In two games at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field this week, the Chicago White Sox shut down the Boston Red Sox, quickly taking a commanding lead in the American League Divisional Series.
By winning 14-2 on Tuesday and 5-4 in Wednesday's contest, the White Sox hold a 2-0 lead in the series and are one win away from winning their first postseason series since 1917. That win could come this afternoon, when the team's face off at 4:05 p.m. Game 1 was a matchup between Chicago's Jose Contreras and Boston's Matt Clement. Contreras ended the regular season with eight consecutive wins, while the struggling Clement had been winless since Sept. 3.
Clement ran into early trouble in the bottom of the first inning, as a two-out rally brought home five runs. A.J. Pierzynski led the way for the Sox with a three-run homer.
Chicago never looked back, scoring eight runs against Clement and knocking him out in the fourth, and later terrorizing Red Sox relievers Jeremi Gonzalez and Bronson Arroyo. Pierzynski finished the game 3-3 with two homers and scored four of the White Sox' 14 runs.
In Game 2, the Red Sox' offense came surging back right away as slugger Manny Ramirez hit a two-run single in the first inning. Meanwhile, starting pitcher David Wells kept the White Sox' bats quiet through the first four innings, and Boston widened its lead to 4-0 with two runs in the third.
Everything unraveled for Wells in the fifth, as Chicago started off with hits from Carl Everett, Aaron Rowand and Joe Crede. Juan Uribe followed with a routine grounder to second baseman Tony Graffanino, which should have been an inning-ending double play.
But Graffanino let the ball roll through his legs, instantly bringing back memories of the infamous Bill Buckner error of the 1986 World Series. The White Sox capitalized on the error, as Tadahito Iguchi gave Chicago the lead with a three-run blast to left field.
Thanks to starter Mark Buerhle and a strong outing from reliever Bobby Jenks, the White Sox held on for a 5-4 victory, sending the series to Fenway with a 2-0 lead for the visiting Pale Hoes.
For the White Sox, the current situation is uncharted territory. It's been 88 years since the team has come this close to winning a playoff series, as the club's history includes several crushing defeats in the American League playoffs. This year's team, the AL's best with 99 wins, has a chance to rewrite history.
For Boston, however, this kind of deficit is nothing new. The Red Sox have faced several postseason setbacks in recent years, and have responded to each. The 1999 Sox fell into a 0-2 hole against the Cleveland Indians, and came back to win the best-of-five series. The 2003 team did the same against the Oakland Athletics in the first round.
And of course, last year's Red Sox became the first team ever to rally from a 0-3 deficit and win a postseason series. While these kinds of comebacks may appear a long shot for most teams, the Red Sox are not most teams, and this kind of turnaround is becoming routine for Boston.
Freddy Garcia will start for Chicago this afternoon against Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. If Boston wins, Game 4 will be played tomorrow afternoon at the Fens, and a deciding Game 5, if necessary, will occur Sunday night, back in Chicago at the Cell.
