Red Sox News

Sean Casey who?
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"Through the first three games of the Division Series, Sean Casey was the Red Sox’ forgotten man. With two one-run decisions and Sunday’s 12-inning marathon loss to the Los Angeles Angels, Terry Francona used every position player on his postseason roster at least once, except Casey. The veteran first baseman, who signed with the Sox as a free agent last February, had yet to see action. When Francona rested third baseman Mike Lowell in Game 2 and shifted Kevin Youkilis across the infield to play third, he opted for Mark Kotsay as his first baseman, citing Kotsay’s history of success against pitcher Ervin Santana. Kotsay responded with a two-hit night in the 7-5 victory. In Game 3 Sunday ..."
Red Sox Party doesn’t stop
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"House Party II. The Red Sox brought the love back to Fenway Park last night after dispatching the Los Angeles Angels, 3-2, in Game 4 of the American League Division Series to the delight 38,785 raucous celebrants. The scene inside the Red Sox clubhouse and on the field was reminiscent of the original House Party on Sept. 23 when Boston clinched a playoff berth. The Red Sox celebration began seconds after rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie’s two-out single in bottom of the ninth scored Jason Bay to ice the series. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who broke an 0-for-15 slump with an RBI double in the fifth, was a logical target for his bottle-totting mates, and he gave as well as he got on that ..."
Hip forces Mike Lowell off roster
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"The Red Sox advanced past the Los Angeles Angels with last night’s 3-2 victory at Fenway Park in Game 4 of the Division Series, but injured All-Star third baseman Mike Lowell will not be on the roster when the club takes on the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS. Lowell was replaced on the roster before Game 4 by infielder Gil Velazquez. “When I can’t go out there at even 50 percent,” Lowell said, “it’s better for me to ask, ‘How much good can I do out there for us?’ ” The lack of mobility and effectiveness in the field and at the plate for Lowell, who was trying to play through a partially torn right labrum in his hip, was on obvious display in Sunday night’s Game 3. Lowell’s availability has ..."
Justin Masterson pulls fast one on Vlad
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"There’s reaching back for a little extra and then there’s what Justin Masterson pulled out of his back pocket Sunday night against Vladimir Guerrero. Pitching in the eighth inning of Game 3 of the Division Series with the go-ahead run on base, Masterson blew away the Angels slugger with a 96-mph, four-seam fastball that looked like something closer Jonathan Papelbon would throw. “It was cool,” Masterson said yesterday with a laugh. “I’ll say a gift from God came down on my arm.” The pitch to Guerrero was stunning for a number of reasons. For one, Masterson spent most of the season topping out at 92 or 93 mph. For another, it was a four-seamer and not the trademark two-seamer he throws with ..."
Small ball, big mistake: Angels feel the squeeze
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"For all the talk of the Angels pressuring a defense, the Red Sox had other thoughts before the playoffs began: The Halos will run into crucial outs. Last night, the belief in their opponent’s recklessness was confirmed when Los Angeles demonstrated why one squeeze has the word suicide in front of it. Erick Aybar’s failure to lay down a one-out bunt with Reggie Willits sprinting from third in the ninth inning erased what seemed like the inevitable go-ahead run and completely swung momentum in the Red Sox’ AL Division Series-clinching 3-2 victory. “Small ball,” one Sox official said. “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” The Angels tied the game at 2 in the eighth. That put the Red Sox on ..."
Tito’s call on Jon Lester
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"Terry Francona saw how Jon Lester came off the mound at the end of the seventh inning after having thrown his 109th pitch, and the manager determined his left-hander should not go back out to start the eighth. “When the inning was over, in my mind, he was going back out at least for two or three hitters until we could get to the right-handers,” Francona said after the Red Sox clinched the Division Series with a 3-2 victory at Fenway Park against the Los Angeles Angels, a game in which Lester tossed seven scoreless innings. “But if you watch his reaction after the last out, in his mind, that was his last hitter. “He was very willing to go back out, but I think you can make a mistake on a ..."
Winning’s nothing new
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"The wins come now like they are rolling off an assembly line, one October victory after another, so common that it seems impossible to recall a time when they were rare or, for a painful stretch, altogether non-existent. Now they’re so frequent that they require a steady supply of new heroes, freshly minted from baseball’s Central Casting. But last night’s 3-2 Division Series dismissal of the Los Angeles Angels that propelled the Red Sox into the ALCS was something else entirely. Examine the final innings of the Game 4 clincher and it looks like some sort of newcomer initiation ceremony. There was Jason Bay, who toiled in Pittsburgh just over two months ago, crossing the plate with the ..."
Red Sox built to make title run
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October 7
Boston Herald
 columnist Steve Buckley
"It could be argued, has been argued, that the Red Sox used to dread October. It was as though the entire month were circled on the calendar, not as a goal but as a black hole destined to swallow up the entire team and lump every man in uniform into an ever-expanding scrapbook filled with sad stories. No more. To the 21st-century Red Sox, October is an expectation. They are literally trained, conditioned, with October in mind. This is precisely why manager Terry Francona was throwing a makeshift lineup at the Yankees the last weekend of the regular season rather than firing up all the burners and making a crazed charge at first place in the AL East. Francona quietly and methodically ..."
Bring on the Rays
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October 7
Boston Herald
 
"The Red Sox wanted to drink beer and champagne last night, not make a quiet and som