Red Sox Beat Indians 10-3

Oct 13, 05:19 AM

Current Headlines: By Bob Dutton, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Oct. 13--BOSTON -- About that much-anticipated Cy Young showdown you might have heard or, ah, read something about in the first game of the American League Championship Series?

Not so much.

Boston ace Josh Beckett failed to pitch another postseason shutout Friday night at Fenway Park, but that was about the only blemish on the Red Sox's 10-3 bludgeoning of the Cleveland Indians.

Beckett was clinically effective again on the October stage in limiting the Indians to two runs and four hits in six innings before handing an eight-run lead to the bullpen.

"You don't want to say it's like there's no tomorrow," Beckett said, "but that's kind of how you have to approach these games because you need to win every one that you can."

He did his part.

Cleveland lefty C.C. Sabathia, in contrast, was a bigger flop than Katie Couric. The strike-zone command that turned Sabathia into a Cy Young candidate simply deserted him in the New England chill.

"He didn't have it tonight," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "His command was off. He was up with his fastball. He had trouble getting his breaking ball where he needed to. He ran away from his change-up a little bit. He just never really got in sync."

The Red Sox finished with 12 hits in a balanced attack that included at least one hit from all nine starters. Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell each drove in three runs.

Ramirez scored twice while collecting two hits and three walks -- two of those walks came with the bases loaded. David Ortiz also reached five times on a single, a double, two walks and being hit by a pitch.

There was more.

Kevin Youkilis scored three times. Jason Varitek and Bobby Kielty each drove in two runs. The Browns were a lot more competitive last Sunday in nearby Foxborough against the Patriots.

Beckett struck out seven, walked none and threw just 80 pitches in his six innings. That sets him up to pitch the fourth game of the series on three days' rest -- if desired.

"He's been tremendously efficient and consistent," Lowell said. "We've needed to lean on him all year in some big games, and he's come through for us."

Mike Timlin, Javier Lopez and Eric Gagne closed out their victory.

The Red Sox look to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series tonight when they send Curt Schilling against Fausto Carmona before the teams travel to Cleveland for the third, fourth and, if necessary, fifth game.

The sixth and seventh games, if necessary, will be here at Fenway.

Beckett entered the game seeking a third straight postseason shutout and started impressively by striking out Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera.

"I'm just out there trying to execute pitches," Beckett said. "There's a lot of media that goes into this thing. If you start buying into all that, all it does is create distractions. Right now, we're just trying to stay away from the distractions."

Beckett's quest ended on a 1-0 pitch to Travis Hafner, who drove a high fly to right that caught the gusting winds and carried into the Boston bullpen for a home run.

It was the Indians' last whoop.

Sabathia opened the Boston first by making a self-defense catch on Dustin Pedroia's line drive. Maybe that shook up the big lefty because the next three hitters -- Youkilis, Ortiz and Ramirez -- produced singles that tied the game.

Julio Lugo opened the third with a ground-rule double when his slicing drive hopped over the short right-field wall. A sacrifice moved Lugo to third before Sabathia morphed into Andrew Sisco.

Sabathia issued a four-pitch walk to Youkilis before loading the bases by hitting Ortiz. Sabathia jumped ahead 0-2 on Ramirez -- then threw four straight balls for a walk that forced in the go-ahead run.

"In the playoffs," Ortiz said, "when you walk somebody, sometimes you've got to pay for that later."

This was one of those times.

The Red Sox scored four times in the third inning before knocking out Sabathia in a three-run fifth. Sabathia's final tally for 4 1/3 innings included seven hits, five walks and eight runs.

"You don't often see C.C. get wild like that," Ortiz said. "You need to take advantage of that."

To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4352 or send e-mail to bdutton@kcstar.com

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