2007 American League Championship Series

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2007 American League Championship Series
Fox (United States)
MLB International (International)
TV announcersJoe Buck, Tim McCarver, and Ken Rosenthal (Fox)
Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
RadioESPN
Radio announcersJon Miller and Joe Morgan
ALDS
(3–1)
← 2006 ALCS 2008 →

The 2007

Central Division champion Cleveland Indians
. The Red Sox came back from a 3–1 deficit to defeat the Indians 4–3, outscoring them 30–5 over the final three games of the Series.

The Red Sox had swept the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in three games in the AL Division Series, while the Indians had defeated the New York Yankees three games to one. The series marks the fourth postseason meeting of the two teams, following the 1995 and 1998 AL Division Series, both of which were won by the Indians, and the 1999 ALDS
, won by the Red Sox (in a similar fashion to this series). It was the eighth ALCS appearance for Boston, and the fourth for Cleveland.

The Red Sox would go on to sweep the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, winning their seventh World Series championship.

The series was broadcast on

Fox
television.

Summary

Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians

Boston won the series, 4–3.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 12 Cleveland Indians – 3, Boston Red Sox – 10 Fenway Park 3:35 36,986[2] 
2 October 13 Cleveland Indians – 13, Boston Red Sox – 6 (11) Fenway Park 5:14 37,051[3] 
3 October 15 Boston Red Sox – 2, Cleveland Indians – 4
Jacobs Field
 3:28 44,402[4] 
4 October 16 Boston Red Sox – 3, Cleveland Indians – 7 Jacobs Field 3:12 44,008[5] 
5 October 18 Boston Red Sox – 7, Cleveland Indians – 1 Jacobs Field 3:46 44,588[6] 
6 October 20 Cleveland Indians – 2, Boston Red Sox – 12 Fenway Park 3:09 37,163[7] 
7 October 21 Cleveland Indians – 2, Boston Red Sox – 11 Fenway Park 3:33 37,165[8]

Game summaries

Game 1

October 12, 2007 7:11 pm (EDT) at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts 53 °F (12 °C), clear
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 8 0
Boston 1 0 4 0 3 2 0 0 X 10 12 0
WP: Josh Beckett (1–0)   LP: CC Sabathia (0–1)
Home runs:
CLE: Travis Hafner (1)
BOS: None

In Game 1, the

Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the inning off of CC Sabathia on three straight one-out singles by Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez. In the third, the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out on a double, walk, and hit by pitch before Ramirez walked to force in a run, then Mike Lowell's ground-rule double scored two more. After Bobby Kielty was intentionally walked, Jason Varitek's groundout put Boston up 5–1. In the fifth, the Red Sox again loaded the bases on a single and two walks when Kielty's single scored two with Lowell being tagged out at third. Jensen Lewis relieved Sabathia and allowed an RBI double to Varitek. Sabathia was charged with eight runs on seven hits in 4+1⁄3 innings. Casey Blake doubled to lead off the top of the sixth and scored on Asdrúbal Cabrera's single one out later. Dustin Pedroia and Youkilis hit back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Aaron Fultz relieved Lewis and walked two to load the bases and force in a run. Tom Mastny relieved Fultz and allowed a sacrifice fly to Lowell to put the Red Sox up 10–2. The Indians scored their last run in the top of the eighth off of Javier López when Blake hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a fly out, and scored on Cabrera's sacrifice fly. They loaded the bases with two outs off of Éric Gagné in the ninth, but Grady Sizemore
struck out on a full count to end the game as the Red Sox went up 1–0 in the series.

Game 2

October 13, 2007 8:23 pm (EDT) at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts 56 °F (13 °C), mostly clear
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Cleveland 1 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 7 13 17 0
Boston 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 10 0
Manny Ramírez (1), Mike Lowell
(1)

Game 2 was billed as a matchup of aces in 19-game winner

Eric Gagne. What made the base hit significant was that Nixon has historically struggled against left-handed pitching, but manager Eric Wedge left Nixon in to hit against López, and the move paid off. A wild pitch allowed another run to score. After retiring Víctor Martínez, López gave up a single to Ryan Garko and was lifted for Jon Lester, the only pitcher left in the Boston bullpen. Lester did not fare much better; Peralta greeted him with a run-scoring double, which was followed one out later by Franklin Gutiérrez
's three-run homer, capping the scoring as the Indians took Game 2 by a score of 13–6, tying the series heading to Cleveland.

Game 3

October 15, 2007 7:10 pm (
Cleveland, Ohio
69 °F (21 °C), mostly cloudy
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 7 0
Cleveland 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 X 4 6 1
WP: Jake Westbrook (1–0)   LP: Daisuke Matsuzaka (0–1)   Sv: Joe Borowski (1)
Home runs:
BOS: Jason Varitek (1)
CLE: Kenny Lofton (1)

Coming off a lopsided 13–6 loss in 11 innings, Boston sent

regular season
, shut the door on the Sox, giving the Indians a 2–1 lead in the series.

Game 4

October 16, 2007 8:22 pm (
Cleveland, Ohio
66 °F (19 °C), overcast
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 8 1
Cleveland 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 X 7 9 0
Manny Ramírez (2)
CLE: Casey Blake (1), Jhonny Peralta
(2)

After being confounded for four innings by Tim Wakefield's knuckleball, the Indians scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth in Game 4. Casey Blake led off the inning with a homer off Wakefield, Franklin Gutiérrez singled, Kelly Shoppach was hit by a pitch, and Grady Sizemore reached on a fielder's choice. After Kevin Youkilis bobbled and dropped a foul ball, Asdrúbal Cabrera reached on an infield single as Gutiérrez scored. Travis Hafner struck out, and then Víctor Martínez hit an RBI single to left. At that point, Boston skipper Terry Francona yanked Wakefield for reliever Manny Delcarmen, who gave up an opposite-field home run to Jhonny Peralta on a 2–1 pitch. Kenny Lofton followed with a single, then stole second—his 34th career postseason stolen base, passing Rickey Henderson for first place on the all-time list—and scored on Blake's second base hit of the inning. Gutiérrez struck out to end the inning, but the Indians had already scored seven runs—the second time in this series in which the Indians plated seven in one inning. This also marks the third consecutive game in this ALCS wherein Boston's starter lasted only 4+2⁄3 innings.
The Red Sox answered immediately when Youkilis and

Manny Ramírez followed with another homer—the Red Sox' third consecutive home run, something that had never before been accomplished in LCS history—in the top of the sixth inning. However, that would be all the offense the Red Sox could muster as the Indians took a three games to one lead in the series behind Lewis and fellow reliever Rafael Betancourt
.

Game 5

October 18, 2007 8:23 pm (
Cleveland, Ohio
70 °F (21 °C), clear
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 0 7 12 1
Cleveland 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 1
WP: Josh Beckett (2–0)   LP: CC Sabathia (0–2)
Home runs:
BOS: Kevin Youkilis (2)
CLE: None

Manny Ramírez RBI single, scoring David Ortiz from first. On the play, Ramírez stopped at first base believing the ball hit beyond the yellow line on the outfield wall, but after discussion among the six umpires, the home run was disallowed and Ramírez was left at first with a single. Meanwhile, Josh Beckett pitched eight dominant innings for the Red Sox, and collected 11 strikeouts, tying a career post-season high. Dustin Pedroia doubled to lead off the seventh and scored on Kevin Youkilis's triple. Rafael Betancourt relieved Sabathia and allowed a sacrifice fly to Ortiz to put Boston up 4–1. Next inning, Boston loaded the bases off of Rafael Perez on a walk, error, and single. Tom Mastny relieved Perez and threw a passed ball to Pedroia that let one run score. Mastny then walked Pedroia and Youkilis to reload the bases and force in another run. Ortiz's sacrifice fly then scored Boston's final run. Jonathan Papelbon
pitched a scoreless ninth despite allowing a double and walk as the Red Sox's 7–1 win ensured a return trip to Boston for Game 6.

Game 6

October 20, 2007 8:24 pm (EDT) at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts 67 °F (19 °C), mostly clear
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 2
Boston 4 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 X 12 13 0
Fausto Carmona (0–1)
Home runs:
CLE: Víctor Martínez (1)
BOS: J. D. Drew
(1)

After

Manny Ramírez and got Mike Lowell to pop out, but J. D. Drew then hit a grand slam to center field to give Boston a 4–0 lead. Víctor Martínez got the Tribe on the board with a lead-off home run to cut the Sox lead to three. The Sox had a chance to pile on more runs in the bottom of the inning but a key double play ended the threat. The Indians threatened in the top of the third after two hits to lead off the inning but Schilling got the next three batters to work out of it. The Sox put the game away with a six-run explosion in the bottom of the inning. After two leadoff walks, Drew drove in his fifth run of the game with a single in the third inning that ended Carmona's pitching that night. Jacoby Ellsbury followed with another single off of Rafael Perez, driving in Boston's sixth run. Julio Lugo then drove a double down the third-base line to make it 8–1. After a walk, Youkilis added two more with a single compounded with a throwing error to make it 10–1. Ryan Garko started the top of the seventh with a triple and scored on a Jhonny Peralta sacrifice fly, but that would be all the offense Cleveland could muster against Schilling on the night. The Red Sox scored two more runs in the eighth off of Joe Borowski
when Youkilis walked with one out, moved to third on Ortiz's double and scored on Ramirez's sacrifice fly before Lowell's RBI single scored their final run, tying the series at three games apiece.

Game 7

October 21, 2007 8:24 pm (EDT) at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts 65 °F (18 °C), clear
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 1
Boston 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 6 X 11 15 1
WP: Daisuke Matsuzaka (1–1)   LP: Jake Westbrook (1–1)   Sv: Jonathan Papelbon (1)
Home runs:
CLE: None
BOS: Dustin Pedroia (1), Kevin Youkilis (3)

The pitching matchup for Game 7 was a rematch of Game 3, featuring

Red Sox returned Cleveland's favor from Game 5 by playing "It Ends Tonight" before the game, poking fun at the Indians' untimely prediction. In the first three innings, Matsuzaka looked like the more dominant starting pitcher of the night retiring the first eight batters he faced before giving up a base hit to number-nine hitter Casey Blake; he then struck out Grady Sizemore to end the inning. Meanwhile, during those same first three innings, Westbrook gave up seven hits, one walk (intentionally), and three runs (on Manny Ramirez's RBI single in the first after two leadoff singles, Julio Lugo's double play in the second after a leadoff single and double, and Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly in the third with two on). Westbrook settled down and pitched three shutout innings, striking out four, and their offense began to take advantage of Matsuzaka putting up single runs in the top of the fourth (on Ryan Garko's RBI double after a Travis Hafner double) and fifth (on Grady Sizemore's sacrifice fly). Boston's top two relief pitchers took over after Matsuzaka's exit following the fifth inning; Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon
were able to hold Indians hitters scoreless over the final four frames, giving up just four hits combined, all singles.

In the seventh inning with one out and Kenny Lofton at second base, Franklin Gutiérrez singled over the third base bag, into foul territory, with the ball ricocheting back into left field off the infamous angular foul territory fence of Fenway Park. Shortstop Julio Lugo and outfielder Manny Ramirez went after the ball. As he was about to turn toward home plate, third base coach Joel Skinner held Lofton at third. The Indians' at-bat ended when Casey Blake hit into a 5–4–3 double play.

Rookies

J.D. Drew's single. After a ground-rule double, intentional walk, and strikeout, a three-RBI double by Pedroia knocked Betancourt out of the game, then a two-run Kevin Youkilis home run off of Jensen Lewis made it 11–2 Red Sox, which cemented their victory and led to their second American League championship and World Series
appearance in four years.

This marked the third time Boston came back from a three games to one deficit in a League Championship Series. They had previously done so in 1986 and in the historic 2004 series from which they came back from a 3–0 deficit. It was a painful defeat for Cleveland, as they had blown such a big lead in games to cost them a shot at going to their first World Series in 10 years. The Indians would not return to the playoffs for the next six years.

Composite box

2007 ALCS (4–3):

Cleveland Indians

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Boston Red Sox 7 1 15 0 6 5 6 11 0 0 0 51 77 3
Cleveland Indians
 3 3 0 4 11 2 1 1 0 0 7 32 62 5
Total attendance: 281,363   Average attendance: 40,195

Aftermath

Terry Francona, Cleveland's manager from 2013-2019, 2021-2023

Similar to the

C.C. Sabathia was traded to Milwaukee at the trade deadline for young players and prospects.[12] Similarly, Cliff Lee, who broke out as the team's ace in 2008 by winning the Cy Young Award, was traded to Philadelphia at the 2009 trade deadline.[13][14]

After a disappointing

American League Manager of the Year in 2013, 2016, and 2022.[16][17][18]

Notes

  1. ^ "MLB names League Championship Series umpires" (JSP). Major League Baseball. October 10, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2007. Randy Marsh, a 26-year Major League Umpire, will be the crew chief when the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox meet in the 2007 American League Championship Series. The Kentucky native has been assigned to the eighteenth postseason series of his career, including his eighth LCS. Marsh's crew will feature Kerwin Danley, Brian Gorman, Paul Emmel, Gary Cederstrom and regular season crew chief Dana DeMuth.
  2. ^ "2007 ALCS Game 1 - Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "2007 ALCS Game 2 - Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  4. ^ "2007 ALCS Game 3 - Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  5. ^ "2007 ALCS Game 4 - Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  6. ^ "2007 ALCS Game 5 - Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  7. ^ "2007 ALCS Game 6 - Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  8. ^ "2007 ALCS Game 7 - Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  9. ^ "Wild stats from Astros' 7-run 9th in Game 4". MLB.com.
  10. ^ McIntyre, Michael K (October 18, 2007). "Anthem singer was special to Sox pitcher". The Plain Dealer.
  11. ^ "75 Years & Counting: The Story of the 2007 Cleveland Indians". Covering the Corner. January 30, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Radcliffe, JR. "Eleven huge trade deadline deals for the Milwaukee Brewers and six disasters". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  13. ^ Stark, Jayson (July 29, 2009). "Phillies send four prospects to Indians for Lee". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  14. ^ Staff Writer. "Indians Trade Lee To Phillies". The Ledger. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  15. ^ Neyer, Rob (October 1, 2010). "Red Sox figure as co-favorites in 2011". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  16. ^ Bell, Mandy. "Tito wins AL Manager of the Year for 3rd time". MLB.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  17. ^ "Indians' Francona wins AL Manager of the Year". ESPN.com. November 15, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  18. ^ "Terry Francona wins Manager of the Year after leading surprising Indians to playoffs – BBWAA". Retrieved November 16, 2023.

External links

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