Thursday, October 11, 2007

Red Sox vs Indians Game 1 2007 ALCS

Game 1 2007 American League Championship Series

Cle@ Bos
C. C. Sabathia0-0, 0.00J. Beckett0-0, 0.00
Indians0-0Red Sox0-0

Friday, October, 12      Fenway Park  ✠ 7:00 PM ET

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report
Baseball-Reference - Preview

Indians: Sabathia, who proved just how far he's come as a pitcher in Game 1 of the ALDS at Jacobs Field. On a night in which the left-hander had trouble pounding the zone with his usual efficiency and could have unraveled, Sabathia was resolute. He needed 114 pitches to get through five innings and walked six batters, but he limited the damage to three runs on four hits and earned his second postseason victory in as many starts. Just a few years ago, such a game in which he didn't have his best stuff early might have turned into a catastrophe, but he's discovered ways to stay calm and collected. Sabathia made one start against the Red Sox on July 24 at Jacobs Field, limiting them to a run on five hits over seven innings. But he took the loss because of a lack of offensive support. He is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in his career at Fenway Park.

Red Sox: Beckett pitched well against the Indians this season, going 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts. The one loss was a 1-0 heartbreaker to Fausto Carmona. The ace right-hander was nothing short of brilliant in Game 1 of the Division Series, firing a complete game, four-hit shutout that led Boston to a 4-0 win over the Angels. Beckett (20-7, 3.27 ERA) has been a rock for the Red Sox all year long. In that playoff opener, however, he took his game to another level. Of his 108 pitches, 83 were strikes. He had no walks and eight strikeouts. Beckett's reputation in postseason play is growing by the start. His last two October outings have both been shutouts. In fact, Beckett has three career shutouts in six postseason starts, but just two in 166 regular season starts. Beckett is 3-2 with a 1.74 ERA lifetime in the postseason. This is Beckett's second trip to an LCS. In 2003, Beckett helped the Marlins to the World Series by pitching three times against the Cubs -- once in relief -- and going 1-0 with a 3.26 ERA. Beckett went 9-5 with a 4.17 ERA in 17 starts at Fenway this season.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Hitting History vs Sabathia
PlayerABH2b3bHR'sRBIBB'sK'sBA
D. Pedroia30000000.000
K. Youkilis73000001.429
D. Ortiz185101313.278
M. Ramirez2112304712.571
M. Lowell72000103.286
B. Kielty299402724.310
J. Varitek101001313.100
C. Crisp62000003.333
J. Lugo184101221.222
Totals1193890923720.319

A batting average of .319 vs Sabathia. That is simply outstanding, no other way to put it. Of course it helps that Manny is batting .571 against this guy. Still you have to like your chances when the entire team is batting .286 against him also. Taking a look at C. C. 's splits this year we see that right handed batters are hitting at a .275 clip with a slugging percentage of .413 (.259/.392 over all). I like our chances against this guy!!

Historical Pitching Lines

PitcherGSWLShoIPHERHRBBKERAWHIPIP/GS
Sabathia724048 1/3512188353.911.226.90
Beckett413024 2/3241876236.571.226.17


Looking at these career numbers its hard to pick a winner. Combined they are 3-7. Not very good for either pitcher. In a way Becketts are much worse but it should be pointed out that last year he was terrible against this team. Look for his numbers to be closer to this years results as opposed to his career line.

This Years Pitching Lines

PitcherGSWLShoIPHERHRBBKERAWHIPIP/GS
Sabathia10107510071.29.717.0
Beckett2110157311141.80.537.5

Both of these guys were outstanding against the teams this year. With their WHIP numbers I almost find it hard to believe that they lost a game apiece. Then when you look at the games that they lost, you see why. Both of them lost a 1-0 game. Hard to blame a pitcher when he loses 1-0. If both pitchers are on, offense will be at a premium. That makes this a toss up game when you are counting on the offenses.

♊ - When all else fails, get a bigger hammer!

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