WORLD SERIES BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am almost in shock after tonight's game. All the signs were in place for things to go wrong. Daisuke Matsuzaka looked terrible in all of his post season outings and I had nightmares of Daisuke melting down and Josh Beckett warming up in top of the first inning trying to squeeze a few more innings out of his tired arm to keep our World Series hopes alive. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz weren't hitting. Jake Westbrook was getting out of jam after jam after jam thanks to his incredible knack for inducing double plays and found his groove later in the game keeping the Indians close the way he did in Game 3. This is normally where the Sox give up two runs on stupid mistakes like Julio Lugo missing a routine pop fly or Julio Lugo failing to turn an easy double play or Julio Lugo making a costly baserunning error to assist an Indians double play and pack it in for the season...but not tonight. Tonight the Red Sox found their second wind late in the ball game and pounded on the Indians bullpen to turn a tight 3-2 game into a full fledged blowout and Julio's miscues will forever be swept under the rug of victory. I guess we found out where those Dustin Pedroia hits were hiding as he slammed in a 2-run homerun to give the sox the 3-run cushion they needed to breath easy, then slapped a 3-run double in the eighth to put the game out of reach and prompt Big Papi to get his goggles on. Any Red Sox fan who tells you that their confidence never wavered when they went down 3-1 isn't a true Red Sox fan. The 2004 season was an excellent band-aid, but deep down we can't forget the chokes of post seasons past. Every big game makes you think this may be the first chapter in a new century of Red Sox playoff woes. Few things compare with the feeling of Coco Crisp catching that ball and running into the wall, but still springing up and hobbling to the dugout with a smile on his face, because now he knows that feeling too.

Maybe the Rockies will come into Fenway on Wednesday well rested and blazing hot and destroy the Red Sox hopes of winning another championship, but for tonight the Red Sox can sleep easy knowing the Rockies are going to have to come to Fenway, where Josh Beckett will be waiting for them.