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October 21, 2007
By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- After emerging as one of the elite relief pitchers in baseball over the last few months, Rafael Betancourt could not get the job done Sunday night. The Cleveland right-hander was rocked for seven runs on five hits in his 1.2 innings as the Indians' bullpen crumbled and Boston rolled to a 11-2 win.
Betancourt, a one-time Red Sox farmhand, entered the game with Boston clinging to a 3-2 lead. He struggled right out of the gate in the bottom of the seventh, however, as Dustin Pedroia smashed a two-run home run to push the Red Sox lead to 5-2. He fell apart further in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Sox pushed across runs to ice the game.
Betancourt came into Sunday's game with sterling postseason numbers. In six games this October, he had pitched 8 scoreless innings. He allowed just two runs and retired the first batter he faced seven out of seven times.
Posted by Kevin 
at 11:48 PM | Permalink
