Turning Point
Leads, especially early leads, have been harder to come by in this American League Championship Series than an A-Rod fan in Dallas. Or one in Boston, for that matter. The Red Sox found one Tuesday -- the early lead, not the A-Rod booster -- during a two-out rally in the fourth inning.
Yankees starter Jon Lieber had wiggled his way out of trouble with the aid of a couple of double plays in the second and third innings and, in the fourth, looked like he was finally settling down. The big right-hander got David Ortiz and Trot Nixon on meek groundouts, but Kevin Millar crushed a two-out double down the left field line to begin the hostilities.
Catcher Jason Varitek came to the plate and promptly looked at two strikes. But he fought back, fouling off four pitches at one time -- including one when he took his hand off the bat to call timeout but didn't get it. On the 10th pitch, he reached out and smacked a low-and-away sinker to left center for a run-scoring single for the game's first run.
Orlando Cabrera followed by ripping a single to left on the first pitch he saw, bringing up Mark Bellhorn, Boston's second baseman. Bellhorn, who had hit into the double play in the second, already had struck out 10 times in 21 at-bats in the series. But he took a 1-2 fastball from Lieber and pushed it down the left-field line for a three-run homer.
The umpires didn't originally see it as a homer -- it barely cleared the wall and bounced off a fan back onto the field -- but they conferred and finally made the right call. And the Red Sox had all they'd need.
From the Bench
Why did Terry Francona pull Curt Schilling after seven innings, with the right-hander absolutely dealing against the Yanks? It was the pitcher's call, evidently. "Well, when you see Schill tell the umpire after the inning 'good job,' I'm not sending him back out," Francona said. ... What a bush-league move by Alex Rodriguez, by the way, trying to knock the ball out of reliever Bronson Arroyo's glove on a slow roller down the first-base line in the eighth inning. It was reminiscent of the hook Robert Fick put on first baseman Eric Karros in last year's division series between the Braves and Cubs. That play pretty much got Fick run from Atlanta. You can bet A-Rod won't get run. ... On the other hand, Arroyo wasn't all that torn up about it. "You gotta do what you gotta do," the young right-hander said. "I wouldn't be disappointed if one of our guys did the same thing." ... Arroyo, the man who came in for Schilling, gave up a double to Miguel Cairo and a run-scoring single to Derek Jeter in the eighth, but got A-Rod on the weak grounder and then induced a weaker popout from Gary Sheffield to end the inning. ... Nice performance from the Yankee Stadium crowd, which pelted the field with all sorts of trash after the call went against A-Rod in the critical eighth inning. The call the crowd was whining about, of course, turned out to be the right one.
Clubhouse Confidential
Tuesday was the 51st meeting between the two teams in the past two years. The teams had split the previous 50, with the Red Sox outscoring the Yankees 271-269. ... The Yankees are concerned about first baseman John Olerud, who injured his instep in Game 4 when he hit himself with the bat on a swing. ... Johnny Damon's one hit in his five at-bats raised his average in this series to .103. ... In the past three games, the Boston bullpen has allowed two earned runs in 16 2/3 innings, which figures out to a 1.07 ERA.
Bottom Line
Curt Schilling is a stud. Plain and simple. His performance in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium should be placed among the most courageous in sports history. I mean, stitching up his ankle so he can pitch? He's a monster. A fricking Frankenstein with a fastball.
Schilling won't help the Red Sox on Wednesday, but he did his part by going seven full innings on his bad ankle. That leaves Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield fresh, and many others should be able to put in some innings. Keith Foulke looked pretty gassed, so don't count on the closer for more than an inning. But, at this point, just about everyone else is fair game.
The Yankees, too, will be fresher than they were in Game 6, mainly because of Lieber, who went 7 1/3 innings. Kevin Brown could start for Joe Torre's bunch, but the skipper will also have the long-innings services of guys like Javier Vazquez and, to a lesser extent, Esteban Loaiza. Mariano Rivera did not pitch in Game 6 either, so he could go two innings, too.
What it comes down to is another classic Game 7, to be played on guts and guile with a whole lot of pitching changes.
Just like it was planned.
