BOSTON – There is light visible from the bottom of that hole in which the Red Sox sit. Don’t look now, but here come the Indians with a shovel and a pile of dirt.
The season is still going, going . . . almost gone for the Red Sox. The room for error is zilch, but at least they have another chance at home, all they could have wanted after dropping three straight in this AL Championship Series and moving to the brink of elimination.
“We’re down, we are still the underdog,” Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said yesterday, referring to Cleveland’s 3-2 series advantage. “We have to face a tough pitcher [tonight] so we’ve got to find a way to win.”
Boston’s challenge for Game 6 is Fausto Carmona, the talented right-hander whom they handled last Saturday. Would it be asking too much for a repeat? Not if you consider the Red Sox have twice battered Cleveland’s other ace, C.C. Sabathia.
But the law of averages also suggests one of Cleveland’s stud pitchers is finally going to have a Josh Beckett-like performance.
Partly because of Beckett’s heroics in Game 5, the Red Sox were at Fenway Park yesterday for a workout – most of it indoors due to rain – instead of cleaning out their lockers for the winter. It was Beckett’s dominant eight innings that led Boston’s 7-1 victory Thursday at Jacobs Field which, at the very least, denied the Indians an opportunity to celebrate a pennant clincher on their own turf.
The Red Sox have hero of postseasons past, Curt Schilling, ready to face Carmona. And as much as most of the Red Sox have avoided trying to draw a parallel to 2004, when Boston rebounded from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees to win the ALCS, Schilling openly admitted ’04 was on his mind yesterday. He was using it for inspiration.
“I went out against a team, the Yankee lineup in ’04 was as good an offense as I’ve ever faced,” Schilling said. “I was basically pitching on a broken foot with a lot less stuff than I have now and gave up one run over seven innings.
“There’s no excuse for me not to be able to go out [tonight] with what I have now, and if I can execute perfectly, I can pitch as well if not better. I’ve done a lot better in a lot worse circumstances with a lot worse stuff.”
Schilling didn’t have his best night in Game 2 against the Indians, surrendering five earned runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings, taking the no-decision as Cleveland scored seven runs in the 11th inning to win 13-6.
But Schilling did pitch a gem in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Angels, with seven shutout innings.
“I’m scared to death to go out and fail [tonight],” Schilling said. “I’m terrified of letting my teammates down and the fan base down and the organization down, because they are counting on me to survive and get past another day.”
Carmona had control problems in Game 2, walking five batters over four innings and allowing four runs, but the Red Sox are hopeful that wasn’t just an aberration.
Getting back to Home Sweet Fenway is reason enough for the Red Sox to like their chances.
“The atmosphere is going to be unbelievable,” Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said. “So if you’re not looking forward to that, you have to check yourself.”