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October 12, 2007
By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox' approach to attacking Cleveland Indians' starter C.C. Sabathia was apparent from the very first batter of Friday night's Game One of the ALCS at Fenway Park.
Red Sox leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia bashed a line drive up the middle, a scalded liner that would have physically hurt the Indians left-hander if he hadn't been able to get his glove up in time, making the self-defense catch.
By the time Sabathia got out of the first, though, Boston had a run and had pulled even at 1-1.
And there was a pattern to the Sox' offense.
Kevin Youkilis -- single up the middle. David Ortiz -- single up the middle. Manny Ramirez -- RBI single up the middle. Even Mike Lowell hit the ball up the middle, even if his grounder to second was turned into an inning-ending double play.
But the Sox kept the pressure on Sabathia by either taking tough pitches, working walks, or going to the opposite field for hits. In the decisive four-run third-inning rally, for instance, Julio Lugo began the damage with an opposite-field ground-rule double to right and, after a couple of walks and a hit batsman, Lowell delivered a pair of runs with another opposite-field ground-rule double to right.
And when Bobby Kielty, batting right-handed, drove a pitch to right-center for a two-run single with one out in the fifth, Sabathia was hooked, trailing by 7-1.
''We were just trying to put together good at-bats,'' said Pedroia. ''Everyody was being real patient. We weren't trying to do too much. We were just trying to take what he was giving us. And if he didn't give you anything to hit, just take your base (on a walk). Our lineup from 1-9 had a good approach.''
Kielty, who was 9-for-29 (.310) against Sabathia in his career, with most of those at-bats coming when he was a member of the Minnesota Twins, was impressed with his teammates.
"It seemed like everyone was being really patient," said Kielty. "We made him throw a lot of pitches where he didn't want to. He likes to work the corners, but we were able to lay off some of those pitches and make him throw more pitches down the middle than he wanted.
"He's successful when he can get all three pitches over the plate, but we able to lay off some of those pitches and make him go back to his fastball. And when we got some, we got some hits off those fastballs," said Kielty.
The Sox continued to go the other way and up the middle, and they racked up bases on balls even after Sabathia had been driven from the game.
In the sixth, for instance, Pedroia and Youkilis opened the inning with opposite-field singles and then, after walks to David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez pushed home one run, Lowell's sacrifice fly to center cashed in another run, boosting Boston's advantage to 10-2.
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 11:31 PM | Permalink
