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INDIANS 13, RED SOX 6: Bill Reynolds -- Cleveland feasts on seconds at Fenway »
October 14, 2007
By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- The bullpen mainstays had been used up, so Boston manager Terry Francona turned to Eric Gagne and Javier Lopez to keep Saturday night's game tied in the 11th inning.
Francona and the Sox wanted another crack at the Indians' bullpen with the game tied in the bottom of the inning, hoping to take Game Two of the ALCS and open up a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
But Gagne and Lopez were roughed up, as was Jon Lester, who was called into the ugly 11th after the horse had already left the barn. By the time Lester nailed down the final out of the inning, Cleveland had poured seven runs across the plate for a 13-6 11-inning victory at Fenway Park that knotted the series at one game apiece, with the action shifting to Cleveland for the next three games.
And the 11th had begun so well for the Sox, who had gotten 3 2/3 innings of sparkling, shutout relief from Hideki Okajima (1 2/3 innings, 1 hit), Mike Timlin (1 spotless inning) and Jonathan Papelbon (2 innings, 1 hit) in keeping it a 6-6 game.
Gagne, the struggling right-hander, fanned the first batter he faced, Casey Blake. But then the inning unraveled. Gagne faced two more hitters, serving up a single to right to Grady Sizemore and a walk to Asdrubal Cabrera.
Francona yanked him, calling on Lopez as boos from the chilled fans rained down on Gagne.
Lopez was called on to get out Trot Nixon. But the former Red Sox hero dunked a pinch-hit single into right-center, snapping the tie and putting Cleveland on top, 7-6. And it got worse. A wild pitch gave the Indians another run, and Ryan Garko threaded a bouncing single over the mound and into center for another run. Lester took over and was tagged for an RBI double by Jhonny Peralta and a towering three-run homer to Franklin Gutierrez.
It happened so fast, the Red Sox were shell-shocked. Gagne didn't stick around the clubhouse to talk about his contributions to the bullpen meltdown, but Lopez patiently met the large media contingent that was seeking analysis.
"It was a very disappointing because we battled all night long," said Lopez. "The lead was going back and forth. We had momentum that Papelbon gave us. It's just unfortunate the way it ended."
The disappointment started with Lopez's 1-and-0 pitch to Nixon, in the lefty-on-lefty matchup.
"It was a cutter away and he hit it off the end of his bat," said Lopez. "He found a hole. The guy knows Fenway better than anybody. It was not that bad a pitch."
And as far as Francona was concerned, even though lefties were hitting .293 against the side-arming Lopez this season, he like the matchup.
"Under the circumstances, for how many pitchers we had gone through, we were actually happy to have a left-on-left in that situation. It didn't work very well," said Francona.
And it got worse. Lopez admitted his culpability in the wild pitch, a fastball he yanked behind the ankles of Victor Martinez, a switch hitter batting right-handed. The ball bounced off the glove of catcher Jason Varitek and rolled to the backstop, making it an 8-6 game.
"At that point I was still trying to limit the damage to one run. I was trying to get a double play there. I didn't want to leave that pitch to Martinez over the plate, but I missed way inside. That was my fault, total pitcher error," he said.
Still, he was hopeful of getting the double-play grounder from Garko. And he did get Garko to hit the ball on a high hop over the mound.
"I thought I had a chance to make the play, so I started for it with my glove, but then I pulled my glove back because I thought maybe (shortstop) Julio (Lugo) or (second baseman Alex) Cora was there to make the play behind me," said Lopez.
To his dismay, when Lopez looked back, the bouncer made its way perfectly between Lugo and Cora and suddenly it was a 9-6 game.
"Sometimes you have to make decisions on balls like that because you don't want them to tick off your glove (if there's an infielder behind the pitcher, waiting for the ball). I probably should have made the play," said Lopez.
The inning dissolved from there, and ultimately the Red Sox came out on the short end of the five-hour, 14-minute marathon.
The memory of Saturday night's (and Sunday morning's) game would be tough to digest for the Sox, but the series is not over.
"We're 1-1 in the series, so all is not lost," said Lopez. "The sun will rise tomorrow."
Posted by Steven Krasner 
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