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October 21, 2007
BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- Somehow, deep down, Cleveland manager Eric Wedge had an idea that the Indians' ALCS best-of-seven series with the Boston Red Sox would come down to a deciding seventh game.
And it has. The Red Sox have climbed out of a 3-1 hole and bounced back for two consecutive wins, including a 12-2 romp Saturday night in Game Six that sends the teams into a Game Seven Sunday night at Fenway Park.
''It's going to come down to Game Seven against the two teams that won more baseball games (each team went 96-66) than anybody in the regular season, two teams that have beaten up on each other a little bit over the course of the past week and that's the way it should be. It's something everybody should look forward to,'' said Wedge.
From the Indians' standpoint, looking ahead certainly beats looking back at what forced Cleveland into a winner-take-all game, with a berth in the World Series at stake. The Indians failed to put away the Red Sox despite having Cy Young candidates C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona start in Games Five and Six, respectively.
Carmona failed miserably Saturday night, torched for seven earned runs in only two-plus innings. He almost worked out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the first, but coughed up a grand slam to J.D. Drew. Then in the third, he and reliever Rafael Perez combined to give up six runs, and the Red Sox' rout was on.
''(Carmona) didn't do a very good job of working ahead in the count. He had good stuff and almost worked through that (first) inning and J.D. got him,'' said Wedge. ''And then things sort of dominoed from there.''
The dominos began falling in the first inning when, from the Indians' point of view, Carmona was getting squeezed by plate umpire Dana DeMuth.
''Obviously we had some issues early on, but the umpires have a tough job,'' said Wedge when asked about DeMuth's strike zone.
''And particularly against a team like Boston or New York, teams that are very patient, you've got to make sure that when you're in command of the baseball and you're putting it on the plate that you're getting those calls. We felt like it (the strike zone) was a little tight. (Catcher) Victor (Martinez) was a little bit upset and I was a little bit upset, but that's part of it. We weren't exactly pounding the strike zone, either,'' said Wedge.
While the bottom of the first was troubling for Cleveland, the Indians also came close to taking a 1-0 lead on Curt Schilling's third pitch of the game in the top of the first. Grady Sizemore lofted that pitch high and deep to right. The Indians thought it sailed over the foul pole in fair territory, but the umpires called it a foul ball.
Had that ball been ruled fair, would the game have turned out differently?
''Hard to say,'' said Wedge. ''Obviously it would have given us a big boost right off the bat, but we still have to pitch. We still have to play defense (the Indians were charged with two errors). That's still the bottom line and we weren't able to do that. It just wasn't in the cards tonight.''
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 12:41 AM | Permalink
