Francisco Rodriguez Was ‘Set Up’
October 4, 2008
Filed under: Angels, Red Sox, AL East, AL West, MLB Playoffs
Francisco Rodriguez is going to see some form of red socks in his nightmares for a long long time.Last season it was Manny Ramirez who took Frankie deep to win a playoff game in Boston. This season, with Manny gone, the coast was seemingly clear for Rodriguez when he entered the game in the eighth with the Angels down 5-4 in Game 2 of their playoff series Friday night. But after the Halos tied it, David Ortiz drove one off the glove of a leaping Reggie Willits. And after a ground out by Kevin Youkilis, J.D. Drew took Rodriguez deep to give the Red Sox a 7-5 lead, and ultimately a 2-0 lead in their best of five series.
But what was so striking about that home run was Drew coming back to the dugout where he was greeted by happy teammates ... including one who told Drew "You set him up man, you set him up." Not only did the quote come through loud and clear on television, it must have come through loud and clear to Rodriguez. If a closer who had 62 saves in the regular season can be "set up" like he was a mere mortal, what chance does any other Angel pitcher have in this series?
It's a testament to the talent and the smarts of this Red Sox lineup that they can not only make Rodriguez look so ordinary, but that they can make the only team with 100 wins in the regular season look like a team with no chance to win Game 3 much less this series.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments