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Red Sox set for World Series sweep

Oct 28, 2007 - 2:13 PM Boston at Colorado 8:29 pm EDT World Series Boston lead, 3-0

DENVER (Ticker) -- For the second time in the last four years, the Boston Red Sox are on the verge of a World Series sweep.

The Red Sox will send Jon Lester to the mound when they visit the Colorado Rockies in Game Four of the Fall Classic on Sunday.

Boston has made quick work of the opening three contests, outscoring the Rockies, 25-7, en route to a three-games-to-none advantage.

After taking the first two games at Fenway Park, the Red Sox traveled to a chilly Coors Field and refused to bow to the pressure of the hometown crowd, getting contributions from a trio of rookies to earn the victory.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia combined for seven hits, four doubles, four RBI and three runs out of the top two spots in the lineup to lead Boston to a 10-5 victory over the Rockies on Saturday night.

Ellsbury bookended a six-run third inning with a pair of doubles and doubled in an insurance run in the eighth, and Boston survived a rare meltdown by their bullpen en route to moving within one win of their seventh World Series title.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched brilliantly into the sixth and singled in two runs for the Boston, which has won its last seven World Series games.

After going 86 years without a world championship, the Red Sox can wrap up their second title in four years with a win here Sunday. No team in World Series history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.

After losing the first two games of the series by a combined score of 15-2, the Rockies returned to Coors, where they had won 42 of their last 57 games, hoping to make a series of it against the heavily favored Red Sox. They were greeted by a vocal sellout crowd waving white towels, but the Red Sox took the fight out of the Rockies and the pent up enthusiasm away from the crowd early.

Boston exploded for six runs in the third inning, knocking out Colorado starter Josh Fogg, and overcame a rare shaky effort by the bullpen to put the contest out of reach with three runs in the eighth.

When Lester takes the mound on Sunday, it will be the culmination of an extraordinary 14-month journey for the 23-year-old lefthander. In August of 2006 he was involved in a car accident in Boston and, complaining of back pain, went to the hospital later to get checked out.

A series of tests revealed anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

At the time of the cancer diagnosis, Lester was 7-2 in his rookie season with the Red Sox. His season came to an end at the end of August and he began treatment in September.

Lester began 2007 in Red Sox training camp, trying to prove to team officials that he was strong enough to resume his career. After a healthy showing in Fort Myers, Lester began the first of three minor league stints before eventually making his return on July 23 in Cleveland.

"I don't know what he's gone through," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "We were proud of Jon before this. What he went through was a very difficult winter I'm sure for he and his family. He handled it with grace, a lot of dignity, a lot of perseverance, and because of that, some really neat medical people, the fact that we're even talking about baseball is really awesome.

"I think before Jon picked up a ball this year it was already a successful year. Now, saying that, I think Jon is a smart enough young man to know that when he steps on the mound it's all about beating the other team. It makes for a wonderful story that people want to write about, which I understand, but it's about him being better than the Rockies, and I think he has a very good understanding of that, especially for a younger guy."

The Rockies will counter with veteran righthander Aaron Cook, who will be making his first start since August 10 due to an oblique injury.

The 28-year-old was Colorado's Opening Day starter, and went 8-7 with a 4.12 ERA before going down. Cook, much like Lester, was almost out of baseball due to a medical condition, but recovered from blood clots in his lungs in 2004 after having a piece of a rib removed.

"Aaron Cook is a very special individual, and he has already had a life-changing event," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "His perspective on life and on sport has been drastically altered because he was in a put in a position where not only was his sport going to be taken away but so was his life. That's one thing I have not had to deal with, is a life changing event where I've had an illness or something like that, so his perspective has changed."

Cook has faced the Red Sox twice before in his career, including a 2-1 loss at Fenway Park on June 12. Overall, he is 0-2 with a 3.65 ERA in two starts against the American League squad.