Live-Blogging Game Four

8:31:20 - Ellsbury starts things off with a double. We like this kid.

8:33 - With Ellsbury on third, the Rockies bring in the infield. So Papi slaps one right through them for an RBI single. If Beckett were pitching, this game would be over already.

8:38 - Brad Garrett is reading off the Rockies' lineup. We win that matchup, HANDILY. Fred Willard's like the straight flush of comedy.

8:39 - Bostonist's keys to the game: Jon Lester, please throw strikes. You can do it; we've seen it. You have capable fielders behind you. Matsui pops up. Thank you, Jon.

8:43 - Do we know baseball or what? Lester kept throwing strikes and Tulowitzki struck out. This isn't rocket surgery, as the fella says.

8:47 - Ken Rosenthal (the only man in the ballpark shorter than Dustin Pedroia) is telling us that the Rockies have let the infield grass grow higher than normal, as well as keeping the balls in a humidor and placing giant electromagnets under the field surface, to counteract the Denver altitude. Apparently, a human being who weighs 200 pounds on earth weighs 115 in Denver.

8:50 - A ho-hum 1-2-3 inning for the Red Sox. While surfing between innings (we don't like writing about commercials any more than you like reading it), we found a link on Deadspin to the blog of FoxSports' Bryan Biederman, who got a scoop on NESN's Tina Cervasio.

8:56 - Todd Helton breaks up Lester's no-hit bid with a double to center. McCarver says Helton took second because he knew Ellsbury would have "too much to do" to get a throw in on time. We know what he means, but it sounds like Jacoby has some last-minute packing to do. Or posing for Taco Bell posters.

8:58 - That graphic comparing the sizes of Fenway and Coors is pretty cool, actually. Meanwhile, Ortiz just scooped out a lousy throw by Lugo to get Atkins at first. Gold Glove! Gold Glove!

9:02 - Lester walks Hawpe. Which means Lester hasn't heard our pleas to throw strikes. Yorvit Torrealba's up. Can we order the 5-3, please?

9:05 - It was 6-3, not 5-3. But we'll take it. Joe Buck just told us that Tim Wakefield said "Maybe it's just not my turn; maybe it's Jon Lester's turn." Awwww.

9:10 - As Lester grounds out, Tim recaps a conversation he and Joe Buck had over dinner together. Tim and Joe eat dinner together?!? "I'd like the chicken pot pie, which is really good because it's like a thick chicken soup served in a flaky pie. And, amazingly, it's cooked in a pot! Now for my side orders, here's Chris Myers."

9:16 - Aaron Cook, the Rockies' starter, suffered from blood clots. Tim McCarver asked him (possibly over dinner) if his blood clots were similar to David Cone's blood clots. Luckily, Cook had Cone's medical records handy, so they had some lovely reading material over dinner.

9:18 - Matsui doubles over a lunging Manny. The crowd is chanting something, which might be "Tulo" in honor of Tulowitzki. It also might be a mocking "Lugo", or (longshot) "Two dollars!", as if the Rockies fan base is made up entirely of Better Off Dead buffs.

9:25 - Matsui dies at second as Lester whiffs Tulo and Holliday. Attaboy.

9:27 - Wait, what?

9:31 - Joe Buck is trying to figure out who's better, the 2004 Red Sox or the 2007 Red Sox. Tim McCarver is making a case for the 2008 and 2009 Red Sox to be better than both of them. And we were worried about the altitude affecting the players. Pedroia and Ortiz go down quietly; nine in a row for Cook. Another tense game.

9:39 - Terry Francona, looking naked without a huge wad of chew in his cheeks, raves about Lester's maturity. Meanwhile, Lugo made the defensive play of the game, but Fox won't interrupt Buck asking Tito unanswerable questions about how he'll use his bullpen tonight.

9:43 - Prince Fielder of the Brewers was in Denver to pick up his Hank Aaron Award for the best hitter in the National League. Alex Rodriguez was the AL winner, but he wasn't present to pick up his trophy, since it conflicts with the long-scheduled Alex Rodriguez Open Golf Tournament, annually held in mid-to-late October.

9:45 - Lester's living dangerously, but he gets Hawpe to fly out to end the fifth. We know we said one run might be enough if Beckett was pitching, but we really won't object if you get the kid a little more of a cushion. This means you, Mike, J.D. and 'Tek.

9:50 - Lowell doubles to start the sixth. Unfortunately, Regular Season J.D. Drew just pinch-hit for Postseason J.D. Drew and hit a weak grounder to the mound. The Denver fans are doing that slow chant that may be "Go Rockies", though it kind of sounds like the studio audience hollering out the unguessed answers at the end of a Family Feud round. Jason Varitek just got an RBI single, as Lowell beat out a great throw by Hawpe.

9:52 - And Lugo just singled. Dogs and cats, living together. As Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca goes out to talk to Cook, Tom Brady throws a touchdown pass to Donte Stallworth. It's now Patriots 1,043, Redskins 7.

9:59 - Somehow Cook has solved Ellsbury, and strikes him out to end the inning. Still just a 2-run lead. Looks like we picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines.

10:04 - Every popup to Lugo is a stomach-churning, terrifying adventure. He catches most of them, but every single one is a Maalox Moment.

10:08 - Lester cruises through the fifth after a bunt single by Aaron Cook. The longer we stay out of the bullpen, which is either tired or borderline-incompetent, the happier we all will be.

10:12 - After Cook's single, Tim McCarver asks in a perplexed tone of voice why the Rockies hadn't pinch-hit for him. AFTER the single. Maybe this is why Clint Hurdle is a World Series manager, and you're not, Tim.

10:16 - Confidential to Ortiz and Manny: We're kind of counting on you two to come up big at some point. Manny, especially you, since you've now ended THREE of the six innings already.

10:24 - Lester gives up a walk to Atkins, so Francona comes to get him and turn the game over to Delcarmen. Nice work, Jon Lester. What an awesome 5 2/3. Thank you.

10:28 - Delcarmen locates the strike zone and K's Spilborghs to end the sixth. We can haz insurance runs plz? Anyone? Please?

10:32 - MIKE LOWELL

10:33 - Cook's night is done. What amazing performances by the two starters, especially considering that Cook contracted blood clots from David Cone. Somewhere along the line, too, someone stuck a huge wad of bubble gum on Daisuke's cap. Which led to a cute little handshake between Dice and Papi. Why are we tense again?

10:36 - Joe and Tim remind us that Mike Lowell is a free-agent after this season, and this may be his last game in a Sox uniform. You know, just in case anyone in New England was about to smile or something, along comes Captain Bringdown. These two would sit next to you at a showing of Field of Dreams and point out that Ray's dad might not be able to come visit when the cornstalks die in the winter.

10:38 - Fox's Legends of the World Series salutes Don Larsen's perfect game. You sure you didn't want to show Buckner one more time, you jerks? Varitek singles after another feeble Drew at-bat.

10:41 - Lugo hits into a double play to end the seventh. Dogs and cats, claiming irreconcilable differences, look for separate places.

10:48 - Brad Hawpe takes Manny Delcarmen out of the park to get the Bad Guys on the board and wake up the dozing Colorado fans. Arrrrgh.

10:52 - Sullivan pinch-hits and singles to center. Delcarmen, it's time to lose the Gagne-esque little beard. Really not cool. Terry comes out, Delcarmen goes out, Timlin comes in. Looks like we picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

10:58 - Eric Gagne's warming up. Luckily, Timlin whiffs Matsui. But we repeat, Eric Gagne is warming up.

11:01 - Remember us asking Lester, way back when, to just please throw strikes? That goes for everyone. Throw strikes.

11:02 - Ask and ye shall receive; Timlin blows away Tulowitzki and makes sure that Holliday won't have anyone on base to homer in in the eighth. Thanks, Mike.

11:05 - ESPN is breaking a story that A-Rod is opting out of his contract with the Yankees. Someone grab Theo Epstein, please, and throw him in a closet until someone else signs him. Seriously.

11:06 - BOBBY KIELTY

11:08 - Fuentes has now given up a home run and an infield roller to Ellsbury. Hard to believe at this point that there's a bullpen shakier than ours. Ken Rosenthal is confirming that A-Rod is sissying out of New York, because he's uncertain about the Yankees' future. And uncertain about whether anyone is paying him any attention.

11:12 - The entire focus of the Fox broadcast team now is trying to orchestrate a live, on-air deal between A-Rod and the Red Sox. Fox Sports, sucking all the joy out of life, since 1999.

11:18 - As Colorado switches pitchers, the Red Sox are going to put in a pinch-runner for Ortiz. We hope it's Mike Vrabel, who could be the first guy with a touchdown, a sack, and a World Series run on the same day.

11:22 - And another inning ended by Manny Ramirez. If you put $100 on "Bobby Kielty will have more home runs in the World Series than Ortiz and Manny combined", you've got to be happier than someone who went to Jordan's in March and bought an entire house worth of furniture.

11:26 - Oki's in for the eighth. Gagne is still warming up, hopefully because he's currently auditioning to be the Nationals' closer next year. If not the closer for the Tulsa Drillers.

11:28 - Oki gets Holliday on a soft grounder. Much, much better than last night. Can we start counting outs yet? We can? Good, because we've been secretly doing it for a while now.

11:34 - And Atkins takes Oki deep. Much, much worse than last night. Send every good thought you have in the world towards Papelbon right now. We'll stop counting outs, we promise.

11:43 - A six-hour at-bat by Spilborghs ends with a soft grounder to Lugo.

11:46 - And a 400-foot fly ball ends the eighth. Looks like we picked the wrong week to quit nervous self-mutilation.

11:54 - Lowell, Drew and Varitek go down meekly in the ninth. No insurance runs. It's all you, Papelbon.

12:00 - It's midnight. It's Monday. Torrealba grounds to second. Fingernails all gone.

12:02 - Jamey Carroll, the Rockies' Alex Cora, just hit one towards the top of the wall. Jacoby hauls it in. Terry's defensive moves look great. Everything looks great right now. Two seconds ago, we were thinking "We just gave up a home run to a worse hitter than Bucky Dent." Not now.

12:05- Strike three. World Champs. Was there ever any doubt?

12:09 - Jason Varitek sounds weary and tired. The celebration is so much more subdued than three years ago. We're going to call it a night - congratulations, Red Sox fans everywhere. Congratulations to this team that drove us crazy and kept us riveted all year. Congratulations to Terry, and Theo, and the owners. Congratulations to all of us. Good night. :)