Final
Red Sox look to clinch against Lee, Indians
Sep 23, 2008 - 1:19 PM Cleveland (79-77) at Boston (91-65) 7:05 p.m. EDTBOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox are on the verge of clinching their fifth playoff appearance in the last six years. All they have to do is figure out a way to beat Cliff Lee.
Lee will take the mound for the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday attempting to spoil the Red Sox's celebration for one more day.
Boston needs one more win or one loss by the New York Yankees (85-71) in the last six games to clinch at least the wild card. The Red Sox are 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays (93-62) in the AL East.
The Indians earned a 4-3 win in the series opener on Monday, when they took advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness from Josh Beckett to squeak across a run in the first and three more in the third. Four Cleveland pitchers combined to strand 12 Boston runners on base.
Lee (22-2, 2.41 ERA) is the leading candidate for the AL Cy Young this season by not only stranding runners, but rarely letting them reach base in the first place. The 30-year-old lefthander leads the majors in ERA and winning percentage while posting a 1.09 WHIP and a 5.23 strikeout to walk ratio.
Lee has not suffered a loss since July 6, though he has allowed nine runs and 21 hits in 14 2/3 innings over his last two starts.
The Red Sox will counter with Tim Wakefield (9-11, 4.18). The veteran knuckleballer has sandwiched two of his worst starts of the season around a win over his last three outings - tossing eight scoreless innings in the win while allowing 13 runs in four combined innings in the two setbacks.
Wakefield allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings in a no decision against the Indians on April 15.
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 9 0
BOSTON 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 x 5 9 1 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: CLE - CLIFF LEE, BRENDAN DONNELLY (8TH) AND KELLY SHOPPACH
BOS - TIM WAKEFIELD, MANNY DELCARMEN (7TH), HIDEKI
OKAJIMA (7TH), JUSTIN MASTERSON (8TH), JAVIER LOPEZ (8
Sep 23 9:54 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JASON BAY SCORED DUSTIN PEDROIA.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J BAY ON FIRST, K YOUKILIS ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 4
BOSTON 5 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J LOWRIE (.258, 0-FOR-2)
Guardians 4, Red Sox 5 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 23 8:31 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY DUSTIN PEDROIA SCORED COCO CRISP AND JACOBY
ELLSBURY.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, D PEDROIA ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 4
BOSTON 4 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: D ORTIZ (.266, 1-FOR-2)
Guardians 4, Red Sox 4 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 23 8:26 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JHONNY PERALTA SCORED SHIN-SOO CHOO.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, J PERALTA ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 4
BOSTON 2 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: V MARTINEZ (.276, 0-FOR-2)
Guardians 4, Red Sox 2 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 23 8:17 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SHIN-SOO CHOO SCORED GRADY SIZEMORE.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, S CHOO ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 3
BOSTON 2 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J PERALTA (.272, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Guardians 3, Red Sox 2 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 23 8:16 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY JAMEY CARROLL SCORED FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, G SIZEMORE ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 2
BOSTON 2 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: S CHOO (.306, 0-FOR-2)
Guardians 2, Red Sox 2 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 23 8:15 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY KEVIN YOUKILIS (27) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT
IN THE 4TH OFF CLIFF LEE SCORED DAVID ORTIZ.
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 2
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J BAY (.303, 0-FOR-1)
Guardians 0, Red Sox 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsSep 23 8:00 PM
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