October 17, 2004 YANKEES LEAD SERIES, 3-0 Yankees' Offensive Express Flattens Boston's Hopes By TYLER KEPNER
BOSTON, Oct. 16 - At the First Baptist Church here, a few blocks from Fenway Park at the corner of Commonwealth and Clarendon, the subject for this Sunday's service is: "Why Does God Allow Suffering?" For the Boston Red Sox faithful, the topic is painfully appropriate.
If there are any believers left, the Yankees are stomping on their faith. The Yankees humiliated the Red Sox in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday, 19-8, all but sealing their 40th World Series berth in front of their bitter rivals.
The Yanks have won every game of this best-of-seven series, and they would need an unprecedented collapse to lose the pennant. No team in baseball history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series, and the Red Sox seem ill-equipped to try.
Their pitching collapsed under a torrent of runs, the most ever scored by the Yankees in a postseason game. Hideki Matsui had five hits and five runs batted in. Gary Sheffield had four hits and four R.B.I. The Yankees bashed and bashed and the Red Sox had no answer.
Boston's scheduled Game 4 starter, Tim Wakefield, absorbed much of the damage in the middle innings, allowing five runs. Whoever starts Game 4 - it will probably be Derek Lowe - had better try something different. The Yankees could not be stopped.
Their 19 runs were the second most in postseason history; Boston scored 23 against Cleveland in Game 4 of the 1999 division series. The Yankees had eight doubles, the most in a postseason game in 79 years.
Matsui slugged two homers, Alex Rodriguez and Sheffield one each. The Red Sox added to the scoring deluge, knocking out Kevin Brown after two innings and helping make this the highest-scoring game in League Championship Series history.
But it was the Yankees' night, and it almost certainly will be the Yankees' series. They won Game 3 on the one-year anniversary of Aaron Boone's series-ending homer in the 2003 A.L.C.S., a seven-game thriller that stands as one of the most riveting postseason series ever.
This series has been pure dominance by the Yankees, who have trailed in just one inning and seem poised to sweep the series on Sunday
