Game 3: All I Need is a Miracle

What an intense game. I'd like to thank the Angels for helping me with my weight loss program. I lost 7 pounds in sweat last night while waiting for the Halos to win it. Of course I put that weight back on by nervously eating various snack foods all evening. I also developed an ulcer. I withdraw my thanks.

Still, that was quite a contest. I was sure at 483 different moments that the Red Sox were about to win it. That has nothing to do with lacking faith, or hope, or belief or whatever. It also has nothing to do with the quality of our relievers, who, by most objective measures, are pretty darn good. It has everything to do with the fact that the Red Sox had beaten us in the playoffs 11 times in a row and seemed to always be able to pull off that win.

Pretty much all of the at bats in the 10th were nerve-wracking (thank you and your 62 saves, K-Rod). Youkilis, Bay, Lowell, Lowrie...I was sure all of them were going to end it. Lowell's at bat in particular made me nervous, although I'm not sure why. I guess I just figured it would be some dinky single that did it this year. Pedroia was up with a man in scoring position in the 11th. They walked Ortiz for the 9th time that game in the 12th inning.

But the relievers held firm. What a game.

Player of the game: Easily Mike Napoli. He had a rough start in game 1 when everyone was expecting him to continue his September (OPS in September? 1.414. Wow), further "justifying" Scioscia starting Mathis in game 2. But man did he explode in this game. Two absolute BOMBS off of Beckett that silenced the Boston crowd. And then he went ahead and scored the winning run.

Unsung hero: Scot Shields. The ESPN game recap link is titled: "Napoli's bat, K-Rod's arm help Halos avoid sweep." Except Shields was the one who threw 2 and a third scoreless innings, not allowing a baserunner and striking out three. That was huge. (Anyone care to take a guess as to Shields's career ERA in Fenway? 13.85 in 13 innings. Yeah...)

Game changing play: Aybar's single in the top of the 12th to score Napoli. I'd like to say that I was sure that the Angels would pull this out in extra innings, but that's not true at all. Aybar's single was the first time I let myself dare to hope.

The "Johnny Damon Award for Best Throw from Center" goes to...Coco Crisp! This is his first "Caveman."

Coco: I'd like to thank my sister and my grandma for teaching me how to throw. I love you guys! And thanks to God for not letting anyone's criticism get me down. You helped keep me going.

Play that would have been game changing and also would have caused most Angels fans to become alcoholics: That stupid pop up in the 2nd inning. We were debating whether this play would give Howie Kendrick the honor of having the worst postseason ever. He's packed a lot of awfulness into three games. This is not to exonerate Torii Hunter, who should have called that ball all the way. Torii gave up on it, thinking Kendrick had it. I still think more of the blame goes to Kendrick who was closer to the ball and looked like he would get it the whole time. This totally ruined a solid start by Saunders. We were joking in the 11th inning (at which point we'd become mostly hysterical) that Saunders was probably on his second bottle of Jack Daniels in the clubhouse and was going to brawl with Kendrick as soon as the game was over.

Biggest mystery: The strike zone. Did anyone have any idea where exactly this was? I'm also giving a big runner up to the "K-Zone" or whatever they call it on TBS. On one low, inside pitch to Garret Anderson, they brought up K-Zone and I was sure they were going to show the pitch going right down the middle.

Chip Caray: Well, it looks like the umpire missed that one. K-Zone shows a strike there.

Buck Martinez: Well Chip, the replay shows that this pitch actually grazed Garret Anderson's kneecap, but his knee must have been hovering over the middle of the plate, because that's clearly a strike according to K-Zone.

Chip: Well, that's just a professional, big league K-Zone. What a gamer that K-Zone is.

Angel grades:

Everyone gets an A, except for Mike Napoli and Shields, who both get an A+. I'm feeling generous.

Final word:

It's hard to believe that the Angels still have to win two more games. That one should be worth two. Still, I don't anticipate a let down tonight. In fact, I think this win will give them confidence, since they haven't been able to do anything against Boston so far in the playoffs. This broke the seal, so to speak. Plus they've got their ace Lackey going for them tonight and last time he was in Boston, he came two outs away from a no hitter. Let's hope we see that again.