12:22 a.m. ET
This game is nearing its fifth hour, and one look around Fenway's "upper deck" reveals there are more than a few empty red seats. The Red Sox announced a post-World War II record sellout crowd of 39,067 for Sunday night's game, but some fans have chosen to leave. Perhaps it's because it's a Sunday night and, well, actually it's now early Monday morning, and they have either work to attend or kids to send off to school. But it's a little surprising that, in a tie game -- and a potential clinching game -- people would leave. Perhaps they've been spoiled. …
By the way, this is Jered Weaver's first career relief appearance.
--Amy K. NelsonARREDONDO PITCHING WELL (10:18 p.m. ET)
Francisco Rodriguez's heir apparent is quite possibly 24-year-old Jose Arredondo. He wears his hair like shortstop Erick Aybar (in short dreadlocks) and throws as hard as K-Rod once did. And so far in this playoff series Arredondo has appeared in all three games for the Angels and hasn't given up a run over 3 1/3 innings. That included Sunday's game when he relieved starter Joe Saunders with two runners on. He got out of that jam and has struck out three of the four batters he has faced so far in Game 3.
--Amy K. Nelson
LOWELL DEFINITELY HURTING (9:06 p.m. ET)
Mike Lowell's injured hip is clearly a problem. He's wincing on plays in the field, looks uncomfortable in the batter's box and limped back to the dugout after striking out in the second inning. Angels shortstop Erick Aybar tried to test Lowell with a bunt to open the fourth inning, but pushed the ball foul. You wonder if Red Sox manager Terry Francona will go back to playing Kevin Youkilis at third base and play Mark Kotsay or Sean Casey at first if the series goes to a Game 4 on Monday.
--Jerry Crasnick
BECKETT'S PITCH COUNT RISING (8:18 p.m. ET)
The Angels continue to look pathetic with runners in scoring position. Mike Napoli hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded to end the first inning, and Mark Teixeira bounced out with two runners on base in the second. If the Angels have any reason for encouragement, it's Josh Beckett's pitch count; Boston's starter has thrown 51 pitches through two innings -- only 24 strikes -- and it's going to be a chore for him to give manager Terry Francona a solid five.
--Jerry Crasnick
LONG FIRST PRODUCES ONLY ONE RUN (7:57 p.m. ET)
Well, it was a 22-minute top of the first inning, and Josh Beckett threw 30 pitches, loaded the bases and was visited on the mound by the pitching coach. Still, the Angels were able to score only one run, and that came on a bases-loaded walk by Juan Rivera that brought home Chone Figgins.
When Rivera swung on 3-0, it looked as if Angels manager Mike Scioscia wanted to strangle him. But Rivera was able to hold off on one more pitch and get the RBI.
One run, though, clearly isn't going to cut it.
--Amy K. Nelson
BOTTOM OF THE ORDER HURTING ANGELS (7:12 p.m. ET)
If the Angels are going to turn this series around, they need to get more production from the bottom of their order. The 7-8-9 spots in the Los Angeles order went 2-for-24 in the two games at Anaheim. Second baseman Howie Kendrick is hitless in the series and has left 12 runners on base -- or a "small village,'' in the immortable words of Bob Uecker in "Major League.''
After batting sixth in the series opener, Kendrick dropped to seventh in Game 2. Now he'll hit eighth in Game 3, between catcher Mike Napoli and shortstop Erick Aybar.
"I think the thing that gives us hope is we know this stuff can turn on a dime,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It can change in a heartbeat. If our lineup gets deep and gets productive, it can ride you a long ways. So we need that to surface. We're confident it will.''
--Jerry CrasnickUMPIRES GET READY (6:45 p.m. ET)
The six-man umpiring crew came out to the field while the Angels were taking batting practice, presumably to make sure they were all on the same page about the various ground rules here at Fenway. They were gathered around the third-base bag when Ed Rapuano saw Angels first baseman Mark Teixeira and said hello.
Teixeira took one look at the umps -- who were dressed in suits -- and perhaps got in one final compliment before they started making calls.
"You guys look good!" Teixeria said, while smiling and going back to the cage.
The umps laughed and went on their way.
--Amy K. Nelson
ANGELS' HUNTER READY TO GO (6:18 p.m. ET)
Torii Hunter, who jammed his knee while arguing a call in Game 2 of this series, was pronounced healthy by Angels manager Mike Scioscia and penciled in at center field and in the fifth spot in the batting order. Hunter has fared well against Boston's Game 3 starter, Josh Beckett, with five hits in 11 career at-bats (.455).
The Angels held Hunter out of batting practice Saturday, but he did some running and apparently feels no ill effects from the injury. "Torii feels great,'' Scioscia said.
--Jerry Crasnick
GARZA HAS ISSUE WITH PITCHER'S MOUND (6:18 p.m. ET)
Matt Garza appears to have an idea where to point blame for the three runs he surrendered in the fourth inning -- the pitcher's mound. During his warm-up pitches before the bottom of the fifth, Garza asked home plate umpire Ron Kulpa to get the U.S. Cellular Field grounds crew to work on the dirt at the front of the pitcher's mound where his left foot lands.
Television replays showed that Garza's left foot was sliding as it landed. The grounds crew came out twice between innings -- both times to a chorus of boos -- before Garza was satisfied with the mound. But even with the fresh dirt, Garza surrendered a leadoff double to A.J. Pierzynski.
--Wayne Drehs
KUDOS TO KONERKO AND GRIFFEY (6:06 p.m. ET)
The Homer Hankies, er, Terrible Towels, er, U.S. Cellular Rally Towels are flying in full force here as the White Sox have scored three runs in the fourth off Matt Garza. Apparently there isn't something in the water that keeps Chicago baseball teams from getting clutch hits.
The big play of the inning has to be Alexei Ramirez's bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center, not because it scored Jim Thome to give the Sox a 2-1 lead, but because it was deep enough to allow Paul Konerko and Ken Griffey Jr. to tag up from first and second and keep the Sox out of the double play. Yes, I said Paul Konerko and Ken Griffey Jr. The two fastest men on the Sox, right? You could almost hear the grinding in both of their knees as the two ageless wonders barreled down the base paths and safely made their ways to third and second base, respectively. On the next pitch, DeWayne Wise rewarded the two veterans for their efforts, doubling to left to score Konerko and Griffey and give the Sox a 4-1 lead.
Big hustle and heads-up points for both Konerko and Griffey that could be the difference in this game.
--Wayne Drehs
RED SOX SITTING PRETTY (5:30 p.m. ET)
As the Red Sox were taking batting practice, I sat with a major league scout who has followed the Red Sox-Angels series. His evaluation?
"I think it's over," the scout said.
He meant the series. He said the Red Sox looked better prepared, and overall carried an air of confidence and professionalism the Angels somehow seemed to lack.
He pointed to Boston's advance scouting that probably has given them an edge.
"Look at what they did to [Ervin] Santana," he said. "They were all over him and his stuff was nasty."
The scout also added that the old axiom of pitching wins has held true in this series.
"[The Red Sox are] in attack mode," he said.
--Amy K. Nelson
PIGEONS INVADE U.S. CELLULAR FIELD (5:25 p.m. ET)
If a black cat was once bad luck for the 1969 Chicago Cubs and a swarm of flies doomed the New York Yankees in last year's playoffs, what effect will a pair of pigeons have on Matt Garza and the Tampa Bay Rays? The early returns appear to be very little.
Garza and catcher Dioner Navarro were distracted in the bottom of the second by a pair of pesky pigeons that landed in front of home plate and refused to depart during Ken Griffey Jr.'s at bat. Navarro first stepped in front of the plate and tried to shoo the pigeon away with his glove, but the bird quickly returned. Garza then came off the mound and chased the bird into foul territory, much to the chagrin of the 42,000 White Sox fans in attendance. But again the bird returned, inching closer and closer to the batter's box. And this time with a buddy. But after Griffey singled to center, Alexei Ramirez grounded into a fielder's choice and the inning came to an end. As of the top of the third, the flying fowl are nowhere to be found.
--Wayne Drehs
DANKS DOESN'T LOOK TO BE DOMINANT AGAIN (5:14 p.m. ET)
With two innings in the books, White Sox starter John Danks doesn't appear to have the magic he did in his eight-inning, two-hit shutout Tuesday night against Minnesota. Danks has already surrendered four hits and been forced to wiggle out of two first-and-third jams.
He did just that in the first, as Carl Crawford tapped back to Danks on a check swing to end the inning. Danks wasn't as lucky in the second, as Akinori Iwamura hit a ground ball to no man's land between first base and the pitcher's mound. Danks, who had fallen off to the third-base side of the mound, was a tad slow to cover first and lost the foot race to Iwamura, allowing Dioner Navarro to score and temporarily silencing the crowd at U.S. Cellular Field.
Danks has already thrown 33 stress-filled pitches through two innings, and you have to wonder if the White Sox's season might come down to the team's bullpen, a potentially scary proposition for Chicago fans. Tampa starter Matt Garza, meanwhile, sent the Sox down with just six pitches in the first.
--Wayne Drehs
RAIN COMES TO AN END IN CHICAGO (4:11 p.m. ET)
With the rain showers coming to an end and the skies beginning to brighten, Roger Bossard and the White Sox grounds crew removed the U.S. Cellular Field tarp at 3:10 p.m. local time. First pitch is scheduled for 3:40 local time and Rays starter Matt Garza is already stretching in the outfield.
Meanwhile, the greatest gig of Justin Moore's music career has come to a sudden end.
--Wayne Drehs
A LITTLE RAIN … AND A LITTLE MUSIC (3:50 p.m. ET)
With a light drizzle still falling, the red tarp on the field and the majority of White Sox fans staying under the canopies of the lower and upper decks, the White Sox began their pregame festivities by erecting a tent behind home plate in which Justin Moore from the band Ingram Hill performed.
It was a strange sight in a way: a 20-something kid in a black Sox jersey rocking out by himself with a soaked red tarp and a massive gray sky behind him.
First pitch is scheduled for 3:07 p.m. local time, but with the tarp still on the field as of 10 minutes to 3 that will clearly not be the case. There has been no word from the White Sox or Major League Baseball when we can expect play to get underway.
Meanwhile, Moore continues to strum his acoustic guitar and sing his John Mayer-like jingles for anyone who cares to listen.
--Wayne Drehs
WERTH HITS THE ROOF! (3:10 p.m. ET)
Get out your handy dandy copy of those Miller Park ground rules. A ball just hit the roof.
Well, not the roof itself. A dangling roof cable. It was a ball that began its life as a routine sixth-inning fly to left by the Phillies' Jayson Werth. Then it clanked off the cable, and that ever-alert Craig Counsell, who didn't even have his copy of the ground rules handy, was minding his business at third base one second. Then, the next second, he scrambled to his left, dove and grabbed it before it came back to earth. Has to be the No. 1 Web Gem of October.
OK, so in case you don't have your handy dandy copy of those ground rules, here they are: Any batted ball that hits the roof, a roof cable or a "roof truss" in fair territory is considered in play. If it hits any of that stuff in foul territory, the ball is dead. Got that? Great. There's a quiz Monday.
--Jayson Stark
WET WEATHER IN CHICAGO (3:02 p.m. ET)
Mother Nature may bring about the first delay of the 2008 postseason as rain showers have begun to fall at U.S. Cellular Field, bringing an early end to Tampa Bay's batting practice and the tarp onto the field. The forecast in Chicago calls for showers and isolated thunderstorms Sunday afternoon with highs in the mid-60s. Rainfall amounts of one-fourteenth to one-tenth of an inch are expected.
Six days ago, the White Sox endured a three-hour rain delay before beating the Detroit Tigers 8-2 to force a one-game American League Central playoff against the Minnesota Twins.
--Wayne Drehs
RAYS FEVER … CATCH IT! (2:47 p.m. ET)
Seats are filling up quickly on the Tampa Bay Rays' bandwagon, with manager Joe Maddon saying Sunday he spotted a couple of Rays fans walking along State Street while the team was heading to the ballpark.
"A man and a woman walking around in retro Devil Rays stuff," Maddon said. "You know, with the kind of rainbowesque kind of Rays logo. I was pretty impressed by that."
Maddon, who is getting married in November and visiting Europe on his honeymoon, is hopeful that with a strong postseason, Rays fever may go international.
"My goal is to see someone walking around either Rome or Barcelona with some Rays gear on," he said. "I'm bringing my camera and if it happens I'm absolutely going to take a photograph. And I promise not to set it up."
--Wayne Drehs
LITTLE GUY STANDS TALL FOR WHITE SOX (2:32 p.m. ET)
No matter how far the White Sox advance this postseason, the team's unquestioned postseason hero will be honored before Sunday's Game 4 when he throws out the first pitch.
The hero is 5-year-old Jake Hahn, the son of White Sox assistant general manager Rick Hahn. It was Hahn who advised his father to call heads for the September coin flip to determine home-field advantage for a potential American League Central tiebreaker with the Minnesota Twins.
The coin came up heads, and the White Sox hosted the Twins for Game No. 163, avoiding a trip to the Metrodome where they were 1-8 this year. Chicago beat Minnesota 1-0 in the play-in game thanks to an eight-inning, two-hit shutout by John Danks, Sunday's starter against the Rays.
--Wayne Drehs
BURRELL MAKES BREWERS PAY (2:15 p.m. ET)
All you second-guessers out there, here's a good one for you: You're Brewers manager Dale Sveum. Your team is down 1-0. The Phillies have a runner on third and two outs. Jeff Suppan is on the mound and Ryan Howard is at the plate. Should you walk Howard and pitch to Pat Burrell (1-for-11 in the series)? Eh, not so fast. Burrell had faced Suppan 28 times -- and reached base in (ready?) 16 of them.
So what should you do? Here's what Dale Sveum did: He walked Howard, and Burrell pumped a three-run homer into the left-field lower deck. Tough line of work, that managing stuff, huh?
--Jayson Stark
ROLLINS GOES DEEP … AGAIN (1:22 p.m. ET)
Jimmy Rollins' homer leading off the game was the second leadoff home run by a Phillie in postseason history. The other was hit by … Jimmy Rollins -- in Game 2 of last year's NLDS. But unlike this one, last year's homer didn't give the Phillies the lead. They'd already given up two runs in the top of the first -- and went on to lose 10-5.
--Jayson Stark
INJURED WEEKS DROPPED FROM BREWERS' ROSTER (12:45 p.m. ET)
• The Brewers replaced injured second baseman Rickie Weeks with infielder Alcides Escobar on the roster Sunday morning. The team announced that Weeks has a "sprained" left knee, but he is believed to have a torn meniscus and will need surgery after the season to repair it. Because he was taken off the roster, he won't be eligible to play in the NLCS even if the Brewers advance.
• After finding numerous ways to avoid scoring Saturday, the Phillies rearranged their lineup for Game 4. Shane Victorino moved back up to the No. 2 hole from where he went grand-slamming in Game 2. Jayson Werth flipped back into the No. 6 spot where Victorino had resided. And Greg Dobbs replaced Pedro Feliz (2-for-12 in the series) at third base and in the 7-hole.
• The Phillies don't seem to mind seeing Jeff Suppan 60 feet away. They went into Game 4 with nine players who had .300 or better lifetime batting averages against Suppan and seven who were hitting .400 or better. Their Game 4 lineup owned nine career homers off Suppan in 99 at-bats.
• Any resemblance between Brewers closer Salomon Torres and, say, Mariano Rivera would stop these days at the position they occupy on the roster. In his past 11 appearances, including his adventurous Game 3 load-'em-up-with-nobody-out save, Torres has allowed opposing hitters to bat a frightening .426 against him dating back to Sept. 8. Asked after the game Saturday whether he was running out of gas, Torres quipped: "I'm going to stop at the BP [gas station] on the way home and fill it up." Presumably, he wasn't talking about his wheels.
• Through three games, the Phillies have been way better at not scoring than scoring. They've scored in only three innings in three games. Not only are they hitting .161 (5-for-31) with runners in scoring position, their two most recent hits with RISP haven't even scored a run. Victorino's slam in the second inning of Game 2 was their most recent run-scoring hit.
--Jayson Stark
