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2007 American League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Boston Red Sox (4) Terry Francona 96–66, .593, GA: 2 Cleveland Indians (3) Eric Wedge 96–66, .593, GA: 8
Dates	October 12–21
MVP	Josh Beckett (Boston)
Umpires	Randy Marsh Kerwin Danley Brian Gorman Paul Emmel Gary Cederstrom Dana DeMuth[1]
Broadcast
Television	Fox (United States) MLB International (International)
TV announcers	Joe Buck,Tim McCarver, andKen Rosenthal (Fox) Dave O'Brien andRick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Miller andJoe Morgan
ALDS	Boston Red Sox overLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim (3–0) Cleveland Indians overNew York Yankees (3–1)
← 2006 ALCS 2008 →

The2007American League Championship Series (ALCS), the second round of theAmerican League side inMajor League Baseball's2007 postseason, began on October 12 and ended on October 21. It was abest-of-seven series, with theEast Division champion and top-seededBoston Red Sox facing theCentral Division champion and second-seededCleveland Indians. The Red Sox have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by winning the season series against Cleveland, five games to two, although both teams finished with 96–66 records. The Red Sox came back from a 3–1 deficit to defeat the Indians 4–3, outscoring them 30–5 over the final three games of the Series.

The Red Sox had swept theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim in three games in theAL Division Series, while the Indians had defeated theNew York Yankees three games to one. The series marks the fourth postseason meeting of the two teams, following the1995 and1998 AL Division Series, both of which were won by the Indians, and the1999 ALDS, won by the Red Sox (in a similar fashion to this series). It was the eighth ALCS appearance for Boston, and the fourth for Cleveland.

The Red Sox would go on to sweep theColorado Rockies in theWorld Series, winning their seventh World Series championship.

The series was broadcast onFox television.

Boston won the series, 4–3.

In Game 1, theCleveland Indians took the lead whenTravis Hafner hit a home run to deep right field in the first inning againstJosh Beckett, who retired the next ten batters in a row, finishing by striking out seven while allowing only two runs in six innings pitched. TheRed Sox tied the game in the bottom of the inning offCC Sabathia on three straight one-out singles byKevin Youkilis,David Ortiz, andManny Ramirez. In the third, the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out on a double, walk, and hit by pitch before Ramirez walked to force in a run, thenMike Lowell's ground-rule double scored two more. AfterBobby Kielty was intentionally walked,Jason Varitek's groundout put Boston up 5–1. In the fifth, the Red Sox again loaded the bases on a single and two walks when Kielty's single scored two with Lowell being tagged out at third.Jensen Lewis relieved Sabathia and allowed an RBI double to Varitek. Sabathia was charged with eight runs on seven hits in4+1⁄3 innings.Casey Blake doubled to lead off the top of the sixth and scored onAsdrúbal Cabrera's single one out later.Dustin Pedroia and Youkilis hit back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the sixth.Aaron Fultz relieved Lewis and walked two to load the bases and force in a run.Tom Mastny relieved Fultz and allowed a sacrifice fly to Lowell to put the Red Sox up 10–2. The Indians scored their last run in the top of the eighth offJavier López when Blake hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a fly out, and scored on Cabrera's sacrifice fly. They loaded the bases with two outs offÉric Gagné in the ninth, butGrady Sizemore struck out on a full count to end the game as the Red Sox went up 1–0 in the series.

Game 2 was billed as a matchup of aces in 19-game winnerFausto Carmona and veteran postseason aceCurt Schilling. However, both starters were out by the fifth as both offenses took charge in what evolved into an 11-inning, run-scoring saga that clocked in at 5 hours and 14 minutes. After the Indians took the lead in the first on aVictor Martinez RBI double after a leadoff double byGrady Sizemore, the Red Sox loaded the bases in the third on two singles and a walk before aManny Ramírez walk tied the game, thenMike Lowell's two-run single put them up 3–1. In the top of the fourth,Jhonny Peralta hit a three-run blast into the camera well in center field off Schilling, giving the Indians a 4–3 lead. Sizemore's home run next inning made it 5–3 Indians. In the bottom of the inning, Manny Ramirez hit an opposite-field two-run home run to tie the game followed by a go-aheadMike Lowell home run over theGreen Monster, both off IndiansrelieverRafael Pérez. In the top of the sixth, Peralta drew a leadoff walk off relieverManny Delcarmen, moved to third on a single and scored onFranklin Gutierrez's groundout to tie the game 6–6. Each team'sbullpen put up scoreless frames after the sixth inning, leading toextra innings. The 11th inning proved to be a historic one as Cleveland took advantage by scoring seven runs off a shaky Sox bullpen, a postseason record for runs in an extra inning by one team (along with just being the fifth time in history along with the first in adecade).^[9] One of the highlights was the go-aheadRBIbase hit by former Red Sox right fielderTrot Nixon off Boston'slefty specialistJavier López after a one-out and single offEric Gagne. What made the base hit significant was that Nixon has historically struggled against left-handed pitching, but managerEric Wedge left Nixon in to hit against López, and the move paid off. Awild pitch allowed another run to score. After retiringVíctor Martínez, López gave up a single toRyan Garko and was lifted forJon Lester, the only pitcher left in the Boston bullpen. Lester did not fare much better; Peralta greeted him with a run-scoring double, which was followed one out later byFranklin Gutiérrez's three-run homer, capping the scoring. Indians relieverTom Mastny got the win andJoe Borowski retired the Red Sox in the bottom of the inning, and the Indians took Game 2 by a score of 13–6, tying the series heading to Cleveland.

Coming off a lopsided 13–6 loss in 11 innings, Boston sentDaisuke Matsuzaka to the mound to face off withJake Westbrook for Game 3 atJacobs Field.Kenny Lofton's two-run home run gave the Indians a 2–0 lead in the second inning. Dice-K would be knocked out after allowing RBI singles toAsdrúbal Cabrera andTravis Hafner to make it 4–0 in the fifth inning.Jason Varitek's two-run home run in the seventh inning off Westbrook cut the lead to 4–2, but the Sox could get no closer as Cleveland'scloserJoe Borowski, who led the AL in saves during theregular season, once again shut the door on the Sox, giving the Indians a 2–1 lead in the series.

After being confounded for four innings byTim Wakefield'sknuckleball, the Indians scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth in Game 4.Casey Blake led off the inning with a homer off Wakefield,Franklin Gutiérrez singled,Kelly Shoppach washit by a pitch, andGrady Sizemore reached on afielder's choice. AfterKevin Youkilis bobbled and dropped a foul ball,Asdrúbal Cabrera reached on an infield single as Gutiérrez scored.Travis Hafner struck out, and thenVíctor Martínez hit an RBI single to left. At that point, Boston skipperTerry Francona yanked Wakefield for relieverManny Delcarmen, who gave up an opposite-field home run toJhonny Peralta on a 2–1 pitch.Kenny Lofton followed with a single, thenstole second—his 34th career postseason stolen base, passingRickey Henderson for first place on the all-time list—and scored on Blake's second base hit of the inning. Gutiérrez struck out to end the inning, but the Indians had already scored seven runs—the second time in this series in which the Indians plated seven in one inning. This also marks the third consecutive game in this ALCS wherein Boston's starter lasted only4+2⁄3 innings.
The Red Sox answered immediately when Youkilis andDavid Ortiz hit back-to-back homers, chasing Indians starterPaul Byrd in favor ofrookie relieverJensen Lewis.Manny Ramírez followed with another homer—the Red Sox' third consecutive home run, something that had never before been accomplished in LCS history—in the top of the sixth inning. However, that would be all the offense the Red Sox could muster as the Indians took a three games to one lead in the series behind Byrd, Lewis, and fellow relieverRafael Betancourt.

Danielle Peck was invited by theCleveland Indians to sing the National Anthem prior to Game 5 of the American League Championship Series between the Red Sox and Indians.^[10] Beckett was the starting pitcher in that game, and some Red Sox fans theorized that her invitation was an attempt by the Indians organization to distract Beckett, since the pair had dated the previous summer. The Indians denied this claim.^{[citation needed]} Cleveland also played theAll American Rejects hit song "It Ends Tonight" before the game, predicting that the Indians would win and eliminate the Red Sox that evening. Facing elimination in Game 5, the Sox struck first with a home run fromKevin Youkilis in the top of the first inning offCC Sabathia. The Indians answered right away, putting runners on first and third with nobody out but could only muster one run onTravis Hafner grounding into a double play. The Red Sox regained the lead in the third on aManny Ramírez RBI single, scoringDavid Ortiz from first. On the play, Ramírez stopped at first base believing the ball hit beyond the yellow line on the outfield wall, but after discussion among the six umpires, the home run was disallowed and Ramírez was left at first with a single. Meanwhile,Josh Beckett pitched eight dominant innings for the Red Sox, and collected 11 strikeouts, tying a career post-season high.Dustin Pedroia doubled to lead off the seventh and scored onKevin Youkilis's triple.Rafael Betancourt relieved Sabathia and allowed a sacrifice fly to Ortiz to put Boston up 4–1. Next inning, Boston loaded the bases offRafael Perez on a walk, error, and single.Tom Mastny relieved Perez and threw a passed ball to Pedroia that let one run score. Mastny then walked Pedroia and Youkilis to reload the bases and force in another run. Ortiz's sacrifice fly then scored Boston's final run.Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth despite allowing a double and walk as the Red Sox's 7–1 win ensured a return trip to Boston for Game 6.

AfterCurt Schilling retired the Indians in the top of the first, the Red Sox loaded the bases on infield hits byDustin Pedroia andKevin Youkilis plus a full-count walk toDavid Ortiz.Fausto Carmona struck outManny Ramírez and gotMike Lowell to pop out, butJ. D. Drew then hit agrand slam to center field to give Boston a 4–0 lead.Víctor Martínez got the Tribe on the board with a lead-off home run to cut the Sox lead to three. The Sox had a chance to pile on more runs in the bottom of the inning but a key double play ended the threat. The Indians threatened in the top of the third after two hits to lead off the inning but Schilling got the next three batters to work out of it. The Sox put the game away with a six-run explosion in the bottom of the inning. After two leadoff walks, Drew drove in his fifth run of the game with a single in the third inning that ended Carmona's pitching that night.Jacoby Ellsbury followed with another single offRafael Perez, driving in Boston's sixth run.Julio Lugo then drove a double down the third-base line to make it 8–1. After a walk, Youkilis added two more with a single compounded with a throwing error to make it 10–1.Ryan Garko started the top of the seventh with a triple and scored on aJhonny Peralta sacrifice fly, but that would be all the offense Cleveland could muster against Schilling on the night. The Red Sox scored two more runs in the eighth offJoe Borowski when Youkilis walked with one out, moved to third on Ortiz's double and scored on Ramirez's sacrifice fly before Lowell's RBI single scored their final run, tying the series at three games apiece.

The pitching matchup for Game 7 was a rematch of Game 3, featuringJake Westbrook for Cleveland and Japanese rookieDaisuke Matsuzaka for Boston. TheRed Sox returned Cleveland's favor from Game 5 by playing "It Ends Tonight" before the game, poking fun at the Indians' untimely prediction. In the first three innings, Matsuzaka looked like the more dominant starting pitcher of the night retiring the first eight batters he faced before giving up a base hit to number-nine hitterCasey Blake; he then struck outGrady Sizemore to end the inning. Meanwhile, during those same first three innings, Westbrook gave up seven hits, one walk (intentionally), and three runs (onManny Ramirez's RBI single in the first after two leadoff singles,Julio Lugo's double play in the second after a leadoff single and double, andMike Lowell's sacrifice fly in the third with two on). Westbrook settled down and pitched three shutout innings, striking out four, and their offense began to take advantage of Matsuzaka putting up single runs in the top of the fourth (onRyan Garko's RBI double after aTravis Hafner double) and fifth (onGrady Sizemore's sacrifice fly). Boston's top two relief pitchers took over after Matsuzaka's exit following the fifth inning;Hideki Okajima andJonathan Papelbon were able to hold Indians hitters scoreless over the final four frames, giving up just four hits combined, all singles.

In the seventh inning with one out andKenny Lofton at second base,Franklin Gutiérrez singled over the third base bag, into foul territory, with the ball ricocheting back into left field off the infamous angular foul territory fence of Fenway Park. ShortstopJulio Lugo and outfielderManny Ramirez went after the ball. As he was about to turn toward home plate, third base coachJoel Skinner controversially held Lofton at third, as he would have been the game-tying run. The Indians' at-bat ended whenCasey Blake hit into a 5–4–3 double play.

RookiesJacoby Ellsbury andDustin Pedroia were the center of the offense in the seventh with Ellsbury reaching second on a Blake error then Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run offRafael Betancourt into the Green Monster seats, giving the Red Sox some insurance runs, before they put up a six-spot in the bottom of the eighth against the collapsing Cleveland bullpen. Lowell doubled with one out and scored onJ.D. Drew's single. After a ground-rule double, intentional walk, and strikeout, a three-RBI double by Pedroia knocked Betancourt out of the game, then a two-runKevin Youkilis home run offJensen Lewis made it 11–2 Red Sox, which cemented their victory and led to their second American League championship andWorld Series appearance in four years.

This marked the third time Boston came back from a three games to one deficit in a League Championship Series. They had previously done so in1986 and in the historic2004 series from which they came back from a 3–0 deficit. It was a painful defeat for Cleveland, as they had blown such a big lead in games to cost them a shot at going to their first World Series in10 years. The Indians would not return to the playoffs for the nextsix years.

2007 ALCS(4–3):Boston Red Sox overCleveland Indians

Similar to theDiamondbacks and theRockies in theNLCS, the 2007 Indians were in essence a one-season wonder.^[11] It was the first season they made the postseason since2001, and on the other end, they did not seriously compete for a postseason spot until2013, and did not make the postseason again until2016. Cleveland would almost immediately began a re-build after the 2007 postseason loss to Boston. In 2008, ace pitcherC.C. Sabathia was traded to Milwaukee at the trade deadline for young players and prospects.^[12] Similarly,Cliff Lee, who broke out as the team's ace in 2008 by winning theCy Young Award, was traded to Philadelphia at the 2009 trade deadline.^[13][14]

After a disappointing2011 season, a year where the Red Sox missed the playoffs despite being considered heavy favorites to win the World Series,^[15]Terry Francona and the Red Sox decided mutually part ways after eight successful seasons. On October 6, 2012, Francona became the 46th manager of the Cleveland Indians. Francona led them totheir first pennant since1997. On their way to the 2016 pennant, the Indians beat the Red Sox in theAmerican League Division Series, via a three game sweep.Coco Crisp, a member of the 2007 Red Sox, also joined Francona in Cleveland, whileDavid Ortiz andDustin Pedroia were the only members of the 2007 Red Sox's still on the team. Game 3 of the 2016 American League Division Series was Ortiz's last game of his career. In Cleveland, Francona won theAmerican League Manager of the Year in 2013, 2016, and 2022.^[16][17][18] Francona would seemingly retire in 2023 due to health issues, but later managed theCincinnati Reds starting in2025.^[19][20]

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