2008 American League Division Series

2008 American League Division Series
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Boston Red Sox (3) Terry Francona 95–67, .586, GB: 2
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1) Mike Scioscia 100–62, .617, GA: 21
Dates: October 1 – 6
Television: TBS
TV announcers: Chip Caray, Buck Martinez
Radio: ESPN
Radio announcers: Dan Shulman, Dave Campbell
Umpires: Tim Welke, Bill Miller, Kerwin Danley, Ed Rapuano, Tim Tschida, Marty Foster
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Tampa Bay Rays (3) Joe Maddon 97–65, .599, GA: 2
Chicago White Sox (1) Ozzie Guillén 89–74, .546, GA: 1
Dates: October 2 – 6
Television: TBS
TV announcers: Don Orsillo, Harold Reynolds
Radio: ESPN
Radio announcers: Gary Thorne, Chris Singleton
Umpires: Joe West, C. B. Bucknor, Ron Kulpa, Jeff Kellogg, Gary Darling, Eric Cooper
 < 2007 ALDS 2009 > 
2008 ALCS 2008 World Series

The 2008 American League Division Series (ALDS), the first round of the 2008 American League playoffs, consisted of two best-of-five series. They were:

Since the Twins and the White Sox completed the regular season with identical records (88–74), the two teams played against each other in a one-game playoff. The White Sox defeated the Twins, 1–0, and thus became the AL Central champions.

Matchups

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Boston Red Sox

Boston won the series, 3–1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 1Boston Red Sox – 4, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 1Angel Stadium of Anaheim3:1444,996[1] 
2October 3Boston Red Sox – 7, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 5Angel Stadium of Anaheim3:5145,354[2] 
3October 5Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 5, Boston Red Sox – 4 (12 innings)Fenway Park5:1939,067[3] 
4October 6Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 2, Boston Red Sox – 3Fenway Park2:5038,785[4]

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago White Sox

Tampa Bay won the series, 3–1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 2Chicago White Sox – 4, Tampa Bay Rays – 6Tropicana Field3:1035,041[5] 
2October 3Chicago White Sox – 2, Tampa Bay Rays – 6Tropicana Field3:1035,257[6] 
3October 5Tampa Bay Rays – 3, Chicago White Sox – 5U.S. Cellular Field3:0740,142[7] 
4October 6Tampa Bay Rays – 6, Chicago White Sox – 2U.S. Cellular Field3:1340,454[8]

Los Angeles vs. Boston

Game 1, October 1

Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 8 1
Los Angeles 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 1
WP: Jon Lester (1–0)   LP: John Lackey (0–1)   Sv: Jonathan Papelbon (1)
Home runs:
BOS: Jason Bay (1)
LAA: None

In a re-match of last year's ALDS, starters Jon Lester and John Lackey were sharp early on, each tossing a couple of scoreless innings. The Angels finally got on the board in the third, when Torii Hunter singled home Garret Anderson to put the Angels up 1–0. Lackey held the Red Sox scoreless until the sixth, when newly acquired left fielder Jason Bay hit a two-run homer to put the Sox up 2–1. It would stay 2–1 until the ninth. The Sox got a couple of insurance runs, with Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz each singling home a run. Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his fifth career postseason save. This marked the Angels' 10th consecutive playoff game loss to the Red Sox (dating back to Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series), as well as their eighth consecutive playoff game loss overall (dating back to Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS).

Game 2, October 3

Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 7 14 0
Los Angeles 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 5 11 2
WP: Jonathan Papelbon (1–0)   LP: Francisco Rodríguez (0–1)
Home runs:
BOS: Jason Bay (2), J. D. Drew (1)
LAA: None

The Red Sox jumped out to an early lead in the first thanks to a three-run homer by Jason Bay. The Angels scored one run in the first off of an effective but inefficient Daisuke Matsuzaka and continued to chip away at Boston's lead throughout the game. In total, the Angels recorded 11 hits with 10 of them being singles. In the eighth inning Mark Teixeira tied the game with a sacrifice fly off of Jonathan Papelbon who had to enter the game prematurely due to Justin Masterson giving up a leadoff triple. The game entered the ninth inning tied at five but that deadlock was broken after a double by David Ortiz and a two-run home run to center by J. D. Drew off of Angels closer Francisco Rodríguez. Rodríguez was charged with the loss and although Papelbon had a blown save he also recorded the win. Boston lead the series two games to none headed back to Fenway Park. With their eleventh consecutive playoff win over the Angels, the Red Sox broke the record for consecutive playoff wins over another team, which had been set against them by the Oakland Athletics who beat the Red Sox in 10 consecutive playoff games from 1988 to 2003.

Game 3, October 5

Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Los Angeles 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 16 0
Boston 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 0
WP: Jered Weaver (1–0)   LP: Javier López (0–1)
Home runs:
LAA: Mike Napoli 2 (2)
BOS: None

The Angels got to an early lead when Juan Rivera drew a bases loaded walk to score Chone Figgins from third. A fielding miscue by the Angels in the second inning caused a fly ball hit by Jacoby Ellsbury to drop between Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick in shallow center field, scoring three runs (Jed Lowrie, Jason Varitek, and Coco Crisp) and giving the Red Sox a two-run lead. The next inning, Mike Napoli tied the score with a two-run home run over the Green Monster that completely left the ballpark. In the fifth inning, Napoli hit another home run over the Monster, giving the Angels a one-run lead. Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score at four apiece. The score remained deadlocked until the top of the 12th inning, when Napoli scored from second on an Erick Aybar single. The Angels' win ended an 11-game postseason losing streak against the Red Sox that dated back to 1986, and a nine-game overall postseason skid that dated back to 2005.

Game 4, October 6

Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 6 1
Boston 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 3 9 0
WP: Manny Delcarmen (1–0)   LP: Scot Shields (0–1)

The game remained scoreless for the first four and a half innings thanks to sharp pitching from both John Lackey and Jon Lester. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Boston got its first run when Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to second base, scoring Mark Kotsay from third base. Howie Kendrick bobbled the ball and was unable to try for a double play, which would have ended the inning. Dustin Pedroia then hit a double off the left field wall to score Jason Varitek from second. In the eighth inning, a passed ball allowed Mark Teixeira and Vladimir Guerrero to advance on second and third, and they subsequently scored on a single by Torii Hunter to tie the game. In the top of the ninth inning, the Angels threatened with a leadoff double by pinch hitter Kendry Morales followed by a sacrifice bunt, but when Erick Aybar failed to make contact on a suicide squeeze attempt, the runner was tagged out. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Jed Lowrie won the game with a walk-off single, scoring Jason Bay from second base.

Curiously, the last team to win their division by at least 20 games, the 1999 Cleveland Indians, also lost to Boston in the ALDS.

Composite box

2008 ALDS (3–1): Boston Red Sox over Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Boston Red Sox 4 3 0 1 3 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 18 38 1
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2 0 3 1 2 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 13 42 4
Total attendance: 168,202   Average attendance: 42,051

Tampa Bay vs. Chicago

Game 1, October 2

Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 7 0
Tampa Bay 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 X 6 11 0
WP: James Shields (1–0)   LP: Javier Vázquez (0–1)   Sv: Dan Wheeler (1)
Home runs:
CWS: DeWayne Wise (1), Paul Konerko (1)
TB: Evan Longoria 2 (2)

Rookie Evan Longoria was the Rays hitting star, going 3-for-3, with two home runs and three RBIs. Longoria's homers came in consecutive at-bats against White Sox starter Javier Vázquez, and he became only the second ever player to homer in his first two career post-season at-bats, the other being Gary Gaetti in 1987. The Rays also scored on RBI hits from Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford. DeWayne Wise and Paul Konerko homered for the White Sox.

Game 2, October 3

Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12 1
Tampa Bay 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 X 6 12 0
WP: Scott Kazmir (1–0)   LP: Mark Buehrle (0–1)
Home runs:
CWS: None
TB: Akinori Iwamura (1)

The Rays took a 2–0 series lead behind an effective but shaky Scott Kazmir, who gave up eight hits and two runs in five innings. Mark Buehrle gave up five earned runs, giving up second baseman Akinori Iwamura's go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth, which put the Rays up for good. Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and Dioner Navarro all drove in runs.

Game 3, October 5

U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tampa Bay 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 8 0
Chicago 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 X 5 7 0
WP: John Danks (1–0)   LP: Matt Garza (0–1)   Sv: Bobby Jenks (1)
Home runs:
TB: Melvin Upton Jr. (1)
CWS: None

The Rays got on the board first when Akinori Iwamura singled with two outs in the second inning to score Dioner Navarro. Chicago evened the score in the bottom of the third inning when DeWayne Wise scored on a single by A. J. Pierzynski after stealing second base. Chicago took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Alexei Ramírez hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and one out. Then DeWayne Wise doubled to score Paul Konerko and Ken Griffey Jr. In the sixth inning, the White Sox added an insurance run when Juan Uribe drove in Brian Anderson with two outs. The Rays finally chased starter John Danks after a two-run homer by Melvin Upton Jr. and a single by Carlos Peña. Neither bullpen allowed any runs; Bobby Jenks recorded the save.

Game 4, October 6

U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tampa Bay 1 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 6 10 0
Chicago 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 0
WP: Andy Sonnanstine (1–0)   LP: Gavin Floyd (0–1)
Home runs:
TB: B. J. Upton 2 (3)
CWS: Paul Konerko (2), Jermaine Dye (1)

The Rays established an early lead after two solo home runs by B. J. Upton in the first and third innings, and never gave up the lead. The Rays added two more runs in the fourth on consecutive hits by Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro, and added two more runs on RBI singles by Carlos Peña in the fifth and seventh innings. The White Sox scored twice on two solo home runs by Paul Konerko (fourth inning) and Jermaine Dye (sixth inning), both off Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine who allowed three hits in  5 2⁄3 innings.

Composite box

2008 ALDS (3–1): Tampa Bay Rays over Chicago White Sox

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tampa Bay Rays 1 3 4 2 5 0 3 3 0 21 41 0
Chicago White Sox 2 0 4 4 0 2 0 0 1 13 30 1
Total attendance: 150,894   Average attendance: 37,724

References

External links

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