Hello readers, sorry for not being with you the past month or so. I have had other business to attend to. But I am back, and doing a preview of this crucial upcoming series, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Yanks have clinched the AL East, while Boston is just 2.5 games ahead in the wild card race above the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels. For Game 1 of the series, the Red Sox look to have this one locked up. They are pitching one of their two aces, Jon Lester, against shaky Freddy Garcia. Lester is leading the Red Sox in wins with 15, and he has a steady 3.15 ERA. He has thrown remarkably well in his last 7 starts, giving up just 11 earned runs in 43 innings pitched. "he has been a little shaky of late, though, giving up 4 runs apiece in each of his last two starts. I think that Lester will be able to shut down the Yankees, as he is 6-1 in his career versus NY and 2-0 this season at the Stadium. Meanwhile, Garcia has not been able to make it into the sixth inning for his last three starts, and has given up 7 home runs during that span.
Game 2 should be something of a slugfest, as shown by the starting pitchers. On the Red Sox side is Tim Wakefield, who has a 5.08 ERA and has looked extremely bad this year, which would be bad, except that the starter for the Yanks is possibly worse. A.J. Burnett is the proud owner of a 5.28 ERA, and the Red Sox have absolutely clobbered him whenever he has taken the hill .I think the Red Sox should win as long as their bullpen can hold down the game.
Finally, Game 3 looks like it should be the Yankees' game to win, with John Lackey going for the Sox. He has a 12-12 record, with a 6.49 ERA. The pitcher for New York is on the other end of the spectrum, with 16 wins and a 3.62 ERA. Ivan Nova has looked spectacular this year, but I have some doubts about him. For instance, I doubt he can keep up his workload throughout the playoffs, and he's going to have to give up a ton of runs one of these days. I just hope that Lackey can deliver one of his August starts, and show us that kind of a performance.
