Home MLB On to game two

On to game two

by Matt Smith

Thankfully the predicted heavy rain didn’t show up last night. Unfortunately, neither did the Rockies.

The main stat doing the rounds before, during and after the game centred on the importance of winning the first contest. Nine of the last ten game-one winners have gone on to win the World Series and none of them beat their opponents quite so comprehensively as the Red Sox beat the Rockies. Boston went into the game as heavy favourites and they more than lived up to that billing. Game one really couldn’t have gone much worse for Colorado or much better for Boston.

The other main pre-game talking point was the Rockies’ extended break heading into their first World Series. Fears that they would be undercooked appeared to be well founded, with the pitchers being belted for nine extra base hits and the batting lineup mustering only six hits. Whether the break was the cause of this display is a debatable point: Josh Beckett would have been tough to beat regardless on that form and the Red Sox boast a formidable group of hitters.

On Five’s coverage, Josh Chetwynd argued that a blow-out loss is actually less demoralising than a narrow defeat. Just write it off as a bad day and start again with the hope that you’ve saved up some hits for the next game. That’s the line the Rockies are taking by all accounts and there’s really no other way to approach it. Yes, they got pummelled, but it still only counts as one loss. Losing the first game might be a bad omen, but it’s far from a death sentence. Even losing tonight wouldn’t necessarily finish them, although they won’t want to put that to the test.

What chance do they have of turning things around? Well, facing the 2007 version of Curt Schilling is not the same as facing Beckett, so there’s grounds for optimism there. No one, possibly not even Curt himself, can predict which Schilling will turn up on the mound tonight. The same could be said for Ubaldo Jimenez though. The rookie has been wild (eight walks in 11.1 innings) but effective (1.59 ERA) in his two post-season starts so far. The normal World Series debut nerves shouldn’t bother him too much. He’s been facing firsts ever since getting his call-up in July and he hasn’t seemed fazed by any of them yet. The one concern (to add to the list) for the Rockies is that he hasn’t made it through seven innings once in his last nine starts. They need a strong start from Jimenez to give them a chance; if the bullpen is needed early again they may well be in trouble.

As for the Red Sox, they will be looking to carry on where they left off, simple as that. Things went so well for them that even Eric Gagne was able to throw an uneventful three up, three down ninth inning. This means that if Schilling only lasts five innings, they’ve got plenty of top pitchers ready in relief. Rick Sutcliffe compared Jonathon Papelbon’s arm to a savings account on commentary last night, a metaphor that kind of worked. Amid the references to “withdrawals” and “deposits”, Sutcliffe was effectively saying that Papelbon needs a rest now and then to perform at his best. He got that rest last night and will be ready for action in game two. It won’t get any easier for the Rockies, that’s for sure.

Finally, I wasn’t overly impressed with the rendition of the national anthem if I’m being honest. A World Series isn’t the time or place for an orchestral version if you ask me. You want someone belting the words out, not someone waving a small stick (regardless of how many awards John Williams has received over the years). Johnny’s 8 out of 10 score was ridiculously generous; Josh’s 6 was about right. Ashanti’s “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch was your typical diva effort: lots of overly dramatic wailing, desperately trying to sound like emotion. Not terrible, but nothing to shout about either. Johnny seemed to be extremely excited at the prospect of James Taylor performing the anthem tonight though. I seem to remember him doing a good job in 2004, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, so expect a nine from Johnny and a 7 from Josh.

Predicting the outcome of game two is less easy. It’s hard to bet against the Red Sox after the manner of their victory yesterday, yet sometimes a heavy loss can spark a team to life. The Rockies hitters will fancy their chances against Schilling (particularly compared to Beckett) and if they can give their pitchers some run support, they may be in with a chance. My head says the Red Sox will win by three runs, my heart says the Rockies will show some ‘bouncebackability’ and take the series back to Colorado tied 1-1.

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