[y66]

Impressive stuff by Wacha and Lackey tonight through 6 innings in game 2. Wacha shut down the Red Sox for 5 and 1/3 innings before David Ortiz smacked an off speed 3-2 count pitch over the Green Monster with Pedroia on first. Hope we get to see them both pitch one more time this year.

[billw55]

One out to go !!

... and Rosey strikes out the side. Dude has some serious heat.

[mike777]

Midwest values winout...cleary that is the difference

[y66]

From Tim Rohan's story in yesterday's paper:

Quote

On Thursday night, Carlos Martinez, 22, took over for Michael Wacha in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Red Sox had just lost the lead, and the whole park seemed anxious. Most of the crowd was eager to see him fail.

Martinez threw four fastballs to the first batter, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, touching 98 miles per hour and striking him out, swinging, on a sinking fastball. He then got Stephen Drew and Xander Bogaerts to ground out. Of his 10 pitches that inning, 9 were fastballs.

The eighth inning would not be as easy. Jacoby Ellsbury led off and reached base safely on an error by second baseman Matt Carpenter. Martinez responded by striking out Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia. But that brought up David Ortiz, who had homered in the sixth; this time, he represented the tying run.

It was the kind of moment that Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals’ ace, faced as the team’s rookie closer in the 2006 World Series.

“It’s invaluable experience, getting in big games, pressure moments,” Wainwright said of Martinez’s appearance, adding, “So when he starts, there won’t be anything he’s scared of.”

With Ortiz up, Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny had a decision to make: he could match a left-handed reliever against the left-handed Ortiz or stick with Martinez. It was not an easy call, Matheny later said. But he liked the way Martinez was going.

Martinez reached back for another two-seam fastball. Ortiz did not hit a home run, but he singled, bringing up Mike Napoli as the go-ahead run. Martinez seemed calm, controlled. It helped having Yadier Molina, perhaps the best catcher in baseball, as a guide. Molina often tells Martinez, Trust your stuff, and follow me, one pitch at a time.

Martinez fired three four-seam fastballs and got Napoli to pop out. As he came off the field, his teammates high-fived him, and Lilliquist wrapped him in a bear hug.

“This kid’s amazing,” Molina said. “He doesn’t get scared.”

[y66]

From Tim Rohan's account of game 4:

Quote

Before the sixth inning, with the score tied at 1-1, Ortiz gave a speech to his teammates in the dugout, reminding them how rare this opportunity was, urging them to play free and loose.

“It was like 24 kindergartners looking up at their teacher,” Jonny Gomes said.

That inning, they rallied. Dustin Pedroia hit a two-out single, and Ortiz drew a four-pitch walk, which chased Lynn from the game. On came Seth Maness, the reliever, and in stepped Gomes, who was a late addition to the lineup. Only after Shane Victorino had been scratched with tightness in his lower back was he inserted.

On a count of 2-2, Gomes muscled a sinker well over the wall in left field. He rounded first base, his right arm raised high. Then he pounded the “Boston” across his chest and let out a tribal, cathartic scream, as if he wanted all of St. Louis to hear him.

[jjbrr]

What a strange but exciting series

[jjbrr]

Papi