Manny Delcarmen came in and promptly gave up a three-run homer to Peralta and it was 6-0. The Indians added another run on Kenny Lofton's single and steal and then an RBI hit by Blake.
The Red Sox got rid of Cleveland starter Paul Byrd in their half of the sixth on back-to-back home runs by Youkilis and David Ortiz. Manny Ramirez greeted reliever Jensen Lewis with a rocket of a homer to right-center, which he admired, with that Pavarotti pose he's been striking this year, as though the Red Sox were leading by four, not trailing.
That's Manny being Manny, of course, and this column is a big fan of Manny's whether he's being Manny or being Ethel Merman, as it's reported he likes to be at parties. But even when Manny's being -- well, you know -- doesn't Manny look at the scoreboard? Maybe he thought those balls hadn't clanked off of his teammates' gloves in the previous inning and his homer had put the Sox up 3-2.
Lewis settled down from there and the Sox never again threatened against him or Rafael Betancourt. The Indians are one win away from a flyover World Series that will have Fox TV executives diving for the Maalox. Cleveland vs. Colorado, in a postseason that had started out with the possibility of a Red Sox-Chicago Cubs Series and the 20th century ratings such a matchup promised.
Wakefield became the third consecutive Red Sox starter to get KO'd after precisely four and two-thirds innings. Wakefield, Curt Schilling and Daisuke Matsuzaka have combined to give up 14 runs and 20 hits in their 13 and a third innings, which isn't exactly getting the Sox off to a good start.
That said, only three of the 14 runs that have scored in those two decisive seven-run frames came against a starter. The Red Sox bullpen has a gasoline-fueled ERA of 6.19 in this series. Starting pitching has to be pretty damn good to create a hedge against that.
The Red Sox will send the one starting pitcher who's been pretty damn good in this series in Game 5, Josh Beckett, who has been bothered by a stiff back, Fox's Ken Rosenthal reports. In Game 1 Beckett threw six strong innings, the bullpen backed him up with three more and the bats unloaded for 10 runs against Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia and reliever Lewis.
That's a formula for a pennant, and the Red Sox haven't sniffed it since. Those three elements have yet to come together again in the same game. The Sox did score six in Game 2 against vice-ace Fausto Carmona, but they gave up that seven-run 11th for that most depressing of outcomes, a lopsided extra-inning defeat, and they've only managed five runs in the two games since against the back of Cleveland's rotation.
The Red Sox have come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series in living memory -- you may have heard about this -- and history says it's a lot easier to come back from 3-1 than from 3-0. History also says it's a lot better to be the team with three wins. You can't get this kind of analysis just anywhere.
The good news for the Sox is that Beckett, who's building a résumé as one of the greatest October pitchers of all time, gives them a good shot at getting the series back to Fenway Park, where they played .630 ball this year.
By Game 6, if there is such a thing, Wakefield, who won't be needed to start again, should be available as a reliever. That would both obviate the need for manager Terry Francona to reach for the reeling Eric Gagne and allow him to have a quicker hook on Schilling, who had been pitching well before Game 2, and the laboring, exhausted Matsuzaka, who is leaking oil and making disturbing grinding noises when he moves.
Far better for Boston's fortunes would be Ramirez and David Ortiz leading the way to three straight 10-run games, with many home runs admired, arms outstretched.
The Indians would be happy to watch Manny admire all the homers he wants as long as he does it the way he did it Tuesday -- from four runs behind.
Previous column: Rockies win the pennant
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About the writer
King Kaufman is a senior writer for Salon. Visit his column archive. You can e-mail him at king at salon dot com or visit his Facebook page.
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