The Angels, who have had three of their last four postseason runs spoiled by the Red Sox, took a big step towards getting the Rally Monkey off their backs with a 5-0 victory in Thursday’s ALDS Game 1.
Boston had plenty of reason to gripe after the game. Torii Hunter should have been rung up on strikes before walking to lead the bases in the third. First-base ump C.B. Bucknor missed Kevin Youkilis’ obvious tag on Howie Kendrick to extend the fourth inning. Bucknor had an even worse call in the sixth, when Youkilis had to jump off first base to make a catch. He clearly came right back down on the bag, yet Bucknor called the runner safe anyway.
That none of those plays came in innings in which the Angels scored means there won’t be any long-term controversy here. Still, those extra pitches Lester was forced to throw added up. Vladimir Guerrero should have been the first out of the fourth, not the last of the third. Jeff Mathis, the easiest out in either lineup, never should have come to the plate in the fourth, yet he made the last out after the blown call on Kendrick. Had things worked out differently, perhaps Torii Hunter never would have made it to the plate to hit his three-run homer in the fifth.
In the end, it probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway. After an encouraging first inning, the Red Sox turned in mostly atrocious at-bats against an impressive John Lackey, who pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings. The only threat was a two-out rally in the sixth, when Dustin Pedroia singled and Victor Martinez walked. Youkilis went on to work a 3-0 count and then took what was clearly ball four on the TBS pitch trax, only to have an inconsistent Joe West call it a strike. He went on to ground out, and the Red Sox put just one runner on during the final three innings.
The story of the game was Lackey’s performance. He allowed four hits, walked just the one and struck out four. Darren Oliver replaced him in the eighth and retired five in a row to end the game. It was Lackey’s first postseason victory since the 2002 World Series. He had been 0-3 in six outings since. Boston was shut out in the postseason for the first time since 1995.
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- adam - Oct 9, 2009 at 11:43 AM
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just another stupid writer trying to grab headlines with his the title and not the actual story. creating drama where it doesn’t exist to get a few more clicks from readers. you lost what little credibility you had.
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- Fecteau - Oct 9, 2009 at 11:45 AM
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That’s right! SBrown… All these loser fans acting like we’re making excuses. There’s no need to make an excuse, when there is a valid reason, rather than an excuse. The home plate and first base ump were terrible and the Red Sox had a handicap like when a really good team is playing a really bad team. I thought they were evenly matched? I guess not…
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- Fecteau - Oct 9, 2009 at 11:49 AM
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OK Adam. Any other team would have had the same coverage if they got robbed that badly. Someone broke into that game, stole all the electronics, and fencable items, and just to be a$$@#&!s they stole one of each of the ladies’ earrings so she had no pairs… That’s OK, if Anaheim needs to pay the officiating to get a win in the playoffs against the sox, then so be it…
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- D - Oct 9, 2009 at 11:57 AM
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all i can say is thats baseball. Umpires are not perfect and neither are we. Try and go ump a game like that, i bet you make one or two bad calls.
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- Crank - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:01 PM
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Bottomline is Red Sox fans need to stop crying. I’m so sick of articles like this for the Red Sox and Yankees. It’s not the end of the world that they were on the wrong end of some bad calls. Boo hoo. It happens to every team way too much. There needs to be some kind of disciplinary action against guys like Marsh and definitely Angel Hernandez who make bad calls regularly. The head of the umps at MLB, in response to the horrible Inge call on Tuesday, was that he wasn’t watching the game but traveling…are you kidding me? Then he said Marsh has umped over 4000 games so he’s sure he made an accurate call. Absolutely an ignorant statement.
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- Al - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:02 PM
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Who is this idiot? Another B-sox whiner who has already forgotten the recent W series wins by the sox? He sounds like he’s ready to usher in another era of “poor us, we haven’t won in forever”. He should shut his trap, or in this case break his hands and deal with it. None of those calls resulted in runs and you want to talk extra pitches due to bad ref calls? how about when Lackey had to keep pitching after striking a batter out only to have a bogus interference call made in favor of the Baked Beans.
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- Al - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:03 PM
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Who is this idiot? Another B-sox whiner who has already forgotten the recent W series wins by the sox? He sounds like he’s ready to usher in another era of “poor us, we haven’t won in forever”. He should shut his trap, or in this case break his hands and deal with it. None of those calls resulted in runs and you want to talk extra pitches due to bad ref calls? how about when Lackey had to keep pitching after striking a batter out only to have a bogus interference call made in favor of the Baked Beans.
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- oswego steve - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:07 PM
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No doubt the author is a Red Sox fan…..more than likely blood-relative of Kevin “whiner” Youkilis. Nice title to the story….that shows the degree of bias of the author. If you are going to write something, do it professionally and objectively. You point out, after your un-professional title, that the umpire errors were in innings in which the Angels didn’t score…only to use it to say that it cost Lester more pitches…yet, Lester will be the first to tell you that he wasn’t tired, he just sucked in the game…plain and simple…..the Red Sux were flat-out out-pitched and out-played….live with it and keep your opinions between you and your GI Joes…..
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- coldharbor - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:09 PM
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How can a team lose 5-0, be completely dominated, and blame the umps for the loss? I understand complaining if a team loses by one run or if there is a call that clearly changes the outcome, but that didn’t happen here. I hate bad officiating and these umps should be called out for it, but this is ridiculous.
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- BaseballFan - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:11 PM
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I believe the Angels team is done with the scorring for the rest of the series… its RedSox’s turn to score all the runs in the next three games. Angels can never beat RedSox in post season.
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- DrewUNCC - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:35 PM
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The complaint was they wouldn’t make calls in Boston. They were playing in Anaheim last night and don’t be bitter when your team loses. I know Boston fans are horrible people but at least have some pride.
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- Baseball Fan - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:38 PM
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The Angels have had so many bad calls against them and Boston have so many called for them that I see this as payback.
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- BostonRob - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:38 PM
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Hey arse wipe.
Guess what – nobody’s blaming the umps. It goes both ways. You seem to be blaming the Sox fans. Get your head outta your arse – show my one of your so called whines here where a sox fan is saying the umps blew the game!
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- Mike G - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:42 PM
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I love the East Coast bias constantly demonstrated on this web site by the so called sports writers. Unless the umps were pitching batting practice to the Angels before the game, they had nothing to do with that 5-0 beatdown suffered by your beloved Sox. Boston, get ready for the next 86 year drought.
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- Jason - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:44 PM
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DugoutNut,
True, but the play in question was at third, so his foot leaving the bag with the tag still applied would result in an out.
That being said, one of the great things about this game is the human element. Umps will make bad calls, players, managers and fans will always see those calls through their own rose colored glasses.
I’d rather deal with a few bad calls than a play review everytime someone feels they were robbed by an ump.
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- WestCoaster - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:44 PM
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You have to cross the plate to win…the Sox didn’t and didn’t. Here’s another example of an east coast [s]whiner[/s] writer grumbling again when a west coat team wins. Enough already. We’ll see how it works out. That’s why its[i]best of five[/i].
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- Mark - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:50 PM
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whine, whine, whine. Get those Soston red socks soaked with tears. Just play the game.
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- Fecteau - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:50 PM
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Whatever you’re smoking, Al, pass it along… I haven’t gotten psychadelic in years..
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- Ladyfan - Oct 9, 2009 at 12:56 PM
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Thank you Coldharbor, it’s good to see that someone can refrain from getting melodramatic. Having been a baseball fan in general for years (I love to watch ANY good matchup), and having been a part of Red Sox nation for the same amount of time, I know that YOU all know that the umpiring in the major leagues has been absolutely horrifying for ALL teams for several years now. We Red Sox get just as many breaks from them, over the course of a season, as we do bad calls, and I think that goes for most of the major league teams. I’m a diehard fan dedicated to my team, but the plain simple truth is, we were outplayed last night by a team who brought their A game. I hope we bring our A game to the plate next time, because if we don’t, we don’t deserve to win. Champions win when it counts, adversity or bad calls notwithstanding, because they FIND a way to win. Usually, the Red Sox do find a way. I have faith that they will do so again, but if they do not this year, please people, don’t embarass the rest of Red Sox Nation with your excuses.
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- edgy - Oct 9, 2009 at 1:01 PM
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Had things worked out differently, perhaps Torii Hunter never would have made it to the plate to hit his three-run homer in the fifth.
Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a wagon – Montgomery Scott.
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- Fecteau - Oct 9, 2009 at 1:02 PM
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Drew,
To call Boston fans horrible is total BS. Got to love that mentality that the Red Sox fans are the new Yankee fans. First off, we grabbed a few players from Free Agency to try to keep up with the Spankees. The best talent and future of the team (Youk, Lester, Paps, Ellsbury, Pedroia) are all BoSox draft picks.
Having pride? This is the entire reason we complain when a game like this happens. These umpires are getting paid very good money to do what they do, the least they could do is make an effort. I hear people say everyone makes mistakes, but the 1st base ump made SEVERAL, as well as the umpire. The sox should have had 3 more walks than they had and that along with the blown calls made this game more difficult for the Sox to compete.
Oh, and I imagine since you trashed RedSoxGirl for making a comment about Scioscia that you’re an Angel fan. Again, back to pride, what about winning the division and spraying champagne all over Adenharts jersey… The guy who was killed by a drunk driver… I rest my case, about having pride…
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- Shely - Oct 9, 2009 at 1:17 PM
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And they are telling Wainwright to stop whining. How about all the Sox fans and the team? The best advice I can give these losers is next time, try to score at least ONE RUN, then you will have a chance of winning.
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- sbrown - Oct 9, 2009 at 1:26 PM
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hey that’s why they have challenges in football. its time to get technology to get umpires to realized they DO make mistakes.
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- sbrown - Oct 9, 2009 at 1:33 PM
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It isnt about the player… the umps are ruining the game! It sucks.
1. there should be video challenges like in football
2. it DOES MATTER! Momentum is a big part of the game. If the umps are leaning against you… it changes the momentum.
3. The God-like attitude of these totally falable umps has to be fixed. These guys make at least one error a game.
4. How about a replacement ump. When a pitcher fails, he’s pulled. When an umps fails like last night (really badly) he should be pulled.
5. Do the umps take drug tests? maybe that’s the reason for last night’s bad calls
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- Petey15 - Oct 9, 2009 at 1:39 PM
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Right on, sista. See, Scioscia, home teams do get the benefit of the doubt and calls do go in their favor.
That said, the Sox looked horrible last night. Grounders to first aren’t going to win games.
