s no doubt about it.”

Manny Ramirez on back-to-back homers with David Ortiz:

“Me and David, we are the best one-two punch ever.”

Ramirez on actually celebrating with his teammates this time around:

“It’s great, man. That’s what this whole season is about. We’re moving on to the next step and we’ll see what happens.”

Terry Francona on winning:

Francona on winning:

“You do enjoy it; you’re supposed to. This means a lot and we don’t want to be done. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of what we’ve accomplished, and what we hope to accomplish. It’s fun to watch these guys feel this good about themselves.”

Francona on Schilling pitching well in big games:

“That’s why he’s here. That’s why Theo went and tried to get him four years ago. Even back when he was bleeding all over his sock, I never, for one minute, didn’t think he would find a way to win a game. That’s probably not fair, but that’s the way we feel. There’s a reason he’s been pitching so long and so well and has done what he’s done. It’s not always perfect, but you have to find a way to will yourself to be good and he can certainly do that.”

Manny Delcarmen on being a part of the Red Sox:

Delcarmen on being a part of this team:

“I didn’t expect to come up at the beginning of the year, but this is exciting. I’ve been throwing the ball well. I have to give it to Tito because he had the confidence to stick with me. I’m just really excited right now to be a part of this team.”

Coco Crisp on Ortiz, who called his shot.

“He told me he was going to hit a home run. Now he’s tricked me into thinking he’s the Bambino."

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 7:20 PM | Permalink

FINAL: Red Sox 9, Angels 1

By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer

ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Bring on . . . whomever!

The Boston Red Sox swept the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this afternoon and will face either the New York Yankees or the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS, beginning Friday at Fenway Park.

Red Sox ace Curt Schilling delivered exactly what he said he would – victory – as Boston triumphed in a 9-1 win at Angel Stadium. Red Sox sluggers Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz provided the offense with back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning.

With his blast, Ramirez ties former New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams for the most all-time postseason homers with 22. Ortiz followed with his shot, the ninth time the pair have hit back-to-back roundtrippers and the second in the postseason.

Schilling worked seven scoreless innings, allowing just six hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Red Sox rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia provided an RBI-double in the top of eighth, and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Youkilis for a 4-0 Boston lead. Mike Lowell contributed an RBI-double, scoring Ortiz for a 5-0 advantage.

The scoring didn’t stop there in the inning.

Jacoby Ellsbury, serving as a pinch-runner for Ramirez, who walked earlier in the inning, scored from third on a fielder’s choice by J.D. Drew. Jason Varitek provided an RBI-double before Coco Crisp contributed a two-run single for a 9-0 lead.

The Angels scored one run the bottom of the ninth inning off reliever Eric Gagne.

The Yankees and the Indians are playing Game Three of their series right now in the Bronx. Cleveland leads the best-of-five series, 2-0.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:42 PM | Permalink

Ramirez ties record

Press Enterprise photo / Silvia Flores
Manny Ramirez watches his fourth-inning home run fly out of Angel Stadium.

With his solo blast in the top of the fourth inning today, Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez ties former New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams for the most all-time postseason homers with 22.

Ramirez followed David Ortiz's solo home run and it's the ninth time the pair have hit back-to-back roundtrippers; second in the postseason.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 4:18 PM | Permalink

Rally Paddles a problem?

Prior to today's game the Angels handed out these rally paddles to all fans, but because of the sunny conditions at Angel Stadium, they're more like mirrors. It must be tough on hitters because of the glare they're giving off. And, it seems like the in-house music is prompting the fans to use them only when the Red Sox are at the plate.

It's like that scene from the Rodney Dangerfield movie "Back to School" where the character played by Robert Downey, Jr., shines a mirror into the eyes of a diver during a meet. Of course the diver is blinded and falls into the pool.

I'll have to ask some of the Red Sox players afterwards if it was a problem. . .

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 3:55 PM | Permalink

Angels' injury update

The Angels continue to struggle with manpower issues.
Left fielder Garret Anderson, their cleanup hitter, has been taken out of the game after two innings because of complications from conjunctivitis in right eye. Anderson has been battling that since the start of the series.
Manager Mike Scioscia said Friday that Anderson was improving, but after one at-bat, he's been lifted for Reggie Willits. -- SEAN McADAM

Posted by Sean McAdam  at 3:50 PM | Permalink

Today's Red Sox lineup

BOSTON
Dustin Pedroia, 4
Kevin Youkilis, 3
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, 7
Mike Lowell, 5
J.D. Drew, 9
Jason Varitek, 2
Coco Crisp, 8
Julio Lugo, 6
Curt Schilling SP

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 2:22 PM | Permalink

Angels pregame notes

Angels manager Mike Scioscia just completed his brief daily news conference.

**Vlad Guerrero, who was hit in the back of the left shoulder by Red Sox relief pitcher Manny Delcarmen in Game Two on Friday, will be playing right field today. Scioscia said Guerrero is "a little stiff" but he feels fine.

**Angels' Casey Kotchman is out of the lineup today with a non-baseball related medical condition, according to Scioscia.

**Scioscia wasn't about to give away any secrets regarding his club's approach against Curt Schilling today.

"Curt's a veteran pitcher," said the manager. "He's not throwing as hard as he did a couple of years ago, but he still has the ability to command the baseball as well as anybody in the game today."

"He can change speeds, he has a good split, we'll see a mix in the slider and breaking balls," added Scioscia. "That's how he was when he was throwing the ball 95 MPH and that's how he's throwing the ball now."

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 12:42 PM | Permalink

Today's Angels lineup

ANAHEIM
Chone Figgins, 8
Orlando Cabrera, 6
Vlad Guerrero, 9
Garret Anderson, 7
Kendry Morales, 3
Maicer Izturis, 5
Howie Kendrick, 4
Juan Rivera, DH
Mike Napoli, 2
Jered Weaver, SP

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 12:39 PM | Permalink

Quick thoughts from Anaheim

**Just arrived at Angel Stadium this morning and it's a very windy day. Right now the wind is blowing in, but other than that it's a beautiful day in Southern California.

**The Angels have had more names over the years, including California Angels, Anaheim Angels and their current name the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This is my first trip here and it's totally ridiculous for this club to have Los Angeles in its name.

**Anyway, Curt Schilling gets the ball today in hopes he can clinch the ALDS and help Boston advance to the ALCS, beginning Friday. The veteran right-hander will face the Angels' Jered Weaver.

Schilling always exudes confidence, almost too much sometimes, but during his news conference here yesterday he was quite sure he would be ready for today's start, his first postseason work since the '04 World Series.

"I've got to be perfect," he said. "That's one of the challenges of October that I love. This is about literally being perfect. We hold ourselves to that standard realistically a lot of times, but this is one of those times where I think it's realistic. I've got to be perfect.

"I know what I want to do," he added. "I know how I want to do it. I know when I want to do it. I know who I want to do it to. And, I'm going to do it."

**If Red Sox manager Terry Francona doesn't change things up, which is unlikely, here's today's possible lineup for Boston.

BOSTON
Dustin Pedroia, 4
Kevin Youkilis, 3
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, 7
Mike Lowell, 5
J.D. Drew, 9
Jason Varitek, 2
Coco Crisp, 8
Julio Lugo, 6
Curt Schilling SP

**Francona will hold his daily press conference at 1 p.m. eastern/10 a.m. pacific time and we'll post any udates.

**The Angels "In-game" service crew just had its pregame meeting just below the press box here and it was kind of interesting.

"The Angels are down two games and customer service is critical," an Angels staff member told the group. "No matter what happens, let's make this a positive experience."

I guess the Angels' bullpen is deeper than Francona thought.

*The local sheriff's department just scanned the press box with bomb-sniffing dogs. "You don't have any bombs on you," said the officer.

Glad that's taken care of.

Enjoy the game!

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 11:09 AM | Permalink