Bosox Bullpen Tames Gutsy Rockies in World Series Game 2

On a night when Curt Shilling did just enough to earn his 11th postseason win, the Boston bullpen fanned their fair share of Colorado batters to earn themselves a gritty 2-1 win in the Game 2 of the World Series. In particular, left-hander Hideki Okajima strolled through a hitless 2 1/3 innings and struck out 4 batters in the process.

The game made for a more enthralling contest than the previous night, when Boston trampled their way to a 13-1 washout. Tonight, both teams' bats were throttled by the pitchers who put on a show of determination and some alertness. Jonathan Papelbon made his first ever pick off on first base in the eigth inning, when he spotted Rockies' Matt Holliday a mile off base, and first baseman Kevin Youkilis had plenty of time for the tag. That was the key moment in the game, as Rockies mounted a minor comeback with Holliday reaching Papelbon.

It was also a crucial mistake by Colorado, and one that perhaps drove the final nail into their coffin.

Despite a nerveless showing by their rookie pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado now returns to the thin air of their homely Coors Field in an attempt to become only the 12th team in the past 50 who have gone 2-0 down in the World Series, to come back and win it. On the back of this showing, they could yet surprise a few. But you wonder how that error in the eigth inning would have dented more than a few hopes.

I have mentioned that their Game 2 performance would be an indicator of their chances. And I do not believe the Rockies will be swept now. The possibility of coming back to win the World Series is still slim, as they would have to face Beckett once again, but if they could claim at least 2 wins at home, they have every right to be hopeful of a repeat showing against Beckett that we witnessed in June. But this time, it would be at Coors Field.

So we now move on to Saturday - can the Rockies regroup fast enough and recover their belief in time to put one over the Red Sox?