Back to the Series. Sox win 5-2!

Boston continued it's storybook comeback season by defeating the Tigers last night, 5-2. Once again, presumptive Cy Young winner Max Scherzer was done in by a grand slam after a lights out performance. This time, petite outfielder Shane Victorino, mired in a 1-22 slump, broke out the lumber and sent the Sox into the World Series for the third time in 9 years.

Detroit reliever Jose Veras threw three straight breaking balls to Victorino, knowing the outfielder was struggling at the plate, particularly against the off-speed stuff. But the third pitch was a hanger, and Victorino got just enough of it to lift it over the Green Monster for the winning runs.

Boston's closing tandem -- Tazawa and Uehara shut down the Tigers for the win.

The Series match-up of the Cardinals versus the Sox is a replay of the 2004 Series that Boston swept on their way to breaking the curse. I doubt it will be like that this time. Both St. Louis and Boston had 97 wins this year, which might be the first time the top teams from each league have met in the World Series. At least as far as I can remember.
Update: It's only the third time in the wild card era that the top teams in wins from each league have met in the Series. Thank you Sportscenter :-)

Also nice, for this fan, will be the fact that there won't be any distracting back stories to the Series. As there would have been if it had been Sox v Dodgers. It'll be nice just to sit back and enjoy some great October baseball.

Also have to give props to the Tigers for their grace in defeat. None of the sniping or grousing that we had to endure from my local team, the Rays. Maybe Maddon and the boys could take some notes on how to behave like grown ups from Detroit, whose loss in a series full of one run games was far more gut-wrenching than the thumping the Rays suffered.

Way to go, everyone! Fear the beard, baby!

Update:
Also happy to see that Koji Uehara got the ALCS MVP award. During the series, Koji earned one win and three saves -- striking out eight while walking none and only allowing 4 hits. All this on top of his incredible regular season stats of 21 saves with a 1.09 ERA and an 11.22 strike-out-to-walk ratio. Pretty special for a 38 year old who was brought in as a set up guy and then thrust into the closers role out of desperation.
Just more of the magic that has surrounded this team this season. Nice :-)