The first five League Championship games have produced some thrilling action, with last night’s/this morning’s game between the Dodgers and the Phillies on Five being a great case in point.  L.A. knocked Jame Moyer out of the game early in what turned out to be a very heated contest, ending in a 7-2 victory for the Dodgers that reduced the Phillies’ lead in the NLCS to 2-1.Â
Either the Red Sox or the Rays will end the day with the same advantage in the ALCS. British fans can find out which of the two takes a 2-1 series lead by following game three, an afternoon game from Fenway, live this evening.  Â
This series had all the makings of a six or seven game classic before it began and so far it has lived up to the hype. They are two teams who have battled each other all season long in the AL East with little to separate them. In an ideal world, the Rays would have wanted to enter Fenway with the cushion of 2-0 series lead, but a split was certainly no disaster for them. The Red Sox would have taken this position had they been offered it before game one as well, although the way they lost game two will surely have left them thinking ‘what if’ on the plane ride to Boston. Had they taken a 2-0 lead, it would have been very difficult for the Rays to dig themselves out of the hole and that might be the game that the Red Sox Nation look back on as being the pivotal moment once the series is over. Still, a home sweep will take them back to the World Series to defend their crown and that’s a great position to be in.
They also have the benefit of being able to start the home section of this series with the man they would most want to be sending out to the mound. The basic pitching stats suggest that Daisuke Matsuzaka was the Red Sox’s best pitcher this season, but there’s no doubting that Jon Lester had an equally fine year. Aside from one occasion in August when the Blue Jays pelted him for seven runs in 2.1 innings, the young left-hander was extremely impressive throughout the season. His no-hitter against the Royals will go down as one of the most memorable moments from 2008 and you wouldn’t be surprised if he added to that with another star performance tonight. Lester pitched seven strong innings in both of his starts against the Angels during the ALDS, giving up just one unearned run in the process while striking out eleven and walking just three.
In opposition, Matt Garza will make his second postseason start for the Rays following his off-season trade from the Twins. They had selected him in the first round of the 2005 draft, but he seemed to wear out his welcome in Minnesota without really being given a chance to prove himself at the Major League level. When he left his second start for the Rays with an injury which he claimed had first flared up at the end of the previous season, something that was news to the Twins, you wondered whether Tampa Bay had taken a gamble on a talented but temperamental pitcher that they might end up regretting. Such doubts were put to rest when he returned to the rotation and put together a solid year. He had a shaky outing in the ALDS against the White Sox and the Rays will need him to find his best form again, with runs probably being at a premium against Lester.
It should be yet another great postseason game.
I can’t wait but (since my time machine is still in the planning stage) I guess I’m going to have to.
30 minutes…
I’m counting down the mintues too! Much as I enjoyed the five and a half hour marathon that was game two, I’m hoping this one ends a bit quicker so that I can still get a decent night’s sleep before work tomorrow! Although if it does last four hours they’ll then be the Phillies-Dodgers game four to tempt us at the end as well.
Huge loss for the sox last night as Lester got rocked. How they handle it is a big question. This could be the last hurrah for this club as in the off season veterans such as VEritek and Wakefield will surely be let go. I’m not even sure they will hang on to Youkalis whom I wouldn’t be surprised ended up in pinstripes.
Hi Joe. Yes, it certainly was a big blow for the Red Sox yesterday. Lester was the one guy they thought would provide them with two wins, so now their series is up in the air. The Rays will be looking to jump on Tim Wakefield tonight and if they do then I can’t see a way back for the Red Sox. Dice-K is always walking a tightrope and Beckett has been completely out of sorts recently.
While I’d like to see the Rays take the series (and, to be honest, there can’t be many non-Red Sox fans who wouldn’t), we now just need Boston to win one (or both) of the next two games to ensure that the early (Brit-friendly) match-up on Saturday will be a potential series decider. The teams are that close in standard that you could simulate the outcome of the games pretty well by flipping a coin (as an aside, I could have simulated Seattle games this year pretty well by buying a lottery ticket). So, by my maths, we’ve got a roughly 75% chance of getting a potential series decider on Saturday… and a chance of 37.5% or thereabouts of seeing the series decided on Saturday. A Red Sox win tonight would shift that 37.5% to 50%, while a Rays win would drop it to 25%.
An early game six potential decider would be perfect.
Common British logic would tell you that staying in and watching/listening to a baseball game on a Saturday evening is a bit sad compared to sitting through Casualty or X Factor on the tele.
We know better!
(Although in fairness staying in and watching paint dry would be more enjoyable than suffering the standard Saturday night TV rubbish)
The Sox got hammered again last night. Wakefield, who hadn’t pitched in over two weeks, only lasted two and two thirds surrendering five runs. Everyone is saying that we shouldn’t count the sox out, but this somehow seems differant. They look old and I know that certain players won’t be back next year. Veritek seem certain to be gone. It doesn’t look like Wakefield or Shilling will be back. Beckett might need surgery. Papi is showing effects of writst surgery and isn’t nearly the threat that he is with out Manny. Lowe has been suffering from back problems and is scheduled to have surgery on Monday, at his age you wonder if he will be as effective. I am not sure that Youkalis is at the end of his contract but it wouldn’t surprise me if he wasn’t resigned. There young “talent” seems to be limited to Dustin Pedroia. Elsburry is average at best. If they Redsox try to get younger I believe they will struggle next year. Especially with Beckets Elbow which may or may not need surgury. If he has to recieve Tommy John Surgery then he would likely miss 18 months. That would be the death knell for the sox. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving team.
The Red Sox certainly look like a team in transition, something you could also say about the Yankees. I’m sure NY will be aggressive in the free agent market this off-season, so it will be interesting to see what Boston do in response.