Spring Fever: WBC Dominance

We've seen this sort of thing before during All-Star games. It's unsettling, unnerving, and just plain wrong. Yet, there's something about Yankees and Red Sox players high-fiving eachother that pulls on the heart strings. It's opposing sides united for the cause. It's a beautiful thing.

Even youngster Dustin Pedroia is in on it, hanging a poster of Derek Jeter’s deodorant ad in his locker.

Rays In, Red Sox Out

In one of the more entertaining ALCS playoff series this year, the Tampa Bay Rays finally drove the last nail into the Boston Red Sox coffin tonight as they won 3-1, overpowering the intimidating offense with amazing pitching by starter Matt Garza, and relief pitching including September newcomer David Price, who earned the save.

Jon Lester also offered up a pretty sweet pitching effort but the Rays' bats hit enough to bring in the three runs to win the game. Wille Aybar pulled out the long ball against Lester in the seventh inning and represented the 26th home run in this ALCS, breaking the record by one run for home runs hit in a single LCS. Cool.

Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Braun Honored as Newbies

Dustin Pedroia didn't let his broken hand and small stature keep him from kicking ass and taking names this season, which made him the sure-fire winner of the American League's Rookie of the Year award.

The Boston Red Sox second baseman hit an outstanding .317 with 8 homers and 50 RBIs, tallying 24 of the 28 first-place votes to beat out Tampa Bay Rays' outfielder Delmon Young in the Baseball Writers' Association of America voting.

Pedroia's baseball card lists him as a munificent 5-foot-9, which is an out-right lie, but seems to help him fend off nicknames like "little guy," "shortypants" and "small fry."

Meanwhile, Milwaukee Brewers youngster third baseman Ryan Braun edged Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki by just two points for the National League honor, receiving 17 of 32 first-place votes.

The sweet-swinging Brew Crew rookie, who was called up from the AAA Nashville Sounds in late May, hit .324 with 34 bombs and 97 RBIs this season. He led all NL players with a .634 slugging percentage -- the highest by a rookie in big league history -- but was short on plate appearances to qualify for the title.

[Boston Globe]

Rookies Make it Happen for Boston

Sitting one game within a World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies, the Boston Red Sox are more than a force to be reckoned with... it seems they simply can't be stopped.

Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out five through 5.1 innings of shutout baseball, behind the hot bats of rookies Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, who went a combined 7-for-10 with 2 RBIs a piece at the top of the order.

Ellsbury became the first rookie in 61 years to have four hits in a Series game, nailing three of Boston's seven doubles. Pedroia's three hits included the bunt single that sparked a six-run third against Rockies starter Josh Fogg, who lasted just 2 outs into the inning.

Fogg was tagged for 6 runs and 2 walks, and allowed 12 of the 19 batters he faced to reach. Ouch... not the performance you'd like to see from your starter.

Down 6-0, Colorado came back with two runs in the sixth and got within a run when Matt Holliday -- who can only do so much -- hit a three-run bomb in the seventh on Hideki Okajima's first pitch.

However, they were unable to make a full recovery. Ellsbury fisted an RBI double down the right-field line in the eighth and Pedroia followed with a two-run double to made it 9-5. Jason Varitek added a sacrifice fly for good measure in the ninth for a final score of 10-5.

The game took 4 hours and 19 minutes; the longest nine-inning game in Series history. The Rockies will get one more shot at Coors Field Sunday night behind right-hander Aaron Cook against lefty Jon Lester and the surging Sox, who are aiming for their seventh Championship and second in three years.

All 22 previous teams, including the Red Sox, that took a 3-0 World Series lead went on to win, with 19 of them sweeping. Can the Rockies overcome the odds, or is there a "There's Always Next Year" post in their future?

[ESPN]