Lowrie sends Angels packing, Boston back to ALCS

Baseball Betting Lines

10/07/2008 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston introduced a new late-game hero, as Jed Lowrie's seeing-eye single to right scored Jason Bay with the winning run in the ninth frame, as the Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Game 4 at Fenway Park.

Bay, the man who replaced much-maligned yet still terrorizing hitter Manny Ramirez in a three-team trade prior to the trade deadline, scored the winning run as part of a solid series.

He hit a bloop tight to the right-field line that bounced just to the side of Reggie Willits, who was put into the game as a pinch-runner in the top of the frame. The ball caromed into the seats for a ground-rule double. Mark Kotsay followed with a line-drive shot that appeared destined for right field, but first baseman Mark Teixeira lunged to his left and made an acrobatic catch.

Lowrie followed with the dribbler that rolled into right field just past the diving Howie Kendrick.

"It's a funny game. It's all a matter of keeping a steady approach," Lowrie said of his mind set prior to the last at-bat.

Manny Delcarmen (1-0) retired two batters to pick up the victory, and Scot Shields (0-1) gave up the winning run in the ninth to suffer the loss.

The Red Sox will now meet AL East rival Tampa Bay in the American League Championship Series starting Friday in St. Petersburg.

Torii Hunter drove in the lone two runs for the Angels, while Bay and Lowrie each recorded a multi-hit game for the Red Sox, who won the best-of-five series, 3-1.

The defending-champion Red Sox are back in familiar territory -- the American League Championship Series -- behind a new cast of characters. Ramirez is in Hollywood, Mike Lowell's bad hip landed him off the roster for this game and the entire ALCS and David Ortiz continued a below average postseason.

That isn't the case for Bay and Lowrie, who are hitting .412 and .364 respectively through four postseason games. Another star is the young southpaw Jon Lester, who continued his dominating postseason. Lester didn't allow an earned run in 14 innings during this series after scattering four hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts on Monday.

Lester hasn't given up an earned run over his last 22 2/3 postseason frames.

John Lackey was nearly as good, yielding two runs on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout over seven frames. The Angels failed to reach the ALCS after becoming the first 100-game winner since the 2005 St. Louis Cardinals.

Both teams went quietly into the night in the first frame, and Lester bared down to punch out Kendrick with two runners on base to end the top of the second frame. Lester worked out of another first-and-second jam in the third, inducing a Vladimir Guerrero ground out.

The Angels again threatened in the fifth with runners on the corners and two outs before Teixeira was called out on strikes on a borderline low-and-outside pitch.

Finally, Boston's offense struck first in the home half of the fifth. Kotsay led off with a base hit and Jason Varitek's one-out single moved the outfielder to third. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a slow chopper to second, but Kendrick bobbled in quickly trying to pivot for a potential inning-ending double play. He recovered to nab Ellsbury by a step, but Kotsay crossed the plate.

Dustin Pedroia, mired in an 0-for-15 start in the series, followed by clubbing a hanging breaking ball off the Green Monster for an RBI double and a 2-0 edge.

The Angels squared the contest against the Boston bullpen in the top of the eighth. Teixeira walked with two outs, and Justin Masterson entered the game on the mound. Guerrero then walked and both runners moved up one base on a passed ball. Hunter lined a single to right, plating both runners to tie the game.

The visitors looked ready to take the lead in the top of the ninth. Pinch- hitter Kendry Morales doubled and Willits, pinch-running, moved to third on Kendrick's sacrifice bunt. With Erick Aybar at the plate, an attempted suicide squeeze was bunted through, and Varitek ran down Willits for the tag and the second out.

"I thought it was good play with the guy we had at the plate and the count we had," Angels manager Mike Scioscia rationalized.

Game Notes

Boston has won 12 of 13 postseason games versus the Angels...One game after recording three hits, Chone Figgins added a pair of singles in a 2-for-4 game. The Angels turned a pair of double plays...The Rays won 10 of 18 meetings with the Red Sox during the regular season.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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