MLB Betting: World Series Game 4

The Boston Red Sox are on a serious roll, and the Colorado Rockies

World Series Game 4 is Sunday night, and it appears the Fall Classic is all but over with the Red Sox leading 3-0. The 22 previous teams that took a 3-0 World Series lead all went on to win, 19 with sweeps.

"It looks like we're in groundbreaking territory," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said.

Colorado has been outscored 25-7 and is batting just .222. Boston's batters have been bruisers, hitting .352 in the Series with 16 doubles. Boston has won six straight since falling behind Cleveland 3-1 in the AL championship series.

And should Boston win this game to secure its seventh World Series title, it also would be the first team to sweep consecutive World Series opponents since the New York Yankees defeated San Diego in 1998 and Atlanta in 1999.

"We're very confident, but at the same time we know Colorado is a great ballclub, and it's going to be a tough one to get the last one," said Jacoby Ellsbury, who along with Dustin Pedroia and Daisuke Matsuzaka helped lead the Red Sox to a 10-5 win on Saturday. Ellsbury became the first rookie in 61 years with four hits in a Series game, while Pedroia added three.

Boston could set the Series record for highest team batting average, currently held by the 1960 New York Yankees squad, which hit .338 in losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games.

Colorado had won 21 of 22 games before an eight-day layoff heading into their first World Series but aren't hitting, while their starting pitchers have failed to get out of the fifth inning and have an 11.12 ERA.

Boston starts left-hander Jon Lester tonight against Colorado's Aaron Cook in one of the most unusual starting matchups in World Series history.

Lester came back this season after chemotherapy for a form of cancer, while Cook overcame life-threatening blood clots in his lungs.

"It is kind of ironic with him going through what he went through and me what I went through, both of us to work our way back up to the top level of professional baseball," Cook said.Cook, 28, missed a large chunk of this season with a strained oblique muscle but his health scare during the 2004 season required eight hours of surgery and he was told by doctors he was lucky to be alive.

Lester, 23, said he would try to treat his World Series start like business as usual.

"I'm just trying to take it as another start, trying not to look at it as anything extra than that," he told reporters.

Little more than a year ago, Lester was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma. After working his way back from treatment with stops at all three minor league levels, Lester has a 4-0 record (4.72 ERA) for his 11 starts with the Sox, the most recent on Sept. 26.

"I don't think there's anything special about it," said Lester, who is starting because of the injury to Tim Wakefield. "You know, I'm just trying to take it as another start, trying not to look at it as anything extra than that."

Cook suffered his oblique injury in an Aug. 10 start, then reinjured himself in a rehab start at Triple-A. He hasn't pitched anything more than an Instructional League game since.

"I never gave up," said Cook. "I kept looking forward to having a chance to pitch in the postseason, and here it is."

"He's the right man for the job right now," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of Cook, who went 8-7 with a 4.12 ERA in 25 starts this season. "We'll see what he can give us. I know."

The lowdown: Well, this series is over, because even if Colorado manages to win Game 4, postseason machine Josh Beckett awaits in Game 5 for the Red Sox. Boston is -140 on the WagerWeb.com money line, and it's hard to see how Cook will be sharp with all that time off. Baseball season ends tonight. are in serious trouble.