The experts are out in full force in support of the big market Red Sox. The usual suspects have picked against us - Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark, Steve Phillips, Jerry Crasnick (all of ESPN.com), Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com. Once again, the talk is about the other side. Which is fine by me and fine by manager Eric Wedge.
So, I said Tribe in five against the Yankees. I'm glad to say I was wrong...by a game. This time around, it will be different. The difference here is that the Indians will be facing a team with a solid rotation and bullpen, two things the Indians had easily over the Yankees. With speed at the bottom (Crisp, Lugo) and power in the middle (Ortiz, Ramirez, and Lowell), the Sox are loaded.
Who will be big? Ryan Garko will get every pitch he wants as Boston will pitch around Victor Martinez every chance they can. Kenny Lofton will continue his stellar October play. The bullpen will again come up large, with Jenson Lewis seeing more time than we expect. On the downside, the Tribe won't be able to stop David Ortiz.
When everything on paper tells you one thing, I tend to go the other way. While Josh Beckett and "Red Light" Curt Schilling are a power pair at the top, the Tribe will take Game Two in Fenway behind Fausto Carmona before returning to the Jake. There, Jake Westbrook's sinker will stay down and he will feed off of the raucous Cleveland crowd to take a 2-1 lead. Desperate, the Sox will turn to Beckett on three days rest to take Game Four over Paul Byrd. Game Five will go to the Tribe behind a dominating performance from C.C. Sabathia. Back to Fenway we will go where the Fausto-express will roll on. The Sox would have Beckett on full rest for a potential Game Seven. Except there won't be one.
Tribe in six.
Can you say Team of Destiny?
Ken Rosenthal Preview - foxsports.com
Curses! Cleveland Fans Yearning for a Title - Dayn Perry, foxsports.com
Red Sox, Fans, Turning into What They Loathe - Mark Kriegel, foxsports.com
The Disciples of John Hart - Jerry Crasnick, espn.com
Sabathia's Advantage, Five Cuts - Tom Verducci, si.com
Manny of the Moment is Boston's, with Roots in Cleveland - Scott Miller, cbssportsline.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment