Angelstruck

The looks of an upcoming sweep?
(espn.com)

Nothing like being up at 3 in the morning listening to some stand-up comedians to help you recover from watching your team get shutout in the playoffs. I probably don't feel as bad as Matt Holliday right now, but I'm not exactly in the greatest of spirits. The Sox just looked totally despondent yesterday, especially the offense. The way Jason Bay looked at a 2-strike fastball down the middle of the plate was a big indicator of that. Everybody in the lineup was just under John Lackey's control, while Torii Hunter's clutch 3-run homer boosted the Angels, providing some big time emotion. That gets me back to the fact that the Angels are super motivated right now. They have something to play for. They hadn't led a series against the Sox since 1986, they had lost their last 6 home playoff games against the Sox and a combined 12 out of the last 13, but more significantly, they lost someone in their Angel family earlier in the season. The emotion that spawned after that Hunter homer from the players and the fans showcased all of that. There is just a strong common purpose in this Angels team right now, no more calling it quits in those tight contests that would end in eventual doom. It's like I'm getting a small fragment of what Yankee fans experienced in '04 when the crowd exploded after the Big Papi homers, this swirling feeling that things might not go as planned. This leads to what I think is the biggest game of the series tonight. We have an October hero of past series going against a Weaver who actually has the ability to contain the Sox very efficiently. If the Sox lose Game 2, it would not only give the Angels a huge edge in the series, but things only get cloudier for the Sox afterward with the appearance of a recently ineffective Buchholz starting in Game 3. With Josh Beckett's back not cooperating recently, and the 4 earned runs in 5 innings he allowed against the Cleveland Indians after the back attack, I'm not sure I feel 1,000% confident in the Texas hurler right now. Especially after his struggles last year against the Rays and (guess who?) the Angels after last year's fight through late season injuries. The only thing that has been giving me optimism is that crazier things have happened with my Sox. Even I didn't think we were going to push last year's ALCS to its 7th game after being down 7 runs with 7 outs to go in Game 5 against a Rays team that was just pummeling us. Hell, even my die-hard Sox fan mother almost completely left Yawkey Way in Game 5 until she saw Papi's homer on a TV screen in one of the gift shops across from the park. The story has a good ending however, as she ran back in, and saw the historic comeback. The Sox can just go from a team that strays away from everything that made them successful one game to schizophrenically turning it on the next, leaving their opponent befuddled. These are the things I think of to motivate me to watch the next game as I still doubt whether this Sox team truly wants to win this championship, or whether they are that team that is a victim of both the the exhaustion of the trials and tribulations of their season combined with running into a highly-motivated juggernaut. If you see me watching the game tonight, I'll be the guy using a wiffle ball as a stress reliever. PLAY BALL!

Stopper of the Angels or of the Sox season?

(espn.com)