Foggy
| ALDS Game 3: October 5, 2008 ∙ 12 innings | |||
 Angels |
5 | W: Jered Weaver (1-0) | 1-2 |
| Red Sox | 4 | L: Javier Lopez (0-1) | 2-1 |
| Highlights: This game attained dual dubious distinctions: it was the longest game in ALDS history as well as the singular occasion where Craig Sager was garbed in a mostly tasteful manner (pinstriped navy jacket, lavender tie with a kimono-like design, light blue shirt with subtle stripes). Beckett wasn’t his dominant, efficient self; he left the game with 106 pitches over five innings, six strikeouts, four walks, and the score deadlocked 4-4. It seemed he was rushed back into service but soldiered on because his team is in the postseason. | |||
Was it an omen that the movie that was interrupted on TNT for Game 3 was Titanic?
That seemed to foreshadow doom for the Angels. They failed to catch Jacoby Ellsbury’s bloop hit to shallow center with the bases loaded and two out in the second inning, allowing three runs to score.
But Mike Napoli was the iceberg to the Red Sox’s listing ship. The Angels backstop smacked a two-run homer in the third to knot the game 3-3 and then granted his team the lead with a solo four-bagger in the fifth. He led off the twelfth and final inning with a single that bounded between second and third and came around to score thanks to Howie Kendrick’s bunt and Erick Aybar’s single, which dropped just a few paces out of Ellsbury’s range.
Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis paired up for soaring doubles in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game. Both their hits had Angels outfielders Garrett Anderson and Torii Hunter retreating to the wall, betraying their unfamiliarity with Fenway’s quirky dimensions.
David Ortiz led off the bottom frame of the last inning with a walk but was stranded in the looming fog. Youkilis flied out to center and Jason Bay froze on a fastball inside, which left the home team’s fate in Alex Cora’s bat.
Cora grounded out sharply to Chone Figgins, but even if the ball had gotten beyond the hot corner there was no pinch-running option off the bench. Manufacturing a run with both Ellsbury and Coco Crisp in the lineup proved impossible.
Mike Lowell may be held out of the lineup tonight (and potentially for the ALCS), further reducing Terry Francona’s offensive options. The Red Sox may prevail in this series, but their future success is foggy given Lowell, J.D. Drew, and Josh Beckett’s health issues.
