We're going back to the World Series

Three years after breaking 86 years of misery, the Boston Red Sox find themselves back in the World Series. No comeback will ever top the 2004 ALCS but the 2007 Red Sox submitted a pretty nice comeback of their own. Down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians, Boston roared back, winning the last three by a combined score of 30-5.

Game 7 actually was pretty tight for a while. The Sox scored single runs in the first three innings off Indians starter Jake Westbrook but it could have been much worse as they grounded into three double plays (they set a playoff record with 14). Dice-K came out and retired the first eight men he faced. The Tribe struck back with a run in the fourth and one in the fifth to cut the lead to one. Dice-K left after five (two runs, six hits, three strikeouts) and gave way to Okajima, who pitched two scoreless innings of his own. The Indians squandered its chance when the 3rd base coach held Lofton on what would have been the tying run. Blake grounded into a double play on the next at bat.

Pedroia was the hero of the night as he hit a two-run homer into the monster seats in the seventh. He followed that with a three-run double in the eighth. Youk knocked him in with a bomb off the Coke bottles. Game over. Papelbon pitched the final two innings for the save.
This had to be the most predictable comeback in Red Sox history. They just seemed to have nothing going right in games 3-4. The Indians are a worthy team but they're too young and inexperienced in the playoffs to get the job done in the ALCS. Once Beckett won and the series shifted back to Boston, they were cooked. Their bats were silenced and the bullpen was taxed. Plus, Carmona and Sabathia produced zero wins between them in the series.

Beckett deservedly received the ALCS MVP but it also could have gone to Youkilis, who is smoking the ball or Manny. The World Series starts Wednesday at Fenway. Who knows what to expect from the Rockies? They're legit and they have that absurd run but predicting what'll happen in the World Series is nearly impossible. Beckett will start on normal rest in game one.