Cumberland Valley Red Sox: Playoffs Round 2

Red Sox 8, Astros 1
Sunday, August 26, 2007 @ Fisher Park Field

Everything clicked for the Red Sox at exactly the right time, with the result being a surprisingly smooth win over an Astros team that troubled the Sox all year.

As in the first round of the playoffs, the Sox faced a pitcher who racked up a lot of strikeouts and frustrated a lot of hitters. But also as in the first round, the Sox played superior defense and made the most of their opportunities on offense.

In one sense, this was truly a team effort, as every one of the dozen Sox in uniform contributed both at the plate and in the field. But at the same time, the day belonged to Mike Craig, who pitched perhaps his best game of the season. Craig went 8 strong innings, striking out 8, and was still sharp when he turned the ball over to Keith Humes to close it out.

Craig got some help from his defense, as the Sox committed just one error for the second week in a row and made a half dozen outstanding plays. Kirk Strous made a nice catch of a tough line drive in leftfield to end a scoring threat. (See video below.) Troy Jensen made a great backhanded stop on a ball down the thirdbase line and gunned the batter out at first. Bill Miller and Matt LaBuda both scooped up everything hit their way. Tim Wendel saved a couple of runs with diving stops at secondbase, and also made a quick pivot to turn a double play with a runner bearing down on him.

At the plate, the Sox whiffed 15 times against a tough lefty, but managed to bang out 11 hits. The big blows were a first inning triple by Lance Strous to start the scoring, a ground rule double by Humes that could have been a home run if it had stayed in play, and a triple by Wendel. John Lindholm and Dave Strock set the table with a pair of hits apiece, and Craig chipped in with a hit and a walk.