Monday, October 6, 2008

ALDS Game 4: Sox 3, Angels 2

First, Mike Scioscia is the Bret Favre of MLB. No matter how many times Favre throws a ridiculous interception, you can count on some commentator praising him as a gunslinger, a gamer, someone who plays the game the way it is supposed to be played. Nevermind the fact that his teams don't seem to win playoff games terribly often, the media just love him. So enter Mike Scioscia with his suicide squeeze and 'aggressive' baserunning approach in general. Oh, and you lost the game with your best pitcher sitting on the bench (K-Rod)? Wow, what a gamer that Mike Scioscia is. Hell, I'm watching the Red Sox postgame commentary and they're not blaming Scioscia. You have a guy on third with one out! If the first guy hits a fly ball, you're ahead! You've got two outs to get one hit! Idiotic.

I note that the Sox have finished the Angels in three straight postseason series with walk-offs: Ortiz had a walk-off homer in '04, Manny had a walk-off homer in '07, and now Lowrie with a walk-off single. I think I can sum up this series best by quoting Joe Morgan, during a Sox-Angels Sunday night game in July: "The Angels are peaking at the right time." Yes they were Joe, yes they were.

Schedule for the series with Tampa -- hey Ivan, welcome to town for playoff baseball! [Mets/Pirates joke deleted]:
1 - Friday at Tampa, 8:37
2 - Saturday at Tampa, 8:07
3 - Monday in Fenway, 4:37 (holy hell!!! awesome start time!)
4 - Tuesday in Fenway, 8:07
5 - Thursday in Fenway, 8:07
6 - Saturday at Tampa, 4:37
7 - Sunday at Tampa, 8:07
edit: corrected for first pitch time, instead of TV coverage start time; games on TBS

For pitching, the Sox could start either DiceK (>5 days rest) or Beckett (normal 4 days rest) on Friday. I gotta think they opt to go Beckett for game 1. There's zero chance of them going with the same starter for games 1, 4, and 7, so that's not a consideration, and Beckett is still your ace, you start him game 1. As for game 2, do you really want to leave Lester sitting there after throwing only 109 pitches tonight? No, you don't -- start Lester game 2.