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Bay Helps Red Sox Forget Ramirez's Power in 4-1 Win

Posted on: Thursday, 2 October 2008, 06:15 CDT

By Jorge L. Ortiz

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A cheer could be heard behind the Boston Red Sox dugout about two hours before their Wednesday playoff game, when fans watched on the video board as former Boston slugger Manny Ramirez pounded a solo home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the sixth inning, his replacement did him one better.

Jumping on a high fastball from Los Angeles Angels starter John Lackey, Jason Bay pounded a two-run homer that supplied all the offense the Red Sox needed in a 4-1 victory in Game1 of their American League Division Series.

"He (Lackey) didn't make many mistakes. The one to Bay was one of the few mistakes he made," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

"Lackey had a very good curveball. He tried to get a fastball by Jason," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Fortunately for us, it didn't."

It was the 10th consecutive time the Red Sox beat the Angels in the postseason, the longest such active streak. But this one had a different feel from the previous two series, three-game sweeps in 2004 and 2007 (the other three wins came in 1986).

Ramirez had been a stalwart of those two recent teams, which steamrolled the Angels on the way to World Series championships. In the first one, which ended an 86-year title drought, he won World Series MVP honors.

Repeated clashes with management finally prompted the Red Sox to trade Ramirez on July31 in a three-way deal that netted them Bay, a two-time All-Star who languished with the perennially downtrodden Pittsburgh Pirates.

Except for his noticeable lack of bathroom breaks inside the Green Monster, Bay has filled Ramirez's shoes quite well. He hit .293 with nine home runs and 37 RBI in 49 games with Boston, helping the club post a 34-19 mark after the trade.

Still, much was new for Bay as Wednesday's game dawned.

He'd never played in the postseason, hadn't faced Lackey and hadn't even set foot on the Angel Stadium field.

The novelty might have shown, as Bay struck out swinging his first two times up.

"In the third at-bat, he threw me one that was kind of a get me over (fastball), and I feel like I got into a better rhythm than the first two at-bats," Bay said.

"It was a fastball up, and I hit it and it gave me a little bit of confidence."

By the sixth inning, the Angels led 1-0 on the strength of a Torii Hunter RBI single in the third and Lackey's mastery. The right-hander, winner of Game7 of the 2002 World Series as a rookie, was throwing a three-hitter but gave up a one-out walk to Kevin Youkilis.

One out later, Bay unloaded a no-doubt blast that turned the game around.

Five batters later, Lackey was gone, replaced by Darren Oliver after walking Dustin Pedroia in the seventh.

The Red Sox tacked on two insurance runs in the ninth. (c) Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

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