‘07 Bosox take 3 of 4 from ‘70 O’s to clinch final WC slot. Congrats to Boston’s rookie manager Eric Stouber.

9/26-9/27 - Memorial Stadium
GAME 1 - Orioles 5, Red Sox 0
Needing to get at least 3 wins to keep their post season hopes alive the O's got a clutch 4 hit shutout performance from Mike Cuellar (2-5, 5.07), who has had a rocky season.  Curt Schilling, who usually picks these moments to come up big, did not have any condiments or his "A" game today.  Cuellar helped his own cause with a solo shot to lead off the 3rd, which mad it 3-0 at the time.  Ellie Hendricks' two run shot the inning before broke the ice.  A two run double by Brooks Robinson in the 6th provided the final margin for victory.

GAME 2 - Red Sox 6, Orioles 0
Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (5-1, 3.35) answered Cuellar's opening salvo with a gem of his own.  Wake allowed just 4 hits from the O's big bats and fanned 7 as the knuckler was dancing all night.  Baltimore was relying on Cy Young candidate Jim Palmer (6-2, 3.33) to carry them to victory, but the New York City native was not up to the task.  Boston broke a scoreless tie with 3 huge runs in the top of the 4th when JD Drew hit his first of two round trippers on the day.  Drew's 3 run shot in the 4th would be all the scoring Wake would need, but for good measure he hit a 2 run shot in the 9th to put it out of reach.  Jonathon Papelbon pitched a scoreless 9th in a non save situation to put the O's 1 game away from elimination.

9/28-9/29 - Fenway Park
GAME 3 - Red Sox 3, Orioles 0
Josh Beckett (3-5, 3.41) is known for coming up big in big games and did exactly what was expected of him.  Beckett, who has struggled at times with his control this season as well as with his lack of offensive support plowed through the O's lineup for 8 scoreless innings.  Papelbon for the second day in a row threw a scoreless 9th.  This time he was on board in a save situation as he posted his 9th on the season.  Boston got to O's starter Dave McNally (2-6, 4.95) in the 2nd for 2 runs as the struggling Manny Ramirez hit a 2 run shot.  Manny has not been Manny all season, but that hasn't stopped the Bosox from achieving success.  The enigmatic left fielder is hitting just .238.  Dustin Pedroia hit a solo shot in the 6th to provide a key insurance run as the Bosox locked down the final wild card spot.

GAME 4 - Red Sox 9, Orioles 2
Tom Phoebus (3-3, 4.68) was pitching as if he was double parked.  Baltimore's 4th starter gave up 9 runs in less than 4 innings of work in an effort that could kindly be put as "mailing it in".  Dice-K Matsuzaka (4-2, 2.16) went 6 1/3 for the win and Big Papi, David Ortiz hit his 11th homer of the season in this meaningless contest.