2008 Playoffs: Day 3

The American League took center stage on Day 3 of the Postseason, with all four N.L. clubs traveling to their Game 3 sites. The Junior Circuit picked up the slack with two back-and-forth contests.

Tampa Bay Rays 6 - Chicago White Sox 2

I'm going to take a moment to help Scott Kazmir, with a letter.


Dear White Sox,

Thank you for letting me off the hook. I am sorry to Mr. Cabrera who I had to hit for being a douchebag. In retrospect I should not have done that to the first batter of the day, but I did not expect to have the first runner get on affect me so severely. I had such a hard time finding the strike zone and my rhythm in the first inning that I thought for sure I would be handed an early exit as well as the title of Playoff Schmuck. However, your lack of timely hitting in that first inning allowed me to scrape by only allowing two earned runs. I mean, one solid hit and a sacrifice would have meant three runs, but you did not even do that, and I appreciate it.

I'm not sure if you guys noticed, but I did not have a good slider today, but thankfully your willingness to not pickup my change-up allowed me to battle back and find my rhythm. Alas, I never did find my slider, but I was able to handle your lineup with just my fastball and change-up; and it's all because of you. I appreciate everything you did for me over those 5.1 innings, and I'll never forget your kindness.

Furthermore, leaving 11 men on base over the course of the game was really quite kind of you. If you had been able to string hits together, we would have been in trouble. We, that is to say, the Rays, appreciate you giving us this game. We really did not deserve it, but your kindness would not allow you to take it, and we could never express our love and appreciation for what you did for us. This is our first playoff series ever and it really means a lot to us and our fans... well what few fans we have. Thank you once more and can't wait to see you again.

Love always,
Scott Kazmir
Tampa Bay Rays
Starting Pitcher

Win:Scott Kazmir (1-0 3.38)
Loss:Mark Buehrle (0-1 6.43)
Player of the Game: Chicago White Sox batters for never capitalizing on opportunities.


(How do I follow writing like that? - Dan)


Boston Red Sox 7 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5
Drew's Back from Drew's Back.

So...it was drawn up like this, right? The Red Sox took an early lead, and tried to make a statement. Angels starter Ervin Santana surrendered four early runs led by a towering centerfield shot by Jason Bay. Santana seemed erratic early, and was poised to let this thing slip away before you could scream "Rally Monkey."

That's why we play the entire game.

Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka was true to his 2008 form. Insanely high pitch count, excessive amount of runners on base, five innings pitched. Trust me when I say that Red Sox fans were not surprised in the least by his performance. Matsuzaka allowed a first-inning run, driven in by the red-hot trio of Mark Teixeira, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter. The way they've been swinging the bats over the last two games, you'd think they were Ruth, Gehrig and DiMaggio.

Though Boston tacked on an insurance run in the fourth to make it 5-1, the Angels kept chipping away. They scored three times over innings four through seven and cut the Red Sox lead to a single run. After Boston reliever Justin Masterson gave up a leadoff triple to Chone Figgins, manager Terry Francona opted to bring in his closer, Jonathan Papelbon.

Let me pause here for a moment to interject with some of my real-time rantings as the bottom of the eighth began:

"Wait, what? Masterson's still in the f***ing game? Where the f*** is Papelbon?"

(Figgins hits the triple to right-center.)

"WHAT THE F*** DID I JUST SAY!? Oh NOW you're bringing in Papelbon. Good f***ing job, Tito."

Back to the story at hand. Papelbon came in, surrendered a sacrifice fly to Teixeira, and the game was tied. Francisco Rodriguez -- the vaunted Angels' closer who came in during the top of the eighth, stayed in to pitch the ninth. I was not optimistic. David Ortiz -- whom we seem to have forgotten for these two games -- took Rodriguez's first pitch (a hanging breaking ball) to deep right-center for two bases and was replaced by pinch-runner Coco Crisp. A ground ball out from Kevin Youkilis later, and J.D. Drew stepped to the plate. On the fourth -- FOURTH -- change-up of the at-bat, Drew smacked what seemed to be a lazy fly to center field. It carried over the wall, and Boston suddenly had a two-run lead. In my exhaustion-induced haze, I thought it was Game 6 of the 2007 A.L.C.S. all over again.

Papelbon shut the door in the ninth, and the Sox headed home with a 2-0 series lead. That's how abrupt and shocking it was. (I couldn't be happier, either.)

Win: Jonathan Papelbon (1-0)
Loss: Francisco Rodriguez (0-1)
Player of the Game: J.D. Drew. Duh.



ON TAP FOR TONIGHT: The National League takes center stage as the Phillies and Dodgers both try to wrap up their series. The American Leaguers are off until Sunday.