Red Sox Are Flying a Mile High: 2 Wins From Title After Taut Victory

Oct 26, 08:05 AM

Current Headlines: By Dave Van Dyck, Chicago Tribune

Oct. 26--BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox actually may have to descend some before they get to the Mile High city to resume this 103rd World Series.

They are on some kind of high after edging the Rockies 2-1 Thursday night to take a two-game lead heading for the middle three in Colorado.

And history says they have every right to be soaring. Fifty teams have jumped out to 2-0 leads in the World Series and 39 have gone on to win, including all six since 1998.

"We've done a lot of things people haven't expected us to do all year," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said, trying to sound confident. "We've been down to one strike [and] we're going home. All we need to do is win four out of five, but what we need to do is win Game 3. That's where our focus is."

But the Rockies will be in trouble if they match their offensive output of two runs in two games. Or if they if they don't improve on the walk ratio of 15 to 3.

"That's disappointing," Hurdle said. "It puts you into a position you don't want to get into."

The victory went to free-agent-to-be Curt Schilling, who joined Detroit's Kenny Rogers as 40-year-old-plus starters who have won World Series games. But this also could have been his final start as a Red Sox.

"I don't have any [feelings about it]," said Schilling, who is 3-0 this postseason. "I guarantee you everybody is as sick of hearing about it as I am. Whatever happens is going to happen. They know I want to come back. We're trying to win a World Series so it makes it very easy not to think about it."

The Rockies also came into the game with an agenda, determined to show the 36,730 fans jammed into Fenway that the Game 1 blowout was an aberration, that they were not the pushover much of America believed them to be.

"Buddy Bell told me the first year he was managing us, 'I never want to hear you say you're embarrassed on a baseball field again.'" team elder Todd Helton said. "We're playing in the World Series. We're not going to hang our heads no matter what happens in this thing."

They didn't win Thursday but neither were they embarrassed, this time leading 1-0 after the first inning instead of trailing 3-0.

But by the time starter Ubaldo Jimenez departed in the fifth inning, they were behind 2-1. Jimenez had a no-hitter for three innings but his wildness did him in.

With some daring baserunning from Mike Lowell, the Red Sox tied the game in the fourth. Lowell started the rally with a walk and then took third on J.D. Drew's single, sliding headfirst just ahead of right fielder Brad Hawpe's throw.

It turned into a key play because Lowell scored on Jason Varitek's fly ball to center.

Lowell was back with more heroics in the fifth inning, doubling home David Ortiz, who had a two-out walk and advanced to second on Manny Ramirez's single. That finished the night for Jimenez.

Schilling followed a short time later, leaving with two runners on base and one out in the sixth inning.

Hideki Okajima, the first Japanese pitcher to appear in a World Series game, relieved and preserved the lead by putting down Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe. Okajima went on to pitch 2 1/3 innings while striking out four before leaving with two outs in the eighth for Jonathan Papelbon.

Papelbon was greeted with a single that knocked him off his feet by Matt Holliday.

But he got the last laugh by picking Holliday off first base, a major mistake for the Rockies.

Papelbon earned the save by breezing through the ninth.

A free-spirited kid, Papelbon is just another example of the mixtures of personalities that makes the Red Sox so interesting.

"This was the Papeljima show," Schilling said. "It was phenomenal to watch. That was the story. We had to have it and they both answered the bell."

And now the Red Sox are two victories away from earning their second world title in four years, up 2-0 going to Colorado, although manager Terry Francona would not look beyond Saturday.

"The next game ahead of us is the most important thing on our radar," he said, "and that will never change no matter what our record is."

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dvandyck@tribune.com

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