Westbrook, Lofton lead Indians past Red Sox in ALCS <h3>CLEVELAND 4, BOSTON 2</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians have been searchingfor a shut-down starting pitcher during the American LeagueChampionship Series. Surprisingly, Jake Westbrook turned out tobe the guy. Westbrook pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Kenny Lofton providedsome offensive fireworks as the Indians earned a 4-2 victoryover the Boston Red Sox on Monday in Game Three of the ALCS. Rookie Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits and drove in a run forCleveland, which took a two games to one lead in thebest-of-seven series and hosts Game Four here on Tuesday. The Indians entered the series with two of the top five startersin the AL going in Games One and Two in C.C. Sabathia and<div class="pre">Fausto Carmona. When neither 19-game winner was able to</div>complete five innings, Cleveland was left searching for ananswer in the rotation. Westbrook (1-0), who suffered the Indians lone ALDS loss to theNew York Yankees, was an unlikely choice to shut down a Bostonoffense that had scored 35 runs in five postseason games andboasted the formidable duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez inthe middle of the order. But Westbrook stepped up to thechallenge, pounding the strike zone early in at-bats and gettingahead of the Red Sox hitters to set up his trademark sinker. The righthander started the first 11 hitters he faced withstrikes and threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters hefaced. He induced 14 ground-ball outs and allowed two runs andseven hits while walking three and striking out two to earn hisfirst career postseason win. Lofton staked his pitcher to an early lead when he got to Bostonstarter Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second for a two-run blast.With Ryan Garko aboard following a one-out single, Lofton drovethe first pitch he saw from Matsuzaka just over the right fieldwall for a 2-0 advantage. The 40-yea-old outfielder stepped out of the batter's box beforethe pitch was thrown and waited an extra few seconds beforestepping back in to face Matsuzaka. "Well you know whatever I got to do to get them rattled," Loftonsaid, "and if that works I'll keep doing it." Lofton's blast was his first since beginning his third tour ofduty with the Indians on July 27, and marked his seventh careerpostseason homer - the first since taking Curt Schilling deep inGame One of the 2004 ALCS when he was with the Yankees. "These guys are just going out there playing well and thinkingabout what they have to do as a team, and, you know, it'sunbelievable," Lofton said. The two-run homer came one-half inning after the Red Sox failedto score after loading the bases with no outs in the top of thesecond. Westbrook walked Manny Ramirez and allowed a single toMike Lowell before J.D. Drew reached on an error. The veteran sinkerballer recovered to retire Jason Varitek on apopup to short left field before inducing a double play grounderfrom Coco Crisp. For the second game in a row in the ALCS the Indians bullpencame up huge, with three relievers combining to toss 2 1/3innings of hitless baseball. Embattled closer Joe Borowskinotched the final three outs for the save. Matsuzaka (0-1) struggled for the second straight time in thepostseason, allowing four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings tosuffer the loss. The Japanese righthander walked two and struckout six while throwing 101 pitches in less than five frames. "I thought he threw some good pitches, he had good depth on hisslider," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "But again, a lotof deep counts." Cleveland knocked Matsuzaka out with a two-run rally in thefifth, getting RBI from Cabrera and Travis Hafner to extend thelead to 4-0. The Red sox cut the lead in half in the seventh when Varitekclubbed a two-run homer off Westbrook, but failed to getanything else going in the late innings against the Indians'bullpen.
Westbrook, Lofton lead Indians past Red Sox in ALCS <h3>CLEVELAND 4, BOSTON 2</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians have been searchingfor a shut-down starting pitcher during the American LeagueChampionship Series. Surprisingly, Jake Westbrook turned out tobe the guy. Westbrook pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Kenny Lofton providedsome offensive fireworks as the Indians earned a 4-2 victoryover the Boston Red Sox on Monday in Game Three of the ALCS. Rookie Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits and drove in a run forCleveland, which took a two games to one lead in thebest-of-seven series and hosts Game Four here on Tuesday. The Indians entered the series with two of the top five startersin the AL going in Games One and Two in C.C. Sabathia and<div class="pre">Fausto Carmona. When neither 19-game winner was able to</div>complete five innings, Cleveland was left searching for ananswer in the rotation. Westbrook (1-0), who suffered the Indians lone ALDS loss to theNew York Yankees, was an unlikely choice to shut down a Bostonoffense that had scored 35 runs in five postseason games andboasted the formidable duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez inthe middle of the order. But Westbrook stepped up to thechallenge, pounding the strike zone early in at-bats and gettingahead of the Red Sox hitters to set up his trademark sinker. The righthander started the first 11 hitters he faced withstrikes and threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters hefaced. He induced 14 ground-ball outs and allowed two runs andseven hits while walking three and striking out two to earn hisfirst career postseason win. Lofton staked his pitcher to an early lead when he got to Bostonstarter Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second for a two-run blast.With Ryan Garko aboard following a one-out single, Lofton drovethe first pitch he saw from Matsuzaka just over the right fieldwall for a 2-0 advantage. The 40-year-old outfielder stepped out of the batter's boxbefore the pitch was thrown and waited an extra few secondsbefore stepping back in to face Matsuzaka. "Well you know whatever I got to do to get them rattled," Loftonsaid, "and if that works I'll keep doing it." Lofton's blast was his first since beginning his third tour ofduty with the Indians on July 27, and marked his seventh careerpostseason homer - the first since taking Curt Schilling deep inGame One of the 2004 ALCS when he was with the Yankees. "These guys are just going out there playing well and thinkingabout what they have to do as a team, and, you know, it'sunbelievable," Lofton said. The two-run homer came one-half inning after the Red Sox failedto score after loading the bases with no outs in the top of thesecond. Westbrook walked Manny Ramirez and allowed a single toMike Lowell before J.D. Drew reached on an error. The veteran sinkerballer recovered to retire Jason Varitek on apopup to short left field before inducing a double play grounderfrom Coco Crisp. "(Westbrook) got the pop up to left and made a good pitch toCoco and then after that he really got locked in started letting<div class="pre">that (sinker) work," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.</div>"(He) threw some cutters and then they come back and tack twoon. Daisuke throws a fastball that runs middle in to Kenny andit ends up being a big swing. I agree." For the second game in a row in the ALCS the Indians bullpencame up huge, with three relievers combining to toss 2 1/3innings of hitless baseball. Embattled closer Joe Borowskinotched the final three outs for the save. Matsuzaka (0-1) struggled for the second straight time in thepostseason, allowing four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings tosuffer the loss. The Japanese righthander walked two and struckout six while throwing 101 pitches in less than five frames. "I thought he threw some good pitches, he had good depth on hisslider," Francona said. "But again, a lot of deep counts." Cleveland knocked Matsuzaka out with a two-run rally in thefifth, getting RBI from Cabrera and Travis Hafner to extend thelead to 4-0. "When you look at the final count, what was it 101, that is alot of pitches, so that's a lot of deep counts," Francona said."Saying that there's the one glaring mistake to Lofton, thetwo-run home run. The more pitches you throw, especially todangerous hitters, the more chances you give them. You knowthat is the same kind of concept that we talk about and theykind of reversed it on us." The Red sox cut the lead in half in the seventh when Varitekclubbed a two-run homer off Westbrook, but failed to getanything else going in the late innings against the Indians'bullpen.
AL: BOSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">BOSTON (2) VS CLEVELAND (4) - FINAL BOSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg D Pedroia 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .167 K Youkilis 1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .364 D Ortiz dh 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .444 M Ramirez lf 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 .444 M Lowell 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 J Drew rf 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .273 J Varitek c 4 1 1 2 0 0 3 .143 C Crisp cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 .250 J Lugo ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .182 Totals 31 2 7 2 3 4 11 BATTING: 2B - D Ortiz (2, J Westbrook). HR - J Varitek (1, 7th inning off J Westbrook 1 on, 1 Out). RBI - J Varitek 2 (4). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Drew 1. GIDP - D Ortiz, C Crisp, M Ramirez. Team LOB - 5. CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg G Sizemore cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 .231 A Cabrera 2b 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 .333 T Hafner dh 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 .273 V Martinez c 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .364 R Garko 1b 4 1 1 0 0 2 3 .333 J Peralta ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 .308 K Lofton lf 3 1 1 2 0 1 0 .308 T Nixon rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250 F Gutierrez rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100 C Blake 3b 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .250 Totals 30 4 6 4 3 10 8 BATTING: HR - K Lofton (1, 2nd inning off D Matsuzaka 1 on, 2 Out). RBI - K Lofton 2 (2), A Cabrera (3), T Hafner (2). 2-out RBI - K Lofton 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - V Martinez 1, R Garko 1. Team LOB - 5. FIELDING: E - R Garko (1, ground ball). DP: 3 (A Cabrera-C Blake-R Garko, J Peralta-R Garko, J Peralta-A Cabrera-R Garko). ---------------------------------------------------- BOSTON - 000 000 200 -- 2 CLEVELAND - 020 020 00x -- 4 ---------------------------------------------------- BOSTON ip h r er bb so hr era D Matsuzaka (L, 0-1) 4 2/3 6 4 4 2 6 1 7.71 M Timlin 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 H Okajima 1 1/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 M Delcarmen 2/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 6.75 CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era J Westbrook (W, 1-0) 6 2/3 7 2 2 3 2 1 2.70 J Lewis (H, 1) 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 5.40 R Betancourt (H, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 J Borowski (S, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 WP - D Matsuzaka. Pitches-strikes: D Matsuzaka 101-59; M Timlin 20-11; H Okajima 19-12; M Delcarmen 7-6; J Westbrook 104-66; J Lewis 8-6; R Betancourt 13-11; J Borowski 17-12. Ground balls-fly balls: D Matsuzaka 6-2; M Timlin 2-0; H Okajima 2-2; M Delcarmen 0-0; J Westbrook 14-3; J Lewis 0-0; R Betancourt 0-2; J Borowski 0-3. Batters faced: D Matsuzaka 22; M Timlin 4; H Okajima 5; M Delcarmen 2; J Westbrook 27; J Lewis 1; R Betancourt 3; J Borowski 3. UMPIRES: HP--Brian Gorman. 1B--Paul Emmel. 2B--Gary Cederstrom. 3B--Dana Demuth. LF--Randy Marsh. RF--Kerwin Danley. T--3:28. Att--44,402. Weather: 69 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 5 mph, right to left.</div>
Westbrook, Lofton lead Indians past Red Sox in ALCS <h3>CLEVELAND 4, BOSTON 2</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians have been searchingfor a shut-down starting pitcher during the American LeagueChampionship Series. Surprisingly, Jake Westbrook turned out tobe the guy. Westbrook pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Kenny Lofton providedsome offensive fireworks as the Indians earned a 4-2 victoryover the Boston Red Sox on Monday in Game Three of the ALCS. Rookie Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits and drove in a run forCleveland, which took a two games to one lead in thebest-of-seven series and hosts Game Four here on Tuesday. "Anytime you can get a 2-1 lead in the series, it's special,"Indians closer Joe Borowski said. The Indians entered the series with two of the top starters inthe AL going in Games One and Two in C.C. Sabathia and FaustoCarmona. When neither 19-game winner was able to complete fiveinnings, Cleveland was left searching for an answer in therotation. Westbrook (1-0), who suffered the Indians' lone ALDS loss to theNew York Yankees, was an unlikely choice to shut down a Bostonoffense that had scored 35 runs in five postseason games andboasted the formidable duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez inthe middle of the order. But Westbrook stepped up to thechallenge, pounding the strike zone early in at-bats and gettingahead of the Red Sox hitters to set up his trademark sinker. "You try to get early contact and you try to keep hitters offbase," Westbrook said. "But when they are on base, that's whatyou try do is to get a double play. That's kind of what I workedfor." The righthander started the first 11 hitters he faced withstrikes and threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters hefaced. He induced 14 ground-ball outs and allowed two runs andseven hits while walking three and striking out two to earn hisfirst career postseason win. "He did a great job keeping the ball down in the zone,"Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez said. "He was getting ahead ofhitters." Lofton staked his pitcher to an early lead when he got to Bostonstarter Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second for a two-run blast.With Ryan Garko aboard following a one-out single, Lofton drovethe first pitch he saw from Matsuzaka just over the right fieldwall for a 2-0 advantage. "I wanted to be aggressive at that point and I got lucky,"Lofton said. The 40-year-old outfielder stepped out of the batter's boxbefore the pitch was thrown and waited an extra few secondsbefore stepping back in to face Matsuzaka. "Well you know whatever I got to do to get them rattled," Loftonsaid, "and if that works I'll keep doing it." Lofton's blast was his first since beginning his third tour ofduty with the Indians on July 27, and marked his seventh careerpostseason homer - the first since taking Curt Schilling deep inGame One of the 2004 ALCS when he was with the Yankees. "The guys have been ragging me for it ever since I've beenhere," said Lofton about his first home run with the Indiansthis season. "I haven't had a home run and I had seven before Igot here." The two-run homer came one-half inning after the Red Sox failedto score after loading the bases with no outs in the top of thesecond. Westbrook walked Manny Ramirez and allowed a single toMike Lowell before J.D. Drew reached on an error. The veteran sinkerballer recovered to retire Jason Varitek on apopup to short left field before inducing a double play grounderfrom Coco Crisp. "I was trying to get Varitek into a double play or try to keepit to one run," Westbrook said. "But I made a pitch on him andhe got a pop fly. And then got behind Coco and then just toldmyself to trust my sinker and I was able to do that. I made agood pitch and got a double play which was big for us." "It was really a pivotal point," Red Sox manager Terry Franconasaid. For the second game in a row in the ALCS the Indians bullpencame up huge, with three relievers combining to toss 2 1/3innings of perfect baseball. Borowski notched the final threeouts for the save. "Jake stepped up," Borowski said. "You couldn't have asked formore." Included in that scoreless stretch was another solid performanceby Rafael Betancourt, who pitched a scoreless eighth - retiringKevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez in order. "With those guys you have to battle with your best stuff,"Betancourt said. "I knew who was coming up in that situation. Ididn't want Youkilis to get on base with David and Manny comingup." Matsuzaka (0-1) struggled for the second straight time in thepostseason, allowing four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings tosuffer the loss. The Japanese righthander walked two and struckout six while throwing 101 pitches in less than five frames. <div class="pre">"It was a lot of pitches," Francona said. "It's a lot of deep</div>counts. Saying that, he made one glaring mistake to Lofton." Cleveland knocked Matsuzaka out with a two-run rally in thefifth, getting RBI from Cabrera and Travis Hafner to extend thelead to 4-0. "I thought he was pretty good tonight," Varitek said. "I thoughthe threw it pretty well. It was coming out of his hand well,but he was just missing some of his spots." The Red sox cut the lead in half in the seventh when Varitekclubbed a two-run homer off Westbrook, but failed to getanything else going in the late innings against the Indians'bullpen.
