Now that felt like a World Series game. Colorado showed a lot of heart, bouncing back from a devastating loss in game one. Unfortunately for them, they lost again and are now down 2-0 in the series.

It looked like it was going to be a long night for Boston’s hitters. Ubaldo Jimenez started the game great for the Rockies. He was pounding the strikezone and making the Boston lineup look ordinary. But like Boston has done all season long, they started taking some pitches, drawing some walks and getting guys on base. Boston has done their homework on the Rockies pitching staff, and they knew eventually Jimenez would lose control and start throwing balls. The Red Sox have shown the patience to wear out a pitching staff and force them to throw strikes.

Colorado, on the other hand, continued their offensive woes. Last night’s offense was brought to you courtesy of Matt Holliday (4 for 4, one rally-killing pick-off). The rest of the team decided to take the game off, combining for one hit, and designated misser Ryan Spilborghs’ World Series drought continued with a three-strikeout performance.

Schilling was pretty ugly in the first inning, giving up a couple of hits and not getting over to cover third base. But, Schilling being Schilling, he settled right in and pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run baseball. I was happy to see Terry Francona have the quick hook with Schilling last night. Too many times this season, Schilling has been allowed to pitch to one batter too many, and the results have been bad.

The rest was history. Okajima pitched the best he has all season with 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball. This guy is going to go down as the deal of the century. Okajima was followed by the best closer and craziest guy in baseball shutting the door with another great save.

Here are some quick hits about last night’s game:

• The Red Sox went back to the future last night with both musical acts. James Taylor and Boys II Men may have been the oddest choices to perform. It made me want to put on my Members Only jacket and parachute pants.
• Tim McCarver is starting to remind me of my drunk uncle at a family get-together, sitting half-comatose in the corner, then waking up and saying the first thing that pops in his head. Listen to him next game. He can’t go five minutes without saying something off the wall.
• Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better: Free tacos for everyone, courtesy of Wonderboy Jacoby Ellsbury and Taco Bell. This guy does it all: great defense, big hits, feeding the country.
• J.D. Drew had two hits, one walk, and one hit by pitch. Another solid game by the $14 million man. What surprised me was that Drew stayed in the game after getting drilled. Maybe this guy is tougher then we thought.
• This series is far from over. Colorado is a different team at Coors Field, which is evident by their 51-31 record.
• Speaking of Coors Field, I would bench Ortiz and play Youkilis all three games. You can’t take Youk’s defense off the field, especially when playing in that huge ballpark. Plus he’s hitting better than Ortiz is right now. More on this tomorrow.
• The next two games are going to be a coin flip on who’s going to win, with Dice K vs. Josh Fogg in game three followed by Jon Lester vs. Aaron Cook. Anything can happen in these two. I would be happy with a split, setting up Josh Beckett in game five.

Up 2-0, the Red Sox appear to be in the driver’s seat. Boston has shown they have the talent to win the nail-biter and the blowout. Now if they can only do it two more times.

This game was over before it even started.

During announcements of the starting lineups, you could see the nervousness in the eyes of the Rockies players. Colorado’s starting pitcher Jeff Francis had a serious deer-in-the-headlights look going. This was their big-game pitcher, the guy who was supposed to be the one to steal a game at Fenway, and he looked like he was looking for the first bus back to British Columbia. The Rockies “Ace” lasted all of four innings, allowing six runs on ten hits.

Francis wasn’t the only Rockie that was overwhelmed last night. NL MVP Matt Holliday looked lost in the outfield and contributed an 0-for-4 night with two strikeouts. News flash to all Rockie players: You are not playing against another Junior Varsity National League team.

I’ve said this before, the playoffs are a whole different ballgame. Everything is magnified. Some of the best players in the history of Major League Baseball have crumbled under the playoff spotlight (see Rodriguez, Alex). On the flip side, some players embrace the challenge that the playoffs offer. They have the extra gear and can kick it up a notch (see Beckett, Josh). Beckett had another dominating performance last night, with 7 innings pitched, 9 strikeouts, 1 ER, and 7 pissed-off walks back to the dugout. He could have been pitching against the 1927 New York Yankees last night and would have won. This guy lives for these moments.

The Red Sox look locked in right now offensively. They are being patient at the plate and capitalizing on every mistake. Boston crushed the ball last night: 13 runs on 17 hits was historic for the first game of the World Series. But the stat I found interesting is that Boston scored 13 runs and still left 12 guys on base. This actually could have been a lot worse for Colorado.

Apart from the big win, I enjoy games called by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Even though Buck is really smug at times, and I think McCarver may have taken a few too many foul balls off his head, and they both seem to have an unhealthy obsession with free Taco Bell tacos, they do a pretty good job. My favorite part of the game last night came in the fourth inning. Franklin Morales came in from the bullpen. This was followed by Joe Buck going on for about five minutes on how great this guy was. How his pickoff move is the best in baseball, and that his stuff was “electric.” Well, I think maybe someone forgot to plug him in. Morales proceeded to balk a runner to second base and allowed seven runs in 2/3 of an inning. If this is the best the Rockies bullpen has to offer, I like the Sox chances.

There is some good news for the Rockies. They have Ubaldo Jimenez, a rookie pitcher who has trouble throwing strikes, facing the most patient lineup in baseball for game two. He’ll be going up against some no-name guy named Curt Schilling. Maybe they’ll have better success tonight. Then again, probably not.

I’ve already stated the obvious: the Red Sox are going to win the World Series. In fact, they are going to sweep. It’s easy to say they are going to win. Here are thefoulline.com facts to back it up.

Starting pitching: Red Sox: Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, Dice K, and Jon Lester; vs. Rockies: Jeff Francis, some other guy, Mr. No-Name, and Who Cares. Advantage: Boston. The Sox have two of the greatest postseason pitchers in MLB history in Beckett and Schilling. Mix in Dice K and the wildcard Lester and you have a formidable staff. The Rockies have one decent pitcher and three guys that should be working mall security.

Team Defense: Red Sox: Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell, Dustin Pedroia, and Jacoby Ellsbury; vs. Rockies: Troy Tulowitzki, Kaz Matsui, Todd Helton, and Matt Holiday. Advantage: Colorado. The Rockies led the league in fewest errors. The Sox play consistent defense. Youkilis hasn’t committed an error at first base all season. Lowell and Pedroia are always solid, but I give a very slight edge to Colorado.

Team Offense: Red Sox: Big Papi, Manny, Lowell, Youk, Pedroia, and Drew; vs. Colorado: Holliday, Helton, and Atkins. Huge Advantage: Boston. The reality is that anyone in the Sox lineup can come up big and hurt you on any given night. One night it’s Papi, the next it’s Pedroia. Colorado cannot possibly prepare for everyone in the Sox lineup.

Mascots: Wally vs. Dinger. Wally the Green Monster is a stroke of genius for Red Sox marketing. To incorporate Fenway Park’s most famous feature into a mascot works brilliantly. Dinger the purple and yellow dinosaur is a leftover from the Barney show. What does a dinosaur have to do with Colorado? I have a better idea for a mascot. How about Coorsy the Friendly Bandwagon Jumper? Advantage: Wally in a landslide.

Fans: Boston has the most die-hard, loyal, passionate fans in all of sports. Fenway Park has sold out hundreds of games in a row. Colorado is well known for charging five bucks for tickets to get fans in the stands, and even then they can’t sell out Coors Field. In a recent poll in Colorado, 63% of the residents were unaware that there was a baseball team in Denver. Advantage: Boston.

So you see, it all adds up. Colorado is overrated, ill-prepared, and undermanned to possibly handle the Red Sox in the World Series.

Fortunately for them, it will be quick and painless.

I was planning to write “A Tale of Two Cities, Part II” and talk about how much better the city of Boston is compared to Denver. I could have taken some cheap shots about the quality of fans in New England and the fair-weathered bandwagon jumpers in Colorado, but I would just be preaching to the choir.

I have never felt so confident that the Red Sox are going to win the World Series as I do right now. Boston has big-game pitchers, clutch hitting, and more playoff experience than the Rockies. I don’t mean to insult both of Colorado’s season ticket holders, but these are the facts.

It’s not just the Rockies that the Sox would pound, it’s every team in the National League. The NL sucks. The best teams in the NL would be lucky to make the playoffs in the American League. But I guess Colorado already got lucky once and were able to back into the playoffs thanks to a stupid tie breaker. And I don’t want to hear about the Rockies winning 21 out of their last 22 games. Who cares? This just proves that they are the best out of all the mediocre teams. Now that is truly a great accomplishment. Rockie fans, be proud. You made the World Series. Unfortunately for you, there are only four games left in your season. Boston is going to sweep!

Check back tomorrow for the World Series breakdown of both teams.

Sign #3 that your baseball team is new to the playoffs: Not allowing your fans to purchase tickets to the World Series.

What a great idea by Rockies management. They finally have a decent team and are playing in their first World Series, and they reward the fans by only “selling” tickets online. I should say trying to sell tickets online. The Rockies, in their infinite wisdom, didn’t prepare for more than seven fans getting on the computer at the same time in an attempt to buy tickets. So of course the whole system crashed. So, no tickets for you Rockies fan.

Here is a novel idea for the Rockies owners: Open the ticket box office at the stadium. This way, both of your fans that have been following the team all year can go to the game. Instead of spending all of your time coming up with your fantastic playoff slogan, learn how to sell a ticket. I realize that this is your first time in the playoffs and you might be a little unsure of the proper protocol, but at this rate, in the event you happen to make the playoffs again, there might not be any fans left to attend.

The Red Sox are going to the World Series!!

More to follow…..

The Boston Red Sox are going to the American League Championship Series. Let’s enjoy this for a day or two, then I think it’s important to reflect on some good things and some bad things that need to be worked out before game one on Friday.

First of all, anytime you sweep a team it’s great, but we need to remember that Boston swept a very beat-up team. The Angels’ two best players were playing with one arm (Vlad Guerrero) and one eye (Garrett Anderson). Their best defensive centerfielder was out (Garry Matthews Jr.), and their only pitcher with playoff experience was left off the playoff roster (Bartolo Colon). Not to mention the Angels had John Lackey pitch at Fenway, which pretty much concedes a Boston victory. I don’t want to sound like “the glass is half empty,” but the point I want to make is that whoever Boston plays in the next round (Cleveland) is going to be healthier, hungrier, and more determined than the Angels were.

In order for Boston to advance to the World Series they are going to need a repeat performance from their pitching staff. Beckett, Schilling, and the bullpen were phenomenal. Francona managed aggressively. He had guys stealing, hitting and running, and going for the extra base. They also had some big hitting from Papi, Manny and Lowell.

One of the bad things I noticed was that it seemed like Boston left a ton of runners on base. As the World Series gets closer, every run is important. These guys can’t be stranded. It also seemed like Boston grounded into a bunch of double plays. They are going to need Drew, Pedroia, and Coco to be more consistent at the plate. They looked lost up there a few times.

Another thing, and I hope Terry Francona finally realizes this: Eric Gagne sucks. He blew Schilling’s hard earned shutout tonight. I was surprised that he was even put on the playoff roster. Gagne has not pitched one meaningful inning since his acquisition. He has been a bust. Theo Epstein needs to eat a little crow and admit he blew it on this one. I personally would have given that spot to Julian Tavarez. Tavarez is much more versatile. He can start, as well as be the long reliever if needed. He has done whatever the Sox have asked of him this year. He’s a goofball, but even when he rolls the ball to first base, it’s still better then when Gagne is out there.

The Red Sox have the players to get the job done and win the World Series, but they can’t count on always getting the clutch home run. Getting the little things right is what is going to take Boston to the next level.