Last night's Angels-Red Sox Game 2 turned on a sequence in the bottom of the 7th inning that eerily recalled Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. We had one of the most dominant big game pitchers of his generation yielding an unexpected walk to lead off the inning. We had a pinch-runner stealing second, putting himself into precious scoring position. And finally, we had the clutch base knock into centerfield to score said runner and profoundly shift the game dynamic. From there, the floodgates opened and the Halos now find themselves in possession of a commanding 2-0 series lead.Granted, there were significant differences between the two plays, namely that in '04, Boston needed to score simply to keep the postseason alive. Also, the play with Dave Roberts wasa bit more bang-bang . But, I think the most amazing element of either sequence was that the guy working the base on balls for the Halos was none other than Vladdy Guerrero! We're talking about a player whose hitting philosophy is best summed up by the Dominican credo: "No one walks off the island." And yet, you can make a strong argument that of the Impaler's many career achievements, none have been more significant than last night's patient, seemingly innocuous 5-pitch walk. Welcome to postseason baseball. Go Halos.
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