8:41 p.m. - No bunt. The Red Sox do try a hit-and-run on a 2-1 pitch, but it's fouled off. The 2-2 pitch is another infield single as Tulo can't get the ball out the glove quick enough to retire Pedroia.

8:43 p.m. - Fogg tries to work Ortiz down and away. The first pitch is a swing and a miss, but the next two go for balls. The fourth is fouled off. Ortiz swings late at the 2-2 pitch. Very unimpressive at-bat with two men on.

8:44 p.m. - "Great speed on for Boston with Pedroia at first." Pedroia is young and a middle infielder. Rather than actually do a little research, Buck simply assumes he must be fast.

8:46 p.m. - Ramirez takes a 2-0 pitch right down the middle for a strike. The next pitch is another strike that Ramirez argues. The ump got that one right. Ramirez can't extend his arms on the fifth pitch of the at-bat and hits a harmless fly to left. He didn't swing at the one he could have pounded.

8:50 p.m. - Fogg isn't going for first-pitch strikes, and the Red Sox aren't chasing his pitches off the plate. Now he gets a call on a 2-0 pitch. That was ball three outside to Lowell. The fourth pitch makes it a 3-1 count. Foul ball. The sixth is sent to center field. Sullivan misjudges it initially, but he has time to recover for the third out of the inning. Missed opportunity for Boston.

8:53 p.m. - Matsui gets a first-pitch fastball and lines it into right-center for a single. Drew misplays it on the ground and gets an error. Technically it's Boston's second of the series. However, the first one Thursday was bogus.

8:57 p.m. - Tulo swings through a 3-2 fastball for the first out of the inning.

8:59 p.m. - Holliday grounds one to Dice-K's right that the pitcher makes a great grab on. Matsui is trapped between second and third and gets thrown out in a rundown. Matsuzaka didn't handle the rundown well, but it was an excellent pickup he made it start it off. Two outs, Holliday on first.

9:01 p.m. - Helton slaps one to third that's handled by Lowell. Scoreless after one, with both teams blowing early leads.

9:07 p.m. - Drew swings at the first pitch he sees and grounds out to second. Varitek falls behind 0-2 on a get-em-over curve and a fastball that might have caught some knee. The third pitch is a broken bat roller than Tulo comes in on and makes a nice running play to barely get the out at first. An average runner beats that one.

9:08 p.m. - Another curve to start the at-bat. "and that...ah....85 mph delivery is high." Finally Buck learns it's better not to try than to get it wrong. Lugo ends up doubling to right-center. That's a single in any other park, but Lugo gets to second because Hawpe was playing as deep sa he was. It probably won't matter much with Dice-K up now.

9:10 p.m. - Dice-K, who wasn't allowed to swing the bat during interleague play, takes the first four pitches he sees from Fogg, going down 1-2. He finally swings at the fifth and tips it into the catcher's glove for the third out.

9:14 p.m. - Atkins is plunked on the top of his left shoulder on the very first pitch of the bottom of the second.

9:15 p.m. - Hawpe fans on three fastball, swinging through two of them and fouling the other one off. I like him, but he's been the worst player on the first since the start of Game 1.

9:16 p.m. - Torrealba lines one to left, but Manny reaches up and grabs it, disappointing every writer in attendence. It'd be such an easy story for everyone if Manny or Ortiz costs the Red Sox a run with poor defense tonight.

9:19 p.m. - Sullivan's routine grounder to second means the leadoff runner is stranded for a second inning in a row. 0-0 after 2.

9:22 p.m. - Ellsbury sneaks a liner past Atkins and motors into second with a double. He's 2-for-2.

9:23 p.m. - Pedroia shows bunt, but he pulls it back on the first pitch for a ball. After looking ready to swing while watching strike two, he drops down the bunt and reaches when Torrealba has to rush the throw and pulls Helton off the bag. It's called a hit, which is the correct ruling.

9:25 p.m. - Ortiz takes the ifrst pitch he sees into right field for a double, scoring Ellsbury. Pedroia stops at third. An intentional walk to Manny loaded the bases with no outs. Not liking that call.

9:27 p.m. - Lowell gets ahead 2-0. The second pitch was more of a strike than the 2-0 pitch that went against him in the first. Lowell takes the 2-1 pitch right up the middle for a two-run single. Runners on first and second, no outs.

9:28 p.m. - Fogg sure falls well off the mound for a rather soft-tosser. If he's in good fielding position, he has a chance to handle both Pedroia's bunt and Lowell's hit.

9:28 p.m. - Drew pops up the second to shortstop for the first out of the inning. A double play gets Fogg out of it, but the Red Sox still haven't added to their record postseason total of 20 during the Series.

9:32 p.m. - Varitek singles into left and Manny tries to score. He's called out for missing home plate, even though he clearly touched it with his left hand. Shades of the playoff game agaisst the Padres. Pretty terrible call from Barrett, though it's certainly worth mentioning that a good throw from Holliday would have resulted in an easy out.

9:33 p.m. - Fogg pitches around Lugo with two outs, bringing up Dice-K with the bases loaded.

9:34 p.m. - And Dice-K promplty shoots one past Atkins into left field, scoring two runs. 5-0 Red Sox. This is an amazing game sometimes. It was Matsuzaka's first hit as a major leaguer. He was 4-for-19 with a homer during interleague play in Japan.

9:36 p.m. - Ellsbury lines one to center for his second double of the inning and third hit of the game. 6-0 Red Sox. Sullivan took an odd route to that one. There's a very good chance Taveras would have caught that one. Fogg is done.

9:39 p.m. - FOX points out that Barrett might have been waiting to see if Torrealba held on to the ball on the play at home plate, not waiting to see Torrealba come back with the tag after the play. If that's the case, then Barrett might have gotten it right. Torrealba could have tagged Ramirez on the hip as he was sliding by. It that's what Barrett believes happened, then I have no problem with the call. He only completely blew it if he thinks Manny missed the plate. For what it's worth, Torrealba didn't seem convinced he tagged him, or he probably wouldn't have been so quick to get to him as Manny was starting to make his case.

9:41 p.m. - Morales in to face Pedroia. A hard one-hopper to third is handled by Atkins for the third out, so the Red Sox have to settle for six.

9:42 p.m. - Fogg ends up being charged with six runs in 2 2/3 innings. He's still probably guaranteed himself at least a two-year deal as a free agent with his performance over the last month.

9:43 p.m. - The Rockies could have sent up Taveras or Carroll had Fogg been able to get that last out of the third. Instead, they have Morales leading off the inning against Dice-K. He strikes out swinging, though he did make Matsuzaka throw six pitches.

9:47 p.m. - It won't get mentioned, of course, because a lot of the media will think is the right play all the way. But who knows how the third inning would have turned out without the gift walk to Ramirez? Hurdle was simply inviting the big inning with that.

9:50 p.m. - Apparently going outside the zone to take a hack at a fastball, Matsui fans to end a long at-bat. That's four K's for Matsuzaka.

9:52 p.m. - Tulo falls behind 0-2 before grounding out to short. Dice-K comes up with the first perfect inning of the game.

9:55 p.m. - 6-0 lead, lefty in the game for Colorado... one could justify taking Papi out now and putting Youkilis in. Of course, it's not happening yet. Ortiz grounds to first to start the fourth.

9:57 p.m. - FOX plays some video of Barrett apparently stating he believes Torralba made the tag on Manny. That's acceptable, if that's how he saw the play. I'm not sure the tag was made, but it was very close.

10:00 p.m. - Manny hits one to deep center that's run down by Sullivan, and Lowell taps back to the mound for an out. We're going to the bottom of the fourth.

10:03 p.m. - Rosenthal checks in and speculates that the Yankees could pursue Lowell as a free agent to play first base. That'd almost be reason enough for Boston to let him go. Giving Lowell at least $36 million over three years and then neutering his value by moving him off third would be a horrible move. I do believe that the Yankees would pursue Lowell as a third baseman if they lost A-Rod. However, I still think A-Rod is staying.

10:13 p.m. - Holliday grounds out. Helton fouls off a bunch of fastballs before he goes down looking at a curve to conclude a 12-pitch at-bat. Quite a performance by Dice-K so far.

10:16 p.m. - Atkins works the Rockies' first walk of the night after going down 0-2. Matsuzaka wanted the 1-2 pitch called, but it was ruled outside.

10:17 p.m. - Hawpe pops up the first pitch he sees. He's going to have to sit against the left-hander on Sunday. 6-0 after 4.

10:20 p.m. - Drew doubles off the base of the wall to lead off the fifth. Manny is now the only member of the lineup without a hit.

10:30 p.m. - Tek fans and Lugo flies out, bringing up Dice-K. Drew still at second base.

10:33 p.m. - Dice-K grounds out to end the fifth.

10:34 p.m. - I have to admit that I'm getting pretty board with this one. The Rockies have scored two runs in 22 innings, and the one Thursday was a gift. The Rockies aren't even putting Red Sox pitchers in stressful situations. They've had two hits with men on base over the course of the series.

10:36 p.m. - Torrealba singles up the middle to start the the bottom of the fifth. Morales has been good, but the Rockies need to be prepared to hit for him here. Affeldt was up in the pen during the top of the inning.

10:38 p.m. - Seth Smith is on deck with Sullivan up. Sullivan drives the 1-2 pitch to deep left, but it's caught by Ramirez. The Red Sox weren't far away from doubliing Torrealba off first after the catch.

10:39 p.m. - Smith picks up a broken-bat single when his blooper falls in front of Drew. Finally some life from the Coors Field crowd.

10:40 p.m. - I wonder when the Red Sox will get someone up, probably Delcarmen. Dice-K has been great, but he has displayed a tendency to fall victim to big innings. If Matsui reaches, someone should be up.

10:42 p.m. - Matsui hits one that Lugo has to range far to his right to get. If there's no runner on second, that's an infield single. As is, Lugo is able to throw to third for the out. As McCarver points out, that was a terrific read from Lowell, who went right to his position instead of ranging off the bag to try to cut the grounder off.

10:44 p.m. - Tulo pops up a 2-0 pitch for the third out of the inning. He's htiting .194 with three RBI in 36 postseason at-bats. 6-0 after 5.

10:47 p.m. - Affeldt in after Morales was removed for a pinch-hitter. Ellsbury delivers a line-drive one-hopper to Atkins and is thrown out on a close play at first base.

10:50 p.m. - Speier up in the pen as Pedroia flies out to center.

10:52 p.m. - Ortiz probably getting his last at-bat here. He strikes out, leaving him 1-for-3 with an RBI double.

10:56 p.m. - Youkilis is in to play first base, and both Timlin and Lopez are up in the pen for Boston. Postseason proactive Francona is a much better manager than regular-season reactive Francona.

10:59 p.m. - Holliday grounds out to start the sixth. He's 0-for-3 after his 4-for-4 game Thursday.

11:03 p.m. - Helton is having long at-bats, but that's because he's struggling to get around on Dice-K's fastball. It's not like he's striking a lot of fear into Boston's hearts. Still, he does work the walk here.

11:04 p.m. - Atkins draws a four-pitch walk, so that's it for Dice-K. Unfortunately, it's Lopez coming in for Boston to face Hawpe.

11:06 p.m. - This is a defensible move from Francona. However, Lopez has been quite a failure as a specialist this year. He's actually been much more effective against righties. Maybe this will work out, but I would have preferred staying with Dice-K or going right to Timlin. Hawpe has looked bad on every fastball he's been thrown. Maybe some slop from Lopez will be just the thing to get him turned around.

11:08 p.m. - Hawpe gets an 87 mph meatball and hits it hard to center for an RBI single. Again, not an unexpected result. This is the kind of the kind of thing Red Sox fans have seen from Lopez all year long. Surprisingly, Lopez is getting left in to face Torrealba. Okajima up in the pen.

11:11 p.m. - Torrealba hits a 2-2 grounder into the hole for another RBI single. Spilborghs hitting for Sullivan, which means Timlin will take over for Boston.

11:16 p.m. - Spilborghs hits a fly to the wall for loud second out.

11:17 p.m. - McCarver says it's out in a lot of ballparks. Yes, 415-foot flies to center are homers in a lot of ballparks. But the ball wouldn't have traveled 415 feet anywhere else.

11:18 p.m. - Baker in to hit for the pitcher. Not impressed with that choice. He's a power threat, but he's less likely than others to keep the rally going.

11:20 p.m. - Baker falls behind 0-2, draws the count even and strikes a liner that's caught by Lugo at the top of his leap. That might have scored two runs had it gotten into the gap. Instead, it's 6-2 after six. After those two shots, I think it's safe to say the Red Sox should go to either Delcarmen or Okajima in the seventh.

11:22 p.m. - It's too bad Dice-K was charged with both of those runs, while Lopez doesn't receive any further damage to his postseason ERA. Matsuzaka now has a 5.03 ERA in four postseason starts. If Boston holds on, he'll improve to 2-1.

11:26 p.m. - Herges in. Manny somehow swings through a 91-mph belt-high fastball for the first out of the seventh.

11:27 p.m. - Now Lowell fans on a curve and two changeups. The Red Sox have looked great on fastballs throughout the Series, but the offspeed stuff from pitchers they're less than familiar with has given them fits.

11:30 p.m. - Drew strikes out swinging to end the seventh. It's the first time all year that Herges has struck out the side in an inninng. He's pitched seven scoreless innings in the postseason.

11:35 p.m. - OK, I just went through the game logs. The last time Herges struck out the side in an inning was also in a postseason game and it came Oct. 3, 2003 against the Marlins. It turns out that Lowell was one of his victims then, too. He did allow a double to Derrek Lee in that frame.

11:37 p.m. - Timlin still in. Matsui leads off the bottom of the seventh with a bunt single down the third-base line.

11:38 p.m. - Matsui steals second on a 1-0 pitch. A little too close of a play at second to be running like that in a four-run game. Tulo goes out of the strike zone to chase a high fastball, making it a 1-2 count. He grounds one to where Lugo might have been playing had Matsui still been on first. With the runner on second, he was pulled further to his right and the grounder goes into center for a single. First and third. Timlin out. Okajima in.

11:39 p.m. - Again, why wasn't Okajima in to start the inning? Better yet, try Delcarmen. Sure he had a bad game against Cleveland, but you'd never know Delcarmen had a 2.05 ERA this season with the way that Francona has used him. His stuff is far better than Timlin's, and the Rockies have never seen him, giving him an advantage. I'm not at all impressed with Francona's bullpen usage in this one. Fortunately for the Red Sox, Okajima has been outstanding.

11:42 p.m. - Crisp in, Drew out in a double-switch. That really doesn't help very much. Delcarmen up in the pen, though if the Red Sox wanted to use him, he would have started the inning.

11:43 p.m. - I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to throw an 84 mph fastball right down the middle of the plate on the first pitch to Holliday. Truly bizarre. The homer makes it 6-5 Red Sox.

11:47 p.m. - Helton singles to left on a 3-2 pitch. Still no outs with the tying run on.

11:52 p.m. - Atkins fans to end a long at-bat. Hawpe up.

11:55 p.m. - Varitek runs out of room to catch Hawpe's foul popup. He ends up striking out on a 2-2 pitch. It's Hawpe's eighth K of the series. Torrealba up.

12:00 p.m. - With Spilborghs on deck, this could be Okajima's last batter. He's simply not at his best tonight, and I don't think he'll start the eighth even if he gets the out. A high breaking ball is called to put Torrealba behind 1-2. The 2-2 pitch is a hittable fastball that Torrealba fouls off. An easy grounder back to the mound ends the seventh. 6-5 Red Sox.

12:01 p.m. - Looking back, I guess that pitch to Holliday wasn't a fastball but a changeup that simply didn't do anything at all. Regardless, it was something that should have been hammered for the first home run of the Series since Pedroia's leadoff shot in Game 1.

12:04 p.m. - Fuentes in to start the eighth against Tek, Lugo and Crisp. Varitek hits a weak roller to first to begin the frame.

12:08 p.m. - Lugo walks for a second time tonight. He hadn't had two walks in a game since July 28.

12:09 p.m. - A weak liner up the middle from Crisp somehow eludes a diving Tulo, who took a little hop step the other way on the pitch. The Rockies still haven't made an error in the Series, but their defense hasn't always shined.

12:11 p.m. - Like I said, the defense hasn't shined. Ellsbury's flare to right gets through a sliding Hawpe, who probably would have been better off attacking it standing up. It's ruled a double, his third of the game and his fourth hit. Lugo scores a huge insurance run, and there's two men in scoring position with one out for Pedroia.

12:12 p.m. - Pedroia's liner to right is a clean double, scoring two runs. So much for the big Rockies' comeback. 9-5 Boston.

12:14 p.m. - Fuentes still in to face Youkilis, though Hawkins is now up in the pen. Youkilis grounds to Atkins for the second out. Pedroia is forced to hold at second.

12:18 p.m. - Ramirez hits a high popup to left that comes down in Holliday's glove for the third out of the inning.

12:22 p.m. - Delcarmen in for his first appearance of the World Series. He'll get Spilborghs, Taveras and Matsui.

12:23 p.m. - Delcarmen falls behind 3-1. The possibility of wildness is why I thought he should have been one of the pitchers mopping up in Game 1. More than anyone else in the Boston pen, it made sense to let him get his feet wet. Spilborghs flies out to right.

12:26 p.m. - Delcarmen against falls behind 3-1 after a borderline 2-1 pitch isn't called. Fastball down the middle fouled off. Another fastball results in a hard liner right at Pedroia for the second out. If Delcarmen finishes the Rockies off quickly here, perhaps the Red Sox would consider saving Papelbon. I doubt it, though.

12:27 p.m. - Matsui delivers a groundball single up the middle on a 1-1 pitch. Papelbon is going to be ready if the inning gets to Holliday. First, Tulo is up.

12:30 p.m. - Delcarmen falls behind 2-0, leading to a visit from the pitching coach. A fastball on the outside corner makes it 2-1. Another fastball is a little off the corner for ball three. Tulo knows what he's getting here. He lays off and it's ball four. That's simply unacceptable from Delcarmen. However, Francona deserves some of the blame for letting him go 11 days between appearances. Papelbon in to face Holliday.

12:34 p.m. - Cora in for Pedroia, as the Red Sox pull off a second double-switch.

12:35 p.m. - One pitch, one out. Holliday put a pretty good swing on a fastball, but he didn't get enough of it and Manny made an easy catch in left field. 9-5 after eight.

12:41 p.m. - Hawkins in. Lowell singles to start the inning and advances to second on Cora's bunt.

12:42 p.m. - Lowell steals third on a great head's up play. He then scores on Varitek's sac fly. It's not as important in a four-run game, but that's pretty great NL baseball.

12:45 p.m. - Lugo grounds out to send the game to the bottom of the ninth.

12:47 p.m. - Helton, Atkins and Hawpe due up. It's a 10-5 game now, but since the tying run was on deck when Papelbon entered in the eighth, this is a save situation.

12:48 p.m. - Helton flies out to right.

12:49 p.m. - Before the series, I predicted Boston in five games and said that the fourth game was the one the Rockies had the best chance of winning. After the latest letdown tonight, I don't think the Rockies can even be considered the favorites tomorrow. Maybe we'll still see a Game 5, but I'd be shocked if the Series makes it back to Boston.

12:50 p.m. - Atkins grounds out to Lowell.

12:53 p.m. - Hawpe gets a hit, so maybe anything is possible. The liner to right takes a bad bounce away from Ellsbury, so it goes for a triple.

12:55 p.m. - Torrealba grounds out to end the game.

4 hours, 19 minutes makes this the longest nine-inning World Series game in history.
Ellsbury for player of the game (obvious)
It's Boston's first six-game winning streak of the year.

Until tomorrow...