Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out five and allowed only three hits while driving in two runs on Saturday to spark Boston past Colorado 10-5, putting the Red Sox on the brink of a World Series title sweep.
Three years to the day after ending an 86-year title drought by completing a Series sweep of St Louis, the Red Sox reached the verge of another sweep in Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final.
"It's a great situation to be in," Boston leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury said. "We're very confident but we know Colorado is a great ball club. There's no quit in them. We know it's going to be a tough one to get the last one."
Matsuzaka, a 27-year-old right-hander, became the first Japanese pitcher to start a World Series game and also smacked the first hit of his US career as part of a six-run third inning to earn the victory.
It was the first Series hit by a pitcher since 2004 and by a Red Sox pitcher since 1975.
"We'll take RBIs from anybody," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He said he was a good hitter. He competes and putting the bat on the ball gave us a chance."
All 22 prior teams with a 3-0 World Series lead went on to capture the championship, 19 of them by completing a sweep.
"It looks like we're in groundbreaking territory," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "We need to go out and win game four. You don't need to overreact. You don't need to underreact. We need to show up and win game four."
The Rockies rallied from 6-0 down to 6-5 but Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, the first pair of leadoff rookies in Series history, hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the eighth to give the Red Sox a 9-5 edge.
Boston's Jason Varitek hit a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the ninth to add an insurance run and Boston closing relief ace Jonathan Papelbon silenced Colorado in the final inning to secure the triumph.
The Red Sox pounded Rockies starter Josh Fogg for six runs on seven hits in the third inning to seize a 6-0 lead, allowed Colorado to close within a run, then tagged southpaw reliever Brian Fuentes for three more runs in the eighth.
Boston batters had managed only one hit off Colorado relief pitchers over 4 2/3 innings after the early outburst until Ellsbury and Pedroia provided a cushion.
Papelbon entered with two out in the eighth and runners on first and second to face Colorado's Matt Holliday.
Holliday smashed Papelbon's first offering to deep left field but fell short of another three-run homer when Manny Ramirez gloved it for an inning-ending out, ending the last serious threat.
Holliday had smashed the first pitch from Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima for the three-run homer in the seventh, but Okajima retired three of the next four batters to end the threat.
Boston's big third inning began when Ellsbury doubled down the left-field line, took third on Pedroia's single and scored the game's first run on a David Ortiz double to right field.
An intentional walk to Ramirez loaded the bases for Mike Lowell, who smacked a two-run single up the middle.
Varitek singled next but Holliday threw home and catcher Yorbit Torrealba tagged out a sliding Ramirez.
Julio Lugo walked to load bases for Matsuzaka, whose clutch single boosted Boston's lead to 5-0.
Ellsbury came to the plate again and doubled to left, becoming only the second player in World Series history with two doubles in the same inning, to score Lugo and give the Red Sox a 6-0 edge.
Fogg was mercifully removed for Rockies relief pitcher Franklin Morales, who ended the misery by inducing a ground out by Pedroia.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS