Red Sox' Lester, Like Rockies' Cook, Knows About Adversity

Oct 28, 02:40 AM

Current Headlines: DENVER _ This is turning into one of those "Bang The Drum Slowly" sequels, in which the kid pitcher who was going through chemotherapy in the offseason pitches the clinching game of the World Series for _ who else? _ the Boston Red Sox.

Actually, the book and movie were a little more somber, since the pitcher (played by a young Michael Moriarty) went ahead and won the World Series after his buddy catcher (played by a very young Robert DeNiro) died of cancer. And they played for the Yankees.

But Jon Lester does go to the mound Sunday night for the Red Sox, with inevitability everywhere in the mountain air, against Colorado's Aaron Cook, who nearly died from blood clots that spread to his lungs in 2003.

We know the ending of this movie. We just don't know how much emotion will drip from the towel.

Judging by the unblinking way the Red Sox are going about winning this World Series, not much.

They're bustling around like a golfer who is two holes from breaking 80, with 15 minutes of sunlight left. They hit Colorado with six runs in the third, absorbed five more in a two-inning span, watched the bellicose crowd wave its towels and dance to the music, and then turned out the lights.

The three runs in the Red Sox eighth set up the 10-5 victory that puts Boston a game away from its second World Series championship in four years.

"We always say that if we can win the innings, then the game usually should follow," said reliever Mike Timlin, who helped make a hash out of things until Hideki Okajima held the Rockies at the door in that swirling seventh.

"We're in a good spot. We're in a good position, but most of us realize how quickly it can turn around. We did a great job tonight, and Okajima did what he normally does _ make even better pitches than he'd been making before."

Matt Holliday's three-run homer, over the center-field fence, cut the lead to 6-5 and might well be known as the last baseball hurrah in these parts. And Todd Helton singled to left. But Okajima managed to get control of his breaking stuff and his changeups, and he struck out Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe and got Yorvit Torrealba on a comebacker.

Nobody wants to give up rockets like that. But there is a cleanse-the-palate quality to home runs in that situation. They aren't rally-killers necessarily, but they do clear out the bases and make the offensive team start all over again.

Boston scored six in the third inning without a home run. Just like it scored seven runs in the fifth inning of Game 1 without a home run.

So you have to wonder how the imminent `07 champs compare to the `04 champs, the ones who wiped out the Yankees' 3-0 ALCS lead and then swept St. Louis.

Well, for one thing, old warhorse Timlin is still walking around during batting practice with his camcorder.

"But I don't think this is the time to compare the two experiences," Timlin said.

How about the teams?

"They're different but very similar," Timlin said. "That team had good defense, good starting pitching and good offense. This one is a little bit younger, might be able to do more things. It might be a little bit better."

No, it's a lot better.

The Red Sox of `04 made four errors apiece in the first two games of the World Series against the befuddled Cardinals and won both games. They had Keith Foulke as a closer, who just isn't the same as Jonathan Papelbon, and they had Mark Bellhorn at second base, who is a poor silhouette for rookie Dustin Pedroia.

And the Sox are getting younger all the time. This time rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, who climbed from Double-A at the beginning of the season, slammed three doubles, including the one that opened Boston's lead to 7-5.

Ellsbury hit .353 in 33 games for the Red Sox when he was called up, and Fenway Park treated him like a wayward violin prodigy who had just wandered into Carnegie Hall.

"He's been impressive," Timlin said. "He's always moving. He's always doing something to help us, and he's quiet off the field. He's very comfortable in this situation."

"We've put him in a difficult situation," Manager Terry Francona said, "but he has shown us he can handle whatever we throw at him."

And he's playing with the same ruthlessness that distinguishes all champions and is practically a brand of the Red Sox. A lot of teams would tremble in the 45-degree chill, in front of fans who had begun to believe that destiny had headed for the mountains permanently. The Red Sox just shrugged and ground out runs.

So Jon Lester pitches for a title with Josh Beckett backing him up. This is not cake but it's not trauma either. The Red Sox like feel-good stories, as long as they leave themselves with the feeling.

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