2007 World Series

The Red Sox cruised to a blowout win in Game 1 behind ALCS MVP Josh Beckett, who struck out nine batters, including the first four he faced, over seven innings en route to his fourth win of the 2007 postseason. Mike Timlin and Éric Gagné pitched a perfect eighth and ninth, respectively.

Boston Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski threw the ceremonial first pitch,[8] as he had done before Game 1 in 2004. Rookie Dustin Pedroia led off the Sox' first inning with a home run over the Green Monster in Fenway Park off of Jeff Francis. Pedroia's homer was only the second lead-off home run to start a World Series (the only other one was hit by Baltimore's Don Buford in 1969). Kevin Youkilis then doubled to right, moved to third on David Ortiz's groundout, and scored on Manny Ramirez's single. After Mike Lowell flew out, Jason Varitek singled before J. D. Drew doubled to score Ramirez and make it 3-0 Red Sox.

The Rockies got on the board in the second when Garrett Atkins doubled with one out off Beckett and scored on Troy Tulowitzki's double one out later, but the Red Sox got that run back off of Francis when Youkilis walked with two outs and scored on Ortiz's double. In the fourth, the Red Sox loaded the bases with two outs on a single, double, and intentional walk when Varitek's two-run double put them up 6–1.

They put the game out of reach with seven runs in the fifth. Julio Lugo hit a leadoff single off of reliever Franklin Morales before Jacoby Ellsbury bunted into a forceout at second. After Pedroia popped out, a balk moved Ellsbury to second before he scored on Youkilis's double. Ortiz's double and Ramirez's single scored a run each. The Red Sox loaded the bases on a double and walk before Drew's single scored another run. Ryan Speier relieved Morales and walked all three batters he faced to force in three more Boston runs. Matt Herges relieved Speier and got Youkilis to fly out to right to end the inning.

Though Herges and two relievers held Boston scoreless for the rest of the game, the Red Sox finished with 13 runs, the most ever in a World Series Game 1, and tied another record with nine extra base hits. The last 11 of the Red Sox runs came with two outs.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Andrew Madden, a 13-year-old heart transplant recipient, accompanied by Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame member Dwight Evans.[9] After the debacle of Game 1, Colorado appeared to return to form, scoring quickly on a groundout by Todd Helton with runners on second and third in the first. However, this would be the only time the Rockies ever led in the series as postseason veteran Curt Schilling (​5 ¹⁄₃ IP, one run, four hits) and Boston's bullpen (Okajima, ​2 ¹⁄₃ IP; Papelbon, ​1 ¹⁄₃ IP) allowed no other runs in the contest. The Red Sox tied the game in the fourth off of Ubaldo Jimenez on Jason Varitek's sacrifice fly with runners on second and third, then took the lead next inning on Mike Lowell's RBI double with runners on first and second. Matt Holliday had four of Colorado's five hits in Game 2, including a base hit off Papelbon with two outs in the eighth. Before throwing another pitch, Papelbon caught Holliday leaning too far off first base and picked him off—Papelbon's first career pickoff.

This was the first World Series game ever played in Colorado. At 4 hours 19 minutes, it became the longest nine-inning game in World Series history until game five of 2017. Game 3 was also the 600th World Series game ever played. Starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched five innings of scoreless ball and left in the sixth with no runs allowed. The Red Sox struck first with a six-run third inning. Rookie Jacoby Ellsbury hit a leadoff double, moved to third on Dustin Pedroia's single, and scored on David Ortiz's double. After Manny Ramirez was intentionally walked, Mike Lowell's single scored two more runs. J. D. Drew popped out before Ramirez was thrown out at home on Jason Varitek's single with Lowell advancing to third. After Julio Lugo walked to load the bases, Matsuzaka hit a two-run single for his first base hit and RBI in the Major Leagues. Ellsbury capped the scoring with his second double of the inning to knock Colorado starter Josh Fogg out of the game. The Rockies' bats came to life in the sixth and seventh innings against a normally-solid but now-shaky Boston bullpen. After Matsuzaka walked two straight in the sixth with one out, reliever Javier López allowed back-to-back RBI singles to Brad Hawpe and Yorvit Torrealba. Mike Timlin allowed two straight leadoff singles in the seventh before NLCS MVP Matt Holliday brought the Rockies to within one run with a three-run home run off Hideki Okajima. Brian Fuentes gave back those runs in the eighth by walking Lugo with one out and allowing a subsequent single to Coco Crisp before Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, who had four and three hits, respectively, on the night (the first time in World Series history two rookies had at least three hits in a game) hit back-to-back RBI doubles, raising Boston's lead to 9–5. Jonathan Papelbon came on for a four-out save, getting Holliday to fly out on one pitch, leaving runners on first and second. Jason Varitek would tack on Boston's tenth run in the top of the ninth off of LaTroy Hawkins with a sacrifice fly, scoring Mike Lowell who, not generally considered a stolen base threat, had just stolen third base—the first time a Red Sox baserunner stole third base in the World Series since 1975—after hitting a leadoff single and moving to second on a sacrifice bunt. Papelbon came back out in the bottom of the ninth to complete the save, getting the first two outs before surrendering a two-out triple to Brad Hawpe, then finishing the game with a groundout from Yorvit Torrealba. The Red Sox took Game 3 by a final score of 10–5.

The Red Sox continued to set World Series records during Game 3:

• Ellsbury (four hits) and Pedroia (three) combined to score three runs and drive in four, while being the first rookies to bat 1–2 in a World Series lineup.
• Ellsbury became the third rookie in Series history with four hits in a game, joining Freddie Lindstrom of the New York Giants (Game 5, 1924) and Joe Garagiola of the Cardinals (Game 4, 1946).
• Matsuzaka became the first Japanese pitcher to start and win a World Series game. The only pitchers in Red Sox history, other than Matsuzaka, to have two RBI and be the winning pitcher were Babe Ruth in 1918 and Cy Young in 1903.
• The Red Sox' 16 doubles tied a World Series record, set by the 1982 Champion Cardinals. The Red Sox would break the record in Game 4, finishing with 18.

The Red Sox struck early. Rookie Jacoby Ellsbury began the first inning with a double and was advanced by Dustin Pedroia with a groundout, followed by an RBI single from David Ortiz. In the seventh inning, series MVP Mike Lowell hit a home run to give Boston a 3–0 lead and knock starter Aaron Cook out of the game. Lowell also hit a leadoff double in the fifth and scored on Jason Varitek's single. The Colorado offense answered when left fielder Brad Hawpe hit a home run off of a Manny Delcarmen fastball, bringing the Rockies within two. Relief pitcher Brian Fuentes gave back that run abruptly, allowing Boston pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty to hit a ball into the left field stands on the first pitch of the inning, extending the Red Sox lead to 4–1. In the bottom of the inning Boston pitcher Hideki Okajima allowed a one-out single to Todd Helton followed by a Garrett Atkins two-run home run, bringing the Rockies within one. Jonathan Papelbon relieved Okajima and earned his third save of the series. At 12:06 a.m. EDT on Monday, October 29, Papelbon struck out Colorado pinch hitter Seth Smith for the final out of the 2007 season. Boston had won its second World Series title in four years and seventh all-time.

The Rockies became the third team in Series history (the 1937 Yankees and 1966 Orioles were the others) not to commit an error in a World Series of any length.