Boston Meltdown: Tribe Crumble in Game 6
Sunday, October 21, 2007; 1:20 AM
BOSTON -- That's Fausto, like oust-o. And like one of their supposed aces, the Cleveland Indians could soon be kicked out of the postseason.
Maybe they should be. Because the pitiful-playing squad that showed up Saturday night for Game 6 of the AL championship series at Fenway Park doesn't deserve to go anywhere else this October but home.
  Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona stands on the mound after walking Boston Red Sox's Mike Lowell in the third inning of Game 6 of the American League Championship baseball series Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) (Charles Krupa - AP) TOOLBOXCOMMENT |
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CLOSEFausto Carmona, Cleveland's No. 1A starter, couldn't get past the third inning and the Indians, once in control of this series, missed their second chance at securing a spot in the World Series with a 12-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.
Fenway Park and it's rabid fans closed in on Carmona, and now he and the Indians are in a series as tight as can be.
"That was a tough one," third baseman Casey Blake said. "But I think we're fine. It's kind of do or die for both teams. Fortunately, the series isn't over. What happened out there has to be water off a duck's back."
The Indians were bad, and then some. Instead of clinching a sixth trip to the Series _ and first since 1997 _ they looked more like the fictional version of themselves from the film "Major League."
Was that Willie Mays Hayes and Roger Dorn out there?
By the third inning, Aaron Laffey was on the mound for Cleveland.
Laffey, indeed.
The Indians made two errors _ on consecutive plays _ and Travis Hafner went 0-for-4 and is now batting .130 (3-for-23) with 10 strikeouts, eight in the past three games. The way Hafner's flailing, you'd think Cleveland's DH was covered with those infamous midges off Lake Erie.
Just like fellow 19-game winner C.C. Sabathia in Game 5, Carmona failed to get the job done, and now the Indians need Jake Westbrook to bail them out in Game 7 or they'll join that long list of Cleveland sports teams who collapsed with a championship at their fingertips.
But as poorly as they played, the Indians still have Sunday night to make amends against Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox, though, will also have ace Josh Beckett available out of the bullpen if necessary.
