Red Sox Are Going For Twelve Straight Wins Over The Vaunted But Now Meek LA Angels

Yes, that's right, I said MEEK. They are not playing the same brand of baseball they did all season long, a season that they recorded 100 wins, the only team in all of baseball to do it. But that was then and THIS IS NOW, and the Boston Red Sox are running on all their cylinders. Blessed with enough impact players to make it easy for skipper Terry "Tito" Francona to juggle his lineup for the most effective cast of charactors (a perfect example would be the lineup in game 2 of the series), Boston is both deep and talented. They've outhit, outpitched, outscored and outplayed the Halos in every way possible, and tonight they go with their ace, Josh Beckett. The players are relatively rested, the bullpen is fresh and the Fenway Faithful are chomping at the bit to file into Fenway Park tonight and cheer on their heros. Here are the thoughts of team sparkplug Dustin Pedroia and the workhorse of the bullpen (so far), Jonathon Papelbon...

“It’s huge, said Dustin Pedroia. They have the best record in baseball. Yeah, we’re up two games, but . . . I don’t know if we’re the underdogs or what the story is, but we’ve got to come out and win. We don’t want them to have any life. They’re a great team over there. They’re going to play with a sense of urgency - their season could be over,” said Pedroia. “We just have to win one more game, play as hard as we can and try to find a way. The last two games, we’ve pitched well, played good defense and got some huge hits from guys. When we do that, we’re going to win.”

“I just know that our ballclub is the kind of a team where, if you give us an inch, we’re going to take a mile. That’s kind of the mindset we have in this clubhouse, said closer Jonathan Papelbon. I know that everybody in this clubhouse wants to keep applying the pressure. We want to keep that foot on the neck. This is just the time of year where you pay for your mistakes more than you do in the regular season,” said Papelbon, who recorded six outs in Game 2. “Those hitters have seen you all year long now. It’s a little bit different.”

Congratulations MUST go out to Joe Torre and his LA Dodgers, who completed their sweep of the still-jinxed (??) Chicago Cubbies. Tonight's game at Friendly Fenway will start at 7:17pm EDT with a pregame show starting at 7pm EDT on TBS and TBSHD. It'll be lefty Joe Saunders (17-7 3.41) versus Josh "Baseball" Beckett (12-10 4.03) in front of nearly 38,000 Red Sox fans. The upstart Tampa Bay Rays can also go for their very own series sweep. They face the White Sox in Chicago late this afternoon, shortly after 4pm EDT, also on your TBS cable or dish channel. I hope the Sox can wrap it up tonight and have a little time to rest the weary. And I fervently pray for a White Sox win, just one, maybe two. But my thoughts and energy and good karma will be focused on that team from Boston, the one I love. I hope your Sunday will be wonderful, enjoy baseball at a relatively "normal" time, and GO SOX!! You can click on this post's title for more on game three of the American League Division Series (clincher??), and as always, BE WELL.