But the Atlanta Braves still might be.
First, the sad demise of the Crimson Hose, as narrated by the Boston Globe’s resident darn-those-Sox scribe Dan Shaughnessy.
Red Sox ran out of karma, and it all started after the wristwatch taunt
HOUSTON — The Red Sox season ended Friday night with a 5-0 loss to the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.
The Sox went down passively, losing three straight games after dominating the ‘Stros and even mocking them in a Game 3, 12-3 rout at Fenway.
The record will show that the Sox flatlined after Eduardo Rodriguez ridiculed Houston shortstop Carlos Correa (pointing at an imaginary watch — a patented Correa move that means “it’s our time”) while coming off the mound with a 9-3 lead in the sixth inning of Game 3. Alex Cora yelled at his young pitcher for poking the bear. But it was too late. Karma shifted. And so did the series.
The numbers were brutal: “After scoring 21 runs and hitting three grand slams in Game 2 and 3 routs, Boston was outscored, 22-1, over the final 26 innings of this series. . . . the Sox bats went cold (0 for 19 with runners in scoring position in Games 4-5-6). For three full games. They had nothing. They were two-hit in Game 6 and they hit .111 (10 for 90) in the last three games.”
Swat Caroline.
By contrast, in Hot ‘Lanta (tip o’ the pixel to the late, great Allman Brothers) the Braves shook off their 2020 collapse in the NLCS (up 3-1, lost three in a row to the Dodgers) and closed out the series last night with gritty 4-2 win.
Let the World’s Serious rumpus begin!
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Team ‘o’ Dustiny.