Indians' Victory Gives Them 3-1 Series Lead Over Red Sox

Oct 17, 05:07 AM

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

Oct. 17--CLEVELAND -- Let the second-guessing begin. The Cleveland Indians now stand one victory away from the World Series after rocking the Boston Red Sox with another seven-run inning Tuesday night in a 7-3 pummeling at Jacobs Field.

The decision by Boston manager Terry Francona to stick with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield instead of bringing back ace Josh Beckett on shortened rest now has 48 hours to fester throughout New England.

That's because the American League Championship Series schedule offers an extra open date this season -- today -- before the series resumes here Thursday night with Cleveland holding a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Wakefield's knuckler was in top form through the first four innings as he matched Cleveland starter Paul Byrd in a scoreless pitchers' duel. It was Wakefield's first outing since Sept. 29, but he showed no signs of his recent shoulder-and-back problem.

Everything changed in the fifth.

"I wasn't expecting very many runs," Byrd said, "and the next thing you know, we have seven. It was a great night for us."

Casey Blake led off with a homer that ignited the seven-run inning. Asdrubal Cabrera and Victor Martinez added RBI singles. That made it 3-0 and knocked out Wakefield.

"If we can stop the bleeding right there," Francona said, "it certainly gives us a much better chance. We still came back with some energy ... but we really dug ourselves a big hole."

Reliever Manny Delcarmen immediately turned a bad situation into a blowout by serving up a three-run homer to Jhonny Peralta. Blake added an RBI single before the inning ended.

It was Cleveland's second seven-run inning in the series. The other came in the 11th inning Saturday and produced a 13-6 victory that squared the series at 1-1. That was after Beckett pitched Boston to a 10-3 victory in the series opener.

"Those innings, somebody gets it going," Blake said. "There's a little momentum. It's a combination of guys working the pitcher and just battling."

The only problem was Byrd handled the 7-0 lead like an unprepared lottery winner. He began the sixth by allowing homers to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz and made a quick exit.

"No excuses," Byrd said. "I need to make better pitches when I go back out there."

Reliever Jensen Lewis began his night by yielding a homer to Manny Ramirez -- a 451-foot bomb to center that Ramirez stood and admired while signaling a touchdown.

That irritated the crowd, now restless, more than a bit. And that quickly, it was 7-3. But Lewis steadied and retired the next three hitters. Lewis then worked a scoreless seventh before Rafael Betancourt closed out Byrd's victory.

Wakefield became the third straight Boston starter to last just 4 2/3 innings, following Curt Schilling and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Wakefield allowed five hits and five runs while striking out seven and walking two.

The Indians now need to win just one of the next three games to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1997. The sixth and seventh games, if necessary, will be Saturday and Sunday in Boston.

"We don't need to have meetings," Francona said. "We know where we are. The best way to go about our business is to play the next game. If you look ahead, it can look a little overwhelming."

Awaiting the AL winner are the Colorado Rockies, who completed a four-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday in the National League Championship Series.

Two plays in particular will haunt the Red Sox in that seven-run fifth. Both came with Cabrera at the plate and runners at first and third with one out with the Indians leading only 1-0 at the time.

First, Cabrera lofted a drifting foul pop down the right-field line. First baseman Youkilis reached it, juggled it and finally dropped it.

A clean catch would have resulted in one out and, probably, a runner scoring from third. A juggled catch probably would have meant a double play because Franklin Gutierrez had already started for home.

No catch meant a foul strike. It also meant the worst was yet to come.

Cabrera lined the next pitch back at Wakefield, who nearly caught it on the fly. Instead, he merely deflected the ball. The result was an RBI single, a 2-0 lead and, as it turned out, the beginning of the end.

Wakefield struck out Travis Hafner, but Martinez yanked a two-out RBI single through the left side. That made it 3-0, finished Wakefield and ensured two days of angst throughout Red Sox Nation.

Maybe even a whole offseason, depending on what comes next.

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

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