ALCS 2: Rays 9, Red Sox 8 (11)

Red Sox - 201 031 010 00 - 8  12  0
Rays    - 202 130 000 01 - 9  12  0

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Josh Beckett (Red Sox 13-14 in his starts)
Scott Kazmir (Rays 18-9 in his starts)

Red Sox                  Rays
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF      Akinroi Iwamura, 2B
Dustin Pedroia, 2B       B.J. Upton, CF
David Ortiz, DH          Carlos Pena, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B       Evan Longoria, 3B
Jason Bay, LF            Carl Crawford, LF
Jed Lowrie, SS           Cliff Floyd, DH
Jason Varitek, C         Dioner Navarro, C
Mark Kotsay, 1B          Gabe Gross, RF
Coco Crisp, CF           Jason Bartlett, SS

Terry Francona says there is nothing wrong with Drew. He merely likes how Ococ has hit against Red Dot.

The Globe has great quotes from the press conferences with Francona and Maddon this afternoon.

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Beckett vs Rays - 2008

     IP    H  R BB  K  BF  PIT
0427  7    4  2  1 13  26  107  Rays 3-0
0503  8    7  4  1  5  31  100  Red Sox 12-4
0604  6    7  1  0  5  24   92  Red Sox 5-1
0910  6    6  1  2  7  26   84  Rays 4-2
0916  8    3  1  1  7  28   95  Rays 2-1
     35   27  9  5 37

Kazmir vs Red Sox - 2008

     IP    H  R BB  K  BF  PIT
0504  4    6  4  3  5  21   90  Red Sox 7-3
0702  5    7  4  4  3  25  107  Rays 7-6
0909  6    5  2  3  4  25  108  Rays 5-4
0915  3    6  9  4  2  19   72  Red Sox 13-5
     18   24 19 14 14

SoSHer draven085 says that Kazmir is

allowing significantly more flyballs than in years past and his line drive rate has never been higher in the big leagues. His strikeout rate also dipped [from 2007 to 2008] by .6 K/9 while his BB/9 rose .25. A BABIP of .275 and a strand rate of 82.5% helped masked some of his disappointing season but there's little reason to think this is the same pitcher who has often dominated the Sox over the past couple of years. ... I don't think there's any reason to be nervous about facing him.

MLB:

In the Red Sox's last 12 post-season games (from 2007 ALCS 5 to last night), the starting pitchers have a 1.93 ERA (74.1 IP, 16 ER).

The Globe profiles Kazmir. ... Joe Maddon said he's cool with his decisions to give the green light on 3-0 to both Evan Longoria in the sixth and Carlos Pena in the eighth.

The NLCS is off today. Brett Myers of the Phillies is only the fourth pitcher since 1919 to get three hits in a post-season game (and the eighth overall).