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Lofton's homer, Westbrook's pitching adds up to Game 3 victory
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
POSTED: 10:53 p.m. EDT, Oct 15, 2007
All it took for Kenny Lofton to become a folk hero in Cleveland was a July trade that delivered him from the Texas Rangers to the Indians.
This is Lofton's third tour of duty with the Tribe, and it has a chance to be his most satisfying. From Day 1 of his return, he has stressed one thing: He wants a ring, and this might be the best place to go shopping for it.
Lofton slammed a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Tribe an early lead, and Jake Westbrook rebounded from his poor start in the American League Division Series, as the Indians earned a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night at Jacobs Field.
The win enabled the Tribe to take a 2-1 advantage in the AL Championship Series.
‘‘Kenny is a big-game player; he likes the stage,’’ Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ‘‘He has a lot of experience in the postseason. He knows what it takes to have the right heartbeat.’’
Lofton's home run traveled an estimated 384 feet, but it barely cleared the fence in right-center, landing near the edge of the shelf that fronts the bleachers. The drive triggered a deafening ovation from the crowd of 44,402 and forced Lofton to come out of the dugout to take a bow.
‘‘The fans get pretty excited when I come to the plate, and that's good thing for me,’’ Lofton said. ‘‘And when the fans are chanting, you want to do something. So tonight, I got lucky.’’
That might be what Lofton's teammates tell him. They've been kidding him about not hitting a home run since his arrival in Cleveland.
‘‘The guys have been ragging me about it; I had seven home runs when I came here,’’ Lofton said. ‘‘I told (Ryan) Garko that I keep missing them, but one of these days I'm going to square one up. It happened today.’’
Westbrook pitched a strong 6j innings, giving up two runs, seven hits and two walks. The only mistake that cost him came in the seventh, when he gave up a one-out single to J.D. Drew, and Jason Varitek followed with a home run.
There's something to be said for pitchers learning the hard way. If they didn't get themselves into jams, they might never ascertain how to extricate themselves from trouble.
Nevertheless, if you're a pitcher, the idea is to keep hitters from becoming base runners. Usually, the more hitters that reach base, the more Pepto Bismol the pitcher chugs after his early shower.
Westbrook didn't waste time putting runners on base, walking the second batter of the game, Kevin Youkilis. But David Ortiz promptly bounced into a double play, which started a pattern.
Red Sox batsmen took their base; Westbrook threw a double-play ball.
It happened in three of the first six innings. In the second, Manny Ramirez walked, Mike Lowell singled and Drew reached on Garko's error ` a muffed ground ball at first ` to load the bases. But Varitek flied to short left, and Coco Crisp grounded into a double play.
‘‘That was a pivotal point,’’ Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ‘‘Westbrook looked a little strong early; he got some pitches up and loaded the bases. Gelip He made a good pitch to Coco, and after that it looked like he got locked in.’’
Of the pitch to Crisp, Westbrook said, ‘‘I told myself to trust my sinker, and I was able to make a good pitch.’’
Westbrook played with fire again in the sixth, when Youkilis singled with one out and Ortiz walked to bring up Ramirez, who hadn't whacked a home run in four plate appearances. Obviously, he was due, but instead of going deep, he went dirt, bouncing into yet another double play.
In the fourth, Ortiz killed a rally by himself when he led off with a double but was struck by Ramirez's ground ball between second and third to retire himself. Where was Ortiz going? Had he not been hit by the ball and continued to third, he would have been thrown out easily. He should have taken the safe road and stayed at second.
‘‘Because they weren't holding him, he got a big lead,’’ Francona said. ‘‘When that ball was hit, he took a jab step and got out there in no-man's land.’’
A key element in the win was the ability to keep Ortiz and Ramirez from taking over the game. Ortiz doubled and walked; Ramirez beat out an infield hit and walked, but neither contributed to a rally.
In fact, since the first game of the series ` when both players reached base in all five of their plate appearances ` Tribe pitchers have kept them from ruining their outings. In the last two games, Ramirez and Ortiz are 2-for-7 with two walks. Ramirez homered in Game 2, but he has bounced into two double plays, and Ortiz had grounded into one.
Daisuke Matsuzaka lasted only 4j innings, but except for Lofton's two-run homer in the second inning, the Indians had to work hard for their runs.
The end for Matsuzaka came in the fifth, which began with a strikeout of Trot Nixon. But Casey Blake singled, Grady Sizemore walked and Asdrubal Cabrera singled Blake to the plate and sent Sizemore to third.
Travis Hafner followed with a ground ball up the middle. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia's momentum carried him to the shortstop side of second (not before he stepped on the bag for a force), but his throw to first was a millisecond late, and Hafner was credited with an RBI.
After Westbrook left, Jensen Lewis, Rafael Betancourt and Joe Borowski, who earned the save, worked 2i hitless and walkless innings.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
All it took for Kenny Lofton to become a folk hero in Cleveland was a July trade that delivered him from the Texas Rangers to the Indians.
This is Lofton's third tour of duty with the Tribe, and it has a chance to be his most satisfying. From Day 1 of his return, he has stressed one thing: He wants a ring, and this might be the best place to go shopping for it.
Lofton slammed a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Tribe an early lead, and Jake Westbrook rebounded from his poor start in the American League Division Series, as the Indians earned a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night at Jacobs Field.
The win enabled the Tribe to take a 2-1 advantage in the AL Championship Series.
‘‘Kenny is a big-game player; he likes the stage,’’ Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ‘‘He has a lot of experience in the postseason. He knows what it takes to have the right heartbeat.’’
Lofton's home run traveled an estimated 384 feet, but it barely cleared the fence in right-center, landing near the edge of the shelf that fronts the bleachers. The drive triggered a deafening ovation from the crowd of 44,402 and forced Lofton to come out of the dugout to take a bow.
‘‘The fans get pretty excited when I come to the plate, and that's good thing for me,’’ Lofton said. ‘‘And when the fans are chanting, you want to do something. So tonight, I got lucky.’’
That might be what Lofton's teammates tell him. They've been kidding him about not hitting a home run since his arrival in Cleveland.
‘‘The guys have been ragging me about it; I had seven home runs when I came here,’’ Lofton said. ‘‘I told (Ryan) Garko that I keep missing them, but one of these days I'm going to square one up. It happened today.’’
Westbrook pitched a strong 6j innings, giving up two runs, seven hits and two walks. The only mistake that cost him came in the seventh, when he gave up a one-out single to J.D. Drew, and Jason Varitek followed with a home run.
There's something to be said for pitchers learning the hard way. If they didn't get themselves into jams, they might never ascertain how to extricate themselves from trouble.
Nevertheless, if you're a pitcher, the idea is to keep hitters from becoming base runners. Usually, the more hitters that reach base, the more Pepto Bismol the pitcher chugs after his early shower.
Westbrook didn't waste time putting runners on base, walking the second batter of the game, Kevin Youkilis. But David Ortiz promptly bounced into a double play, which started a pattern.
Red Sox batsmen took their base; Westbrook threw a double-play ball.
It happened in three of the first six innings. In the second, Manny Ramirez walked, Mike Lowell singled and Drew reached on Garko's error ` a muffed ground ball at first ` to load the bases. But Varitek flied to short left, and Coco Crisp grounded into a double play.
‘‘That was a pivotal point,’’ Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ‘‘Westbrook looked a little strong early; he got some pitches up and loaded the bases. Gelip He made a good pitch to Coco, and after that it looked like he got locked in.’’
Of the pitch to Crisp, Westbrook said, ‘‘I told myself to trust my sinker, and I was able to make a good pitch.’’
Westbrook played with fire again in the sixth, when Youkilis singled with one out and Ortiz walked to bring up Ramirez, who hadn't whacked a home run in four plate appearances. Obviously, he was due, but instead of going deep, he went dirt, bouncing into yet another double play.
In the fourth, Ortiz killed a rally by himself when he led off with a double but was struck by Ramirez's ground ball between second and third to retire himself. Where was Ortiz going? Had he not been hit by the ball and continued to third, he would have been thrown out easily. He should have taken the safe road and stayed at second.
‘‘Because they weren't holding him, he got a big lead,’’ Francona said. ‘‘When that ball was hit, he took a jab step and got out there in no-man's land.’’
A key element in the win was the ability to keep Ortiz and Ramirez from taking over the game. Ortiz doubled and walked; Ramirez beat out an infield hit and walked, but neither contributed to a rally.
In fact, since the first game of the series ` when both players reached base in all five of their plate appearances ` Tribe pitchers have kept them from ruining their outings. In the last two games, Ramirez and Ortiz are 2-for-7 with two walks. Ramirez homered in Game 2, but he has bounced into two double plays, and Ortiz had grounded into one.
Daisuke Matsuzaka lasted only 4j innings, but except for Lofton's two-run homer in the second inning, the Indians had to work hard for their runs.
The end for Matsuzaka came in the fifth, which began with a strikeout of Trot Nixon. But Casey Blake singled, Grady Sizemore walked and Asdrubal Cabrera singled Blake to the plate and sent Sizemore to third.
Travis Hafner followed with a ground ball up the middle. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia's momentum carried him to the shortstop side of second (not before he stepped on the bag for a force), but his throw to first was a millisecond late, and Hafner was credited with an RBI.
After Westbrook left, Jensen Lewis, Rafael Betancourt and Joe Borowski, who earned the save, worked 2i hitless and walkless innings.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
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