Playoffs Round 1

Red Sox 8, Dodgers 5
Sunday, August 19, 2007 @ Dover High School

Defense was the difference in this win over the Dodgers on a damp and drizzly day. The Sox played nearly flawlessly in the field, while the Dodgers had all kinds of trouble on defense, racking up 11 errors.

The Sox didn't do anything flashy, but they made all the routine plays and a couple of very good ones. Matt LaBuda set the tone right away, scooping up three chances at shortstop in the first inning, and knocking down a shot up the middle and nearly making a great play on it. Later, John Lindholm ran down a deep drive to centerfield, Bill Miller came up with a tough short-hop at thirdbase, and Dave Strock gathered in a high pop up in foul ground outside of firstbase.

Mike Craig earned the win with 6 strong innings, giving up only 1 run while striking out 5. LaBuda closed it out with 6 strikeouts in 3 innings to earn the save.

On offense, many of the Sox batters had frustrating days as individuals. The team managed only 3 hits through 7 innings while striking out 16 times, but they were able to take advantage of openings provided by the Dodgers defense to build a 6-1 lead. Gary Dubas was in the middle of everything, scoring 3 runs after reaching base twice on errors and sparking a rally with a single leading off the 8th. Dubas also ran the bases aggressively and forced the Dodgers into making 3 errors attempting to throw him out or pick him off.

The Sox finally got something going in the 8th, lining 4 straight singles, but came away with only 2 runs after a fluke double play. Those 2 runs would prove to be important when the Dodgers rallied in the top of the 9th, thanks in part to the only error of the day by the Sox, but LaBuda was able to seal the deal.