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October 12, 2007
By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- The numbers screamed out to Terry Francona.
In his career, Bobby Kielty was a .310 (9-for-29) hitter with four doubles, two homers and seven RBI against left-hander C.C. Sabathia, the Indians' choice to start Game One of the ALCS Friday night at Fenway Park.
Even though most of that damage had been done a while ago -- Kielty was only 2-for-his-last-14 against Sabathia -- Francona decided to start Kielty instead of $70 million right fielder J.D. Drew, who was 0-for-3 (3 strikeouts) in his career against Sabathia.
The move paid off. Kielty went 1-for-2 with a walk. His hit was a two-run single that knocked out Sabathia in the fifth and expanded Boston's lead to 7-1 en route to a 10-3 victory.
"I was as excited as I could be for a game. I was really nervous. I had never had the opportunity to start a playoff game," said Kielty, who was told on Tuesday that he would be starting in Game One.
Kielty's night didn't get off to a great start. A strike call that Kielty didn't agree with put him in an 0-and-2 hole in the second, and then he chased a pitch in the dirt for a strikeout. He was walked intentionally in the third, but Kielty, who joined the Boston organization on Aug. 6 after being designated for assignment by Oakland, had his biggest hit for the Red Sox in the fifth.
"When the count went to 2-and-0, I pretty much could tell he had to throw a fastball at that point," said Kielty. "So I sold out on the fastball. That's what I was looking for."
He got the fastball and knew what to do with it.
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 11:47 PM | Permalink
