Dominance and resilience; two words that describe the Red Sox play against the Tigers in their recent four game set.
Two teams that were early favourites to land in the American League Championship Series this October faced off head-to-head this past week at Comerica Park. The Red Sox displayed character play, and proved to the baseball world, that they are again a contender for the World Series; something I cannot say about the Tigers.
The final game of the series saw Josh Beckett at his finest, and Kevin Youkilis continue to kill the ball. Both bullpens were perfect, and Justin Verlander’s performance was again, less than desirable. The Red Sox took 3 of 4 from the Tigers, with the Tigers squeaking out their only victory.
After attending two of the four games, I noticed a number of things that I thought I would point out:
• Kevin Youkilis is a hitting machine. Not only can Youk hit for average and get on base for the big boys behind him, but the guy can hit for power. After belting 3 dingers in the first 3 games, Francona slide Youk into the cleanup spot to give Manny a rest, and he did not disappoint. He belted 4 dingers at pitcher-friendly Comerica Park, and finished the series off (6 for 17/4 HRs/7 RBIs/.353 AVG/5 Runs/0 SBs). Youk now has 5 home runs in his last 5 games. That is spectacular! Youk was a major reason for the Sox championship last season and will be again this season if they plan on going for a repeat.
• David Ortiz is officially back. After starting the beginning of the season on a snails pace (first 12 games/3 for 43/1 HR/3 RBIs/.070 AVG/6 Runs/0 SBs), Big Papi has hit over .300 during the last month and has resumed his power stroke (last 21 games/29 for 91/6 HR/25 RBIs/.319 AVG/15 Runs/0 SBs).
• Josh Beckett is virtually untouchable when healthy. This guy was a machine last post season (4-0/35 Ks/1.20 ERA/0.70 WHIP/30.0 IP), and watching him sling back his arm and throw strikes sends chills down my spine, and should do the same for any opposing hitter. His last game saw this line (8 Ks/1 Earned Run/6 Hits/0 Walks/7.0 IP), where he was constantly up on hitters throwing 73 of his 102 pitches for strikes. Anytime a pitcher doubles his strike count to walks, you know he’s had a great night, but to surpass it by that much usually leads to a dominant night; and it did.
• Clay Buchholz will have growing pains all season long; especially on the road. Despite starting Wednesday night’s game on a high note, Buchholz fizzled in the 3rd and made rookie mistakes from there on out. Many of his starts this season have gone either great or terrible once he’s exited, but all is not lost. Clay’s home stats are (2-0/15 Ks/1.04 ERA/1.33 WHIP/17.1 IP), and his road stats are (0-2/24 Ks/7.40 ERA/1.60 WHIP/20.2 IP), so all Buchholz needs to do is find his road rhythm. Something many young pitchers have trouble doing.
The Red Sox starting five is far more superior to that of the Tigers. Let’s line them up:
Josh Beckett (4-2/42 Ks/3.70 ERA/0.94 WHIP/41.1 IP)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (5-0/33 Ks/2.43 ERA/1.20 WHIP/40.2 IP)
Clay Buchholz (2-2/39 Ks/4.50 ERA/1.47 WHIP/38.0 IP)
Tim Wakefield (3-1/25 Ks/3.33 ERA/1.26 WHIP/46.0 IP)
Jon Lester (2-2/27 Ks/3.94 ERA/1.49 WHIP/45.2 IP)
Combined Totals = (16-7/166 Ks/3.57 ERA/1.28 WHIP/211.2 IP)
Justin Verlander (1-6/30 Ks/6.43 ERA/1.47 WHIP/49.0 IP)
Jeremy Bonderman (2-3/22 Ks/4.17 ERA/1.59 WHIP/41.0 IP)
Armango Galarraga (2-1/21 Ks/3.07 ERA/0.99 WHIP/29.1 IP)
Kenny Rogers (2-3/19 Ks/6.27 ERA/1.69 WHIP/37.1 IP)
Nate Robertson (1-4/31 Ks/6.64 ERA/1.55 WHIP/40.2 IP)
Combined Totals = (8-17/123 Ks/5.47 ERA/1.48 WHIP/197.1 IP)
Those numbers are staggering. The Red sox are almost 2 full runs lower than the Tigers and their records are pretty much flip-floped. That is an excellent sign from the championship rotation. Although, nothing against the Tigers, because I do have a soft spot for the team across the river, but these numbers prove that if they want to be considered a contender this season, their rotation needs to be addressed.
