I had a quick email back-n-forth with Randy Booth from Over The Monster, SBN's Boston Red Sox blog
REV HALOFAN: Does this team have that unquantifiable grit/character to come back and take three must-win games?
RANDY BOOTH: They certainly don't have that same "grit" as the 2004 team, but I think it's there -- it's just underlying. Can they do it? Yes. Is it probable? No. ... But that's what we all thought in 2004, as well.
RevHF: Any lineup tinkering as your Sox face Scott Kazmir?
RB: Probably not, because that lineup they sent out the last two games is the best one they have. If Rocco Baldelli was healthy, he might get a start, but he's not on the ALDS roster. The Sox certainly aren't going to try and come back to win this series by starting Jason Varitek.
RevHF: Any chance Mike Lowell doesn't start Sunday, or at least takes a pitch in one of his at-bats?
RB: Lowell will start, and as bad as he has been offensively, so has the whole team. At least Lowell has brought some (surprisingly) good defense. He's made up for his bat already on defense, unlike most everyone else in the lineup.
RevHF: Will they be Booing or YOUK-ing in Boston when Kevin Youkilis takes the field Sunday?
RB: You really have to be struggling for Sox fans to boo you, so that won't happen. But hey, Youk hit a double Friday night. That is, at least, something, right?
RevHF: Would Manny have made a difference in these two games?
RB: Hell no.