Adjust (verb): to adapt or conform oneself to new or different conditions.
Citizens of Red Sox Nation are, lamentably, adapting by necessity to a different and unwelcome condition, as the Adjusted Playoffs have claimed their first victim.
Survive and advance, baby. That's the name of the game: survive and advance.
Boston Red Sox (AL Adjusted Wild Card) vs. Cleveland Indians (Adjusted AL Central), Game Three
CLE 10 15 0
BOS 5 11 1
WP: Westbrook (1-0)
LP: Wakefield (0-1)
Recap: Jhonny Peralta, demonstrating the extraneous "h" stands for "hit," lashed four safeties, including three doubles off the Green Monster, leading Cleveland to an easy victory and sending the Red Sox to their adjusted demise. Tribe starter Jake Westbrook, not surprisingly, figured in the decision.
Series Status: Cleveland wins, 3-0.
Oakland Atletics (Adjusted AL West) vs. New York Yankees (Adjusted AL East), Game Three
NYY 6 8 2
OAK 13 16 1
WP: Blanton (1-0)
LP: Johnson (0-1)
Recap: The Oakland A's, who stole only 31 bases the entire season, ran wild on Jorge Posada, Randy Johnson, and a successive of Yankees' relievers, swiping five bags in a shocking performance. Game announcer Joe Morgan was duly impressed. "This is what I've been saying all along," Morgan noted during the broadcast. "Instead of writing books, [general manager] Billy Beane should have been stressing balanced baseball. That's what I call 'smart ball.' That's what I'd call it if I were managing."
Series Status: Oakland leads, 2-1.