CLEVELAND – Back to Boston they go. Just the Red Sox being the Red Sox.
Josh Beckett, blocking out everything but Jason Varitek’s target, dominated the Cleveland Indians for the second time and Manny Ramirez drove in the go-ahead run with a 390-foot single as the Red Sox stayed alive in the AL championship series with a 7-1 win last night in Game 5.
Kevin Youkilis set the tone with a first-inning homer off C.C. Sabathia. The Red Sox, trailing 3-2, sent the best-of-seven series back to Fenway Park to continue a season that was on the brink of being canned for the cold New England winter.
The Red Sox – and Beckett – have done this before. And clearly, Ramirez ‘ Co. cared.
In 2004, Boston rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees and went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in four straight for its first World Series title since 1918.
The Red Sox forced a Game 6 on Saturday night, and will start one of October’s brightest stars, Curt Schilling, who has 9-3 record in 17 career postseason starts, against Fausto Carmona.
Beckett, the calm, cool and cocky 20-game winner, ignored a shrilling crowd, some chirping from Indians outfielder Kenny Lofton and even the appearance of an old girlfriend to deny Cleveland fans a chance to see their first pennant-clinching win at home.
In the late innings, drummer John Adams, whose tom-tom beat has pulsated through a special season at Jacobs Field, slumped against his instrument as the Red Sox tacked on runs. Meanwhile, in the Boston bullpen, two relievers used water bottles to playfully bang on backup catcher Doug Mirabelli’s shinguards.
The 27-year-old Beckett, who beat Cleveland in the opener, once again came through with the stakes at their highest.
The right-hander allowed only a run in the first, and five total hits in eight innings. He struck out 11, walked one and was around the plate with almost every one of his 109 pitches.
Beckett, who with each start carves his name deeper among the postseason pitching elite, is no stranger to comebacks.
In 2003, he pitched a two-hitter for Florida in Game 5 of the NLCS as the Marlins rallied from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate the Chicago Cubs. Then, pitching on just three days’ rest in Game 6 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, he allowed only five hits in a 2-0 win and was picked as MVP.
