Will this be the end?

CLEVELAND -- Well, this is it. With the Red Sox down 3-1 in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, it's all up to Josh Beckett to bring the Sox (and the Indians) back to Boston before it's too late.

Him, and the offense, of course.

Though Beckett has been both reliable and dominant during the regular and postseason, he can't do it all. Dustin Pedroia must start getting on base, and the bottom of the order must start coming through as well. Because, as good as Beckett can be, if the Red Sox don't score off C.C. Sabathia, they simply aren't going to win. (Obvious, perhaps, but true.)

Sabathia, of course, has had his own tribulations in the postseason, with neither of his starts measuring up to his Cy Young regular season. He was bounced by Bobby Kielty on Friday night, and Kielty will again be in the lineup tonight to try to inflict some damage on the big lefthander. Sure, Sabathia seems due for an impressive start. But it's hard to say that's certain based on his performance in his last two.

Essentially, for the Red Sox, the pressure is on. And the team is drawing from its experience being down in series -- whether that is the '04 playoffs for the eight holdovers or the '03 playoffs for Marlins veterans Beckett and Mike Lowell -- in order to make sure it wins tonight to continue to play. Coming back to win three straight is a tall task. But winning tonight isn't quite as daunting. That is how the team must think.

And that's what they're saying. We'll see tonight if they can come through in what is finally, truly, a must-win game for the Red Sox. Otherwise, the offseason could start at the final out.