I thought about a long write up about these two teams as they begin the American League Championship Series, but I really think it’s going to come one thing: Can the Tigers pitchers keep the Red Sox offense at bay and keep their team in the game long enough to give Miggy a chance to win it for them. Mind you, I’m not saying the Tigers can’t score runs, but with Miguel Cabrera a shadow of his MVP caliber self and Prince Fielder hitting more singles than anything else, the power that Detroit relies on has been nonexistent this post season. The Red Sox score runs and play defense and the Tigers are going to have to rely on their outstanding pitching staff to win this series.
I’m not going stats or history or anything else on this post, I’m going gut. I like the Red Sox in this series because their my team, plain and simple. However, I like them because I think they’re the better team. I think they’re hitters are better right now, I think they’re bullpen is better and I think that our starting pitching is not that far off from them. Sure, they’re one and two are outstanding but we won’t see them until games two and three and if we can steal one of those games (at home mind you) we set up the potential to not see Scherzer or Verlander again in the series. Plus, and this may be the most important part of the series, the best hitter in baseball isn’t 100% healthy and that is huge if you’re a Red Sox fan.
In my mind it’s pretty simple. Win the first two games at home and you set yourself up to see the two dynamic Detroit pitchers only once. For the Tigers, it’s going to be important to stretch this series as long as they can for the opportunity to get Verlander and Scherzer two games. They are on fire right now and they’re the best chance for the Tigers to make the World Series.
It’s well documented that the Red Sox are this band of bearded players looking more like the 2004 idiots that won the World Series, but the fact of the matter is, this is a team of truly professional baseball players that seem locked in. When the Rays stole one from them in game 3 of the ALDS, the didn’t even blink. They came out the next night and closed it out. This is a different team both in personnel but also in mentality. I’ve loved this team since Ben Cherrington started making moves this off-season and now they’re for wins from the World Series.
Series starts tonight at 8pm. Let’s get it in.
Prediction: Red Sox win 4 games to 1.
