With their 10-1 win against the New York Yankees on Sunday, the Boston Red Sox officially entered the playoffs as the American League wildcard entry. Here's how the game went down, as the editors felt that such an important game warranted minute-by-minute analysis:
2:09 - The Indians are already losing 3-0 in the third inning. An Indians' loss would guarantee the Sox a spot in the postseason.
2:10 - Derek Jeter jumps on the first pitch from Red Sox starter Curt Schilling and knocks it off the wall. He's thrown out, however, by outfielder Manny Ramirez as Jeter tries to stretch it into a double. Manny leads the majors in outfield assists, proving that they are no way to measure the strength of an outfielder's arm.
2:23 - Jaret Wright is on the mound for New York. The Red Sox must be ecstatic. What is that he's chewing in his mouth? It looks like some small animal.
2:49 - It's nice to be able to watch a game without that ridiculous split-screen featured on FOX's Saturday national broadcast. Never mind that the feature itself made it hard to follow the Red Sox-Yankees game at times, but FOX would switch to split-screen at unimportant moments early in the Cleveland game and then not do it at key times in the eighth inning. Wouldn't it make sense to make the big screen with audio the Boston game since that's what people were tuning in to watch?
2:51 - Red Sox shortstop Edgar Renteria makes a very nice play to his right to throw out Jeter. This might be his first nice defensive play of the season, so good thing it's in game 162.
3:10 - Jaret Wright cannot throw a strike. Right now he has walked the bases loaded in the third inning, and he's coming nowhere near the plate. He's just not the same guy without Atlanta Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone, but who is?
3:12 - Outfielder Trot Nixon hits a sacrifice fly and catcher Jason Varitek grounds out to end the inning. These two guys have been a big reason for Boston's success in the past, but Nixon and Varitek have absolutely disappeared this September.
3:30 - Former Boston second baseman Mark Bellhorn has substituted for Derek Jeter at shortstop in the fourth inning. It's hard to recognize Bellhorn without his long hair, but the more important development is a possible injury to the Yankees' captain. It looked like he was hurting a little after he was thrown out at second base in the first inning. If the injury is serious (though it doesn't look like it is), the Bombers could be in big trouble, as they do lack depth in their infield.
3:52 - Manny breaks the game open with a three-run homer off Yankee reliever Scott Proctor. 6-0 Boston.
3:55 - NESN cuts to a scene in the Red Sox dugout in which Schilling and Ramirez are sitting next to each other. Ramirez says something to David Ortiz, who is seated nearby. Schilling has a confused look on his face and just shakes his head as Ramirez walks away. "Polar opposites," Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy says. It must be a bit awkward because an anonymous Red Sox teammate was recently criticizing Schilling to the Boston papers. There was widespread suspicion that the teammate was Ramirez. The two also allegedly got into a shoving match earlier in the season when it was rumored Ramirez was asking for a trade. That's just Manny being Manny.
4:08 - The Indians lose to the White Sox 3-1, and the Red Sox are officially in the postseason as the wildcard. The Sox game now no longer has meaning, so feel free to move on to other, more interesting stories.
4:15 - Shawn Chacon is pitching relief for New York. He was a huge part of their comeback in September, but it's hard to understand how he's that good. He doesn't strike out a lot of people and the bottom of the Red Sox order is hitting him fairly hard. It remains to be seen whether his success, and that of Yankee journeyman Aaron Small, will continue into the postseason.
4:29 - Curt Schilling's day is done. Six innings pitched and only one run allowed. Schilling hasn't been himself this season, but he always seems to come through when needed. And Boston will need him big-time in the playoffs.
