ALCS Game 4: Red Sox vs Indians

Going into Game 4, the Red Sox desperately needed a win. Not only to tie up the series, but to guarantee a return to Fenway Park before the end of the series.

Tim Wakefield got the call for the Red Sox and Paul Byrd took the mound for the innings. Both veterans pitched extremely well without a blemish until the bottom of the 5th inning. Wakefield led off the inning by allowing a solo homerun to Casey Blake to put the Indians ahead 1-0. The Indians then added a couple of baserunners, in the process, Wakefield was able to record the 1st out of the inning. Asdrubal Cabrera was coming to the plate for the Indians and he popped a ball to 1st base in foul territory. The wind played with the ball, Youkilis lost it, and the ball dropped in giving Cabrera another chance. On his second chance, Cabrera smacked a ball right back at Tim Wakefield who stuck out his glove and almost made the plate. Had Wakefield made the play, it is likely that an inning ending double play would have occurred and the inning would be over with the Indians only plating 1 run. The other unfortunate fact: If Wakefield let the ball go through, it appeared that Dustin Pedroia was ready to turn an easy double play to end the inning. Unfortunately for Boston, the ball trickled off of Wakefield's glove and a run scored. By the time the inning was over, it was 7-0 Cleveland and the game was all but over.

The Red Sox answered quickly with back-to-back-to-back homeruns, but it was too little, too late. The 3 homeruns ended up being the only runs that the Red Sox would score in the game as they lost Game 4 by the score of 7-3.

Cleveland takes a commanding 3-1 series lead with one more game remaining at Jacobs Field. Josh Beckett will take the hill for the Red Sox and try to salvage their season against CC Sabathia. If Beckett can come away victorious, the Red Sox will have a shot as the series returns to Fenway Park for the final two games (if necessary). Here's hoping that Beckett can save the Red Sox season. Anything less than a World Series Title this year would be no less than a major disappointment for the Red Sox and their fans.