Postseason Pieces: ALDS Wrapup
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For the pictured version, go to: http://mos-baseball.blogspot.com
Postseason Pieces is back with a wrapup of the American League Division Series. We are down to four teams now who can still dream the dream of the World Series and a championship. The Red Sox made short work of the Angels on Sunday as they beat them 9-1 behind a veteran performance from Curt Schilling. Their AL East counterparts from New York though, after an inspired 8-4 game 3 win, had to call it a season as the Cleveland Indians now have booked their flights to Boston for the ALCS... Postseason Pieces will take a look at both American League finalists, what they did and what they need to do and we also discuss what happened with the Angels and the Yankees.
The Good
Cleveland Indians: Entering the series against the vaunted New York Yankees, many considered the Indians to be the underdogs despite their homefield advantage and their one/two punch of C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. But exactly that was the best thing that could happen to the Tribe as they could play with less pressure, more enthusiasm and they managed to develop a certain kind of momentum early in the series. Almost throughout their entire lineup the Indians hit well and did what they were supposed to do at the plate. The offensive stars for the Indians were their big hitters from the regular season. Grady Sizemore was tremendous in the leadoff spot as he at no point in the series could be controlled by the Yankees pitching. If you have a force like Sizemore at the top of the lineup, it gets a lot easier for your cleanup hitters - Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner. Both got fine protection from Jhonny Peralta (.467 batting average for the series) behind them. The Indians had many contributors and could ride their early momentum basically the entire series. Even though the offense was strong for the Tribe, the MVP award of the series should be handed to a guy who last year had a 1-10 record: 23 year old Fausto Carmona. With his team leading the series 1-0, he faced Yankees starter Andy Pettitte and matched him the entire game. His 9 innings of one run ball enabled the Tribe to win the game in extra innings, the game that the Yankees thought they would win with Pettitte on the mound. Yet Carmona did what an ace has to do, he kept his team close and played a huge factor in the decision. In order to advance against the Red Sox in the ALCS Cleveland will need a similar performance from their pitching staff as they once again face a vaunted AL East powerhouse. The bullpen around youngster Rafael Perez (who pitched outstanding in games 1 and 2) will have even more work in the best of seven series against the Sox. Once again, the Indians will be considered the underdog and they have to build on that. If they can gain a similar momentum against the Red Sox, they clearly have the talent to advance and go a long way.
Boston Red Sox: No team has been as impressive as the Boston Red Sox in this year's postseason. They are led by their young big game artist Josh Beckett who figures to be a tough matchup for everyone. He has the mentality, the stuff and now even the composure to dominate any lineup in baseball and that's just what Red Sox fans expect from their ace. He leads a pitching staff that had a 1.33 ERA in their sweep of the Angels. Of course they will face a tougher Cleveland lineup now yet they don't have to fear anybody. Their vaunted bullpen was as good as advertised in midseason, led by the electric Jonathan Papelbon and lefty Hideki Okajima. The only big question mark on the well rested Red Sox staff is starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, who had a subpar start against Anaheim. In the regular season he faced Cleveland twice with mixed results (roughed up once, shut them out at the Jake). Curt Schilling looked tremendous against the Angels and could be an X factor. As if the Red Sox pitching wouldn't be intimidating enough, the Indians propably worry more about the Boston offense. Led by their outstanding Dominican 3-4 batters David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox scored 19 runs in three games against good Anaheim pitching and woke up just at the right time for the postseason. Big Papi wasted no time reminding Anaheim and the baseball world why he is considered one of the greatest playoff performers of our generation and maybe ever. He batted .714 against the Angels with an OBP of .866 and a ridiculous slugging percentage of 1.571... pretty good if you ask me. Manny was Manny again with a pair of homers including a walkoff shot that won game two. Both were nicely protected by third baseman Mike Lowell who batted .333. Even if the other Red Sox hitters weren't really that scary, these three bats for the Red Sox can carry an entire offense with ease and I'm sure C.C. Sabathia and company will have taken notice too. The Red Sox will enter the ALCS with a lot of confidence and they have to be careful not to start off with a little too much of it since they aren't facing the Yankees. They were considered to be the team to beat in the American League all year long and now they are close to the big prize but still have a long way to go. But I'm sure Big Papi will have his troops ready for game 1 and beyond.
Series Outlook: Great pitching staffs, terrific pitching matchups, thunderous offenses and two great ballparks with Jacobs Field and Fenway Park. I'm excited as hell for this series and it has the chance to be an epic battle. If Beckett can continue his outstanding pitching, it will be tough for Cleveland because right now they have Sabathia as their number one despite Carmona maybe being the better pitcher right now. A lot of things can happen but one thing is for sure, baseball fans in Cleveland, Boston and around the world can expect a great series!
The Bad
New York Yankees: Oh boy, what a crushing defeat for the Yankees after they just dominated the last two months of the regular season. Wild Card or not, the Yankees were build to win the World Series and nothing else. But even the dangerous New York offense couldn't overcome two terrible and I mean absolutely terrible, embarrassing and awful starts from their so called ace Chien-Ming Wang. In two starts he amounted a 19.06 ERA which figures to be tough in a two game stretch. You can cry about hitting, RSIP, defense, ARod, Joe Torre or whatever all you want: Such a pitching egg can't be overcome by anyone. The Yankees didn't hit well the entire series as they once again had to realize that in the postseason it doesn't matter how many big bats and loud homerun hitters you have, you will run into good pitching that will silence and atleast control this hitting a bit. Oh wait, didn't they face Paul Byrd in Game 4?!? Right and that was just embarrassing... Paul freaking Byrd... no excuse for not getting him before the 6th inning. I mean I'm just shaking my head here but again, the Yanks were already down big in the first inning which won't help your cause either. Anything else considering the Yanks offense?!? Oh, ARod of course. The big story coming in, Rodriguez batted .267 and even had a homer but you can't really blame him for anything this year. Sure, he blew a huge at bat against Carmona in game 2 which could have swung the momentum in the Yankees favor but just like Guerrero for the Angels, he never had protection in this series. Neither Jorge Posada nor Hideki Matsui batted over .200 and Derek Jeter with an average of .176 wasn't "Captain Clutch" either. But as bad as the loss for the Yankees might look now, they also got a glance at some of their young pitchers under pressure. Looking at guys like Joba Chamberlain, Phillip Hughes or Ian Kennedy (who was injured) you have to be confident as a Yankees fans looking into the future. Hughes was outstanding relieving Roger "I just robbed the Yankees of a ton of money and feel good about it" Clemens in game 3. The times will change in the Bronx and pitching will be at a premium in the offseason in New York. Manager Joe Torre might have had his last year with the Yanks though after 12 seasons of terrific work and all we and Yankees fans can do is tip their cap, hat or whatever to this man and what he did in New York. See you next year!
Anaheim Angels: Yeah I'm calling them this way and I don't care of they are called Anaheim baseball club of LA and Los Angeles California Saints Angels or whatever. Fact is, they entered the postseason at the worst possible time with half their team being banged up and running into an opponent who could match their pitching and even pitch better. In such a case the Angels offense is just not strong enough to answer the call and score runs for their starters. Mike Scioscia and the front office just have to realize that Vladimir Guerrero and a lot of singles hitters just isn't enough. Vlad can't do it on his own as he never really got chances in this series to really do damage. He basically never had guys on base in front of him. A batting percentage of .192 just won't cut it in the American League, the National League or even Little League. The Angels just have to think about their team's makeup again and try to find another big bat in the middle of the lineup to complement Guerrero. No, Casey Kotchman and Garret Anderson aren't enough and never will be enough. Plain and simple.
The Ugly
Well... ahh whatever, let's stay a bit more positive today, no "ugly" awards this time even though Mr. Wang or Roger Clemens had a serious crack at it. But especially Wang will have enough thinking in the offseason anyways so we leave him alone. Eli Wallach also was basically a good guy in the movie so we honor him this time! For everyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, get the movie... one of the greatest of all time.
Today there aren't any games and a great Italo Western might be a viable option for the evening. When the playoffs continue tomorrow Postseason Pieces will watch the action for you once again and be sure, we will see a lot of drama the rest of the month!!!
