Projo Sox Blog

Some blasts from the past have the Boston Red Sox in Game Seven of the American League Championship Series.

Like Jason Varitek. And Hideki Okajima. And -- in an answer to Boston's prayers -- Josh Beckett.

Varitek cracked his first hit of the ALCS, a two-out home run in the top of the sixth inning, that broke a 2-2 tie and helped the Red Sox to a 4-2 win in Game Six of the ALCS tonight at Tropicana Field. But if it was one last gasp of faded glory for the 36-year-old Varitek, it was a recapturing of 2007 magic for Beckett and Okajima.

Beckett pitched his first good game of the postseason, allowing four hits and two runs over five innings. He appeared to be bothered by his strained oblique -- the injury perhaps exacerbated by a 15-minute delay in the top of the fourth when plate umpire Derryl Cousins was forced out of the game because of injury -- and gave way to Okajima at the top of the sixth. And Okajima was his shutdown '07 self, setting down the Rays in the sixth and seventh innings.

Justin Masteron and Jonathan Papelbon closed it out for the Sox.

Jason Bartlett -- who hit one home run in the regular season -- equaled that total when he homered with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, lifting the Rays into a 2-2 tie. The damage could have been worse but Dioner Navarro, who opened the inning with a single, was easily thrown out at second base on an attempted steal attempt with Bartlett at the plate.

But in the top of the sixth, Jason Varitek -- whose Boston career seemed to be coming to a silent end -- blasted his first hit of the series, a two-out home run to right field that put the Red Sox back on top, 3-2.

A subsequent single by Coco Crisp chased Tampa Bay starter James Shields (5 2/3 innings, 9 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts) in favor of left-handed reliever J.P. Howell. A throwing error by Bartlett on a Dustin Pedroia grounder put runners on first and third with two out. David Ortiz ripped an RBI single to right to score Crisp and make it 4-2.

Howell ended the inning by striking out Kevin Youkilis. But Youkilis had been instrumental in getting the Sox started with his earlier at-bats.

After B.J. Upton had homered with one out in the bottom of the first to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead, Youkilis answered with a home run leading off the top of the second, tying the score at 1-1.

Then, after a walk to Pedroia and a double by Ortiz put Boston runners at second and third with one out in the top of the third inning, Youkilis gave the Sox a 2-1 lead with a grounder to shortstop that enabled Pedroia to score from third.

The Sox had many chanced to break this one open.

After Youkilis' homer, the Sox seemed poised for a big inning in the second. The next batter, J.D. Drew, hit a long drive to right that curved foul just before it landed in the seats. Drew then singled to right.

Jason Bay followed with a hard shot down the third-base line that was backhanded on a fine play by Evan Longoria, who was able to force Drew at second. Mark Kotsay then singled to right, moving Bay to second.

But Shields was able to regroup and retire Jed Lowrie and Jason Varitek on fly balls.

In the third, Shields walked Drew and Bay after Youkilis' RBI grounder, loading the bases, and then fell behind Mark Kotsay 3-and-0. But after taking strike one, Kotsay ended the inning by flying out to center field.

That gave the Sox five runners stranded in three innings. And that doesn't count the first inning, when Crisp beat off a bunt single leading off the game but was quickly picked off by Shields.

Boston also wasted two-out hits from Crisp (fourth-inning single) and Drew (fifth-inning double) in its next two at-bats, giving the Sox seven LOBs through five innings. Varitek flied out with runners at second and third in the seventh, which, when added to the two Youkilis stranded in the sixth, lifted the total to 11 left on base through seven.

Beckett opened the bottom of the first by striking out Akinori Iwamura before Upton's homer. Beckett walked Carlos Pena after the homer, but got Longoria to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Beckett retired the Rays in order in the second. In the third, he hit Bartlett with an 0-and-2 pitch with one out, but retired Iwamura and Upton to end the inning. He also allowed a two-out single to Carl Crawford, with no further damage, in the fourth.

You can follow the game pitch-by-pitch here.

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