Off and Running - 1-0 Red Sox lead in ALDS
Josh Beckett looked great in winning game one last night. A complete game shutout is not something you expect in the playoffs. He performance essentially gave the bullpen an additional 2 days off on top of their initial 2 day rest.
I was fortunate to be at Fenway last night and noticed Francona had many different relievers warm up last night. I saw Hideki Okajima and Eric Gagne for certain (lousy seats yield poor scouting results) and think I saw 2 others warming up. I assume Francona did this to keep these guys sharp.
More good news was seeing Kevin Youkilis hitting a home run in his first ever playoff at bat. Additionally, David Ortiz got off to a great start hitting a 2-run shot to deep right.
All in all, little to complain about in very convincing victory. But one game doesn't establish much in the playoffs so Daisuke Matsuzaka has his work cut out on Friday as the Angels aren't likely to roll over again. Game 2 starts at 8:30pm Friday night and will match Matsuzaka against Kelvim Escobar. Matsuzaka has never faced the Angels before and Escobar didn't face the Red Sox in this past regular season. Escobar lifetime against the Red Sox is an underwhelming 6-7, 4.64 ERA, 1.44 WHIP in 99 IP. He has struck out 91 over that span. At Fenway, Escobar is 4-3, 4.30 ERA, 1.40 WHIP in 58.2 IP with 57 K's. So not terrible, but not great.
I leave you with this, I was surprised the Angels only mustered up 4 hits last night. They never got anything going. What do you think, was this just complete domination by Beckett or are the Angels just not that good an offensive club? Or maybe both?
Comments
domination
I was quite impressed with Beckett's composure. The amount of time he took between pitches and how calm he was impressed me.
Posted by: blmeanie | October 4, 2007 11:51 AM |
Definitely domination Andy. This one's not over by a long shot. Looking forward to see what Matsuzaka can do.
Posted by: Wade | October 4, 2007 01:59 PM |
I am probably not giving Matsuzaka his due as he also has a clear history of performing well in pressure situations. His World Baseball Classic MVP and his performance at the 1998 Koshien/High School Tournament. He is a legend in Japan for big game performance, so perhaps Terry and co are counting on this.
While his exploits were not on the MLB stage like Schilling's, the WBC was against MLB caliber talent.
Posted by: Andy | October 4, 2007 03:40 PM |