JACOBY ELLSBURY

A POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
 2007 WORLD SERIES, GAME #3
Ellsbury and Pedroia drive the Sox home

October 27, 2007 ... The Sox took a six-run lead, then held off the Colorado Rockies, 10-5, in Game 3 of the 103d World Series before a crowd of 49,983 blissfully unaware of the real meaning of the white towels they waved with such fervor when this one started. The Series feels more like coronation than contest. The Sox hold a commanding 3-0 lead and the reeling Rockies know that the only team in baseball history to recover from such a deficit was the Boston Red Sox of 2004. Small comfort when your source of inspiration is sitting in the opposite dugout.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, rookies who were otherwise engaged when the Sox won, rescued the Sox with back-to-back doubles in the eighth inning, fueling a three-run rally after the Rockies had drawn to within 6-5. Ellsbury (four hits) and Pedroia (three) combined to score three runs and drive in four, justifying manager Terry Francona's willingness to make them the first rookies ever to bat 1-2 in a Series lineup. Ellsbury became the third rookie in Series history with four hits in a game, joining Fred Lindstrom of the New York Giants (Game 5, 1924) and Joe Garagiola of the Cardinals (Game 4, 1946).

The Sox added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Jason Varitek to make it 10-5. Jonathan Papelbon got four outs to close it out. The game last 4 hours 19 minutes, the longest nine-inning game in World Series history.

Whatever hopes the locals entertained of a purple reign appeared to vanish in a hail of 10 Red Sox hits in the first three innings. Ellsbury doubled twice in a six-run third inning, and Daisuke Matsuzaka delivered a two-run single for his first major league hit, a true Monster mash for the Japanese pitcher who came to America with that nickname and only enhanced his stature on both sides of the Big Pond.

Matsuzaka, pitching with a confidence renewed by winning Game 7 of the AL Championship Series against the Indians, took a three-hit shutout into the sixth, but was lifted after issuing one-out walks to Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins. A Gold Glover in Japan, Matsuzaka also made a nice play afield in the first inning, trapping former Seibu Lions teammate Kaz Matsui off second base after making a nice backhanded stab of Matt Holliday's comebacker.

The Rockies were an endearing underdog entering the Series, having improbably climbed from fourth place in the National League West in mid-September to wild-card entry by winning a play-in elimination game against the Padres. The Rockies through five innings looked like a team that took an eight-day vacation and never came back. Colorado manager Clint Hurdle managed the third inning like he was stuck in a chaise longue, inexplicably leaving in starting pitcher Josh Fogg until after Matsuzaka singled and Ellsbury followed with his second double, scoring Julio Lugo to make it 6-0. Hopes of winning their first World Series in their 14-year history go back in the humidor with the unused baseballs, unless the Rockies can duplicate the Sox feat of coming back from an 0-3 deficit in the '04 ALCS against the Yankees, the only time that has occurred in big league annals.

Pedroia followed Ellsbury's first double by bunting in front of the mound and beating it out, a moment's hesitation by catcher Yorvit Torrealba compounded by a high throw to first. Pedroia was credited with a single as Ellsbury took third. David Ortiz, the newly minted first baseman because manager Terry Francona couldn't use a DH, doubled into the right-field corner, Ellsbury scoring and Pedroia taking third.

Manny Ramirez was walked intentionally to load the bases, but Mike Lowell grounded a 2-and-1 pitch up the middle for a two-run single, giving the Sox third baseman 14 RBIs in 13 postseason games. J.D. Drew popped to short, but Jason Varitek lined a single to left. Ramirez's stutter-step into third, followed by a wide turn, gave Holliday just enough time to nail Ramirez on a close play at the plate. But there was no letup in the Sox' onslaught. Lugo walked, reloading the bases, and Matsuzaka, 0 for 4 in the regular season, shot a ground ball through the left side, scoring Lowell and Varitek to make it 5-0. Ellsbury's double to center finished off Fogg.

The Rockies, who were held to a run in each of the first two games and had not scored since the first inning of Game 2, broke through after Matsuzaka was lifted in the sixth. Brad Hawpe greeted reliever Javier Lopez with a bloop single over shortstop, Helton scoring, and Torrealba grounded a base hit up the middle to make it 6-2.

Francona went to his bullpen again, summoning Mike Timlin. Pinch hitter Ryan Spilborghs drove Ellsbury to the track in center with a fly ball for the inning's second out, and Lugo short-circuited a big inning when he climbed high into Denver's thin air to bring pinch hitter Jeff Baker's line drive back to earth. Lugo also had made a run-saving play in the fifth, backhanding a ball in the hole and flipping off balance to Lowell at third for an inning-ending force.

But that only delayed the Rockies' comeback. Kaz Matsui, who had singled off Matsuzaka to lead off the first, dropped a bunt that died in fair territory about 20 feet down the third base line for a base hit. Colorado rookie Troy Tulowitzki followed with a base hit, and Francona called for Hideki Okajima, who had been unscored upon in six previous postseason appearances (9 2/3 innings). That lasted one pitch, Holliday crushing an "amai tama," which means "sweet ball" and is the Japanese way to describe a cookie, over the center-field wall.

Ellsbury became just the second big leaguer in Series history to double twice in an inning, joining Arizona's Matt Williams, who did it in 2001.

If the Red Sox are unable to taste champagne after Game 4, they'll play again with Josh Beckett taking the mound. At this hour the best pitcher in baseball, Beckett has won five consecutive postseason starts and hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of the outings.