Bay, Lester help Sox take Game 1
Jason Bay looked a little like the playoff novice in the initial few innings of Game 1 of the ALDS last night at a raucous and red-shirt filled Angel Stadium.
But the 30-year-old outfielder atoned for that initial bout of nerves when he calmly slugged the biggest blow of the night — a two-run blast deep over the left field fence that erased an Angels lead and paved the way for a tone-setting 4-1 Boston victory.
The win was the 10th playoff win in a row for the Sox over the seemingly powerless Angels, which matches the major league record set by the Oakland A’s during their run of dominance over the Olde Towne Team during the 80’s and 90’s.
The other offensive star for the Sox was rookie centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who made a huge diving catch in the eighth inning, notched three hits, stole two bases and knocked in a key ninth inning insurance run.
Pre-Bay bomb, the Sox were trailing heading into the sixth inning, and had managed only three hits against hard-throwing Halos right-hander John Lackey. But the intrepid Kevin Youkilis managed to work a one-out walk and Bay simply attacked an 0-1 heart-of-the-strike-zone fastball that Lackey surely wanted back as soon as it tumbled away from his right-handed grip.
Instead, Bay feasted on the fat fastball and the rest was left up to Boston’s starting savior for the entirety of this season.
Jon Lester took another giant step toward “Ace” and “Big Game” status with a clutch mound performance that saw him gain strength as the playoff game wore on. The normally-aggressive Angels have adopted a bit of a more patient approach since the notoriously walk-friendly Mark Teixeira joined the team (Anaheim’s on base percentage surged over 30 points once the MVP-caliber first baseman was inserted into the lineup), and Lester was hovering near the 60 pitch mark after only three innings.
The Angels managed to capitalize on some uncharacteristically sloppy Sox defense in the third after Garret Anderson lined a one-out opposite field single to left. Following a Teixeira check-swing strikeout on a nasty breaking curveball, Jed Lowrie botched a grounder destined to be a certain force out at second. Torii Hunter followed with a sharp single to left field that looked like it fooled Bay a bat, and a hustling Anderson scored the game’s first run as the ball dropped right in front of the Sox left fielder.
After surrendering that initial run, however, Lester didn’t shrink from the challenge at hand and instead imposed his young will on the pivotal postseason match-up. The young lefty allowed only a pair of hits over the remainder of the game and got even nastier once the Sox hijacked the lead in the sixth frame.
Lester followed up Bay’s big hit by striking out Howie Kendrick, Mike Napoli and Gary Matthews Jr. in succession and didn’t allow another runner after the fifth inning. Lester’s night was finished after seven full innings and 110 pitches, and the final stat line was vintage 2008 Lester: seven innings pitched, six hits allowed, one unearned run allowed, one walk and seven strikeouts.
Justin Masterson came on to pitch the eighth and was aided by a Vlad Guerrero baserunning blunder that took the Angels right out of a potential big inning. With Guerrero on first and one out, Hunter fought off a Masterson sinker to shallow right field. The ball dropped just out of Youkilis’ diving attempt, but the Gold Glove first baseman alertly pocked up the ball and gunned Guerrero down by a country mile at third base as he tried to advance.
Handed a three-run lead, Jonathan Papelbon extended his career postseason scoreless streak to 15 2/3 innings with a scoreless ninth inning save.
The wins were many for the Sox last night. In addition to taking command of a series they were widely viewed as underdogs heading into, both Lester and Bay shined in their big moments in the high-pressure spotlight, and both Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew made it through the first playoff game with relative health intact.
