Boston routs Colorado in World Series opener

BOSTON: The Boston Red Sox battered the Colorado Rockies 13-1 in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday, snapping the National League champions' 10-game winning streak with a record-setting scoring spree.

Boston tallied the most runs in a World Series opener in support of starter Josh Beckett, who overpowered a rusty Rockies line-up coming off an eight-day layoff. The Rockies had swept Arizona in their NL championship series.

Beckett, the Most Valuable Player of the American League Championship Series, which Boston won in seven games over the Cleveland Indians, gave up six hits and struck out nine in a dominant seven innings of work.

Rockies starter Jeff Francis lasted just four innings, giving up six runs.

"I thought you saw a real good Beckett and our inability to shut down anyone," said Colorado manager Clint Hurdle, who would not blame the poor showing on the layoff.

"We're a no-excuse ball club. We got outplayed tonight."

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez each had three hits and drove in two runs apiece and Dustin Pedroia homered to lead a relentless, 17-hit Boston attack that produced three runs in the first and built to a seven-run crescendo in the fifth.

Game 2 will be on Thursday at Boston's Fenway Park before the best-of-seven series shifts to Denver for Game 3 on Saturday.

Boston manager Terry Francona said his team would not bask in its Game 1 success.

"Sometimes the lopsided score can happen once you get into the bullpen," said Francona, whose hitters faced six Rockies pitchers. "We'll put it behind us and move on to tomorrow."

Colorado reached the first World Series in its 15-year existence with a run of 21 wins in 22 games, including a perfect 7-0 in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Boston's big bats

The Red Sox, for their part, came out swinging.

Pedroia, who drove in five runs in the Game 7 win over the Indians, led off the game with a homer over the Green Monster in left - becoming the second player after Baltimore's Don Buford (1969) to hit a lead-off homer in a World Series opener.

And the hits kept coming.

Kevin Youkilis ripped a double to right-center and Manny Ramirez drove him in with a sharp single to left. Jason Varitek ground a two-out single through the shortstop hole and J.D. Drew made it 3-0 with a double down the right-field line.

Beckett mowed the Rockies down, striking out the side in the first inning and fanning Todd Helton to start the second, becoming the first pitcher to strike out the first four batters in a Series game since the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax in 1963.

Colorado scored a run on a pair of doubles in the second, but Boston replied in the bottom of the same inning and added two in the fourth and seven in the fifth, the last three runs coming on bases-loaded walks from Colorado reliever Ryan Speier.

Rockies manager Hurdle said he expected his team to shake off the loss.

"One of the strengths this club has had is our confidence hasn't been shaken by the result of a game," he said.

"I feel real confident we'll get out there and get after it tomorrow."

The Red Sox, who won the World Series in 2004, have outscored their opponents 43-6 in the last four games.

Beckett, a 20-game winner in the regular season, recorded his fourth victory of this postseason.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/26/2007 page24)