the fat lady just pinched me
Game #5
Beckett @ Sabathia
red sox 58% (-120)+3
under 8.5 54% (-115)even --ump Cederstrom is even
I'm giving the Red Sox a decent sized pitching edge for this contest. Giving them a very small edge at the plate, as well.
Beckett threw two horrible games against the Indians last season?one on the road and one at home?but this year both of his regular season starts against them were excellent, though he went 1-1 due to being the loser in a 1-0 game against Carmona at Jacobs. He was solid in game #1 of this series, though he did surrender 2 earned runs for his 6 innings of work, allowing 4 hits, a solo homer, and walking none while striking out 7. Beckett was outstanding on the road all season long: he owned a 4.17 era at home this year but on the road he went 11-2 with a 2.18 era and a 1.07 whip; his K/BB ratio on the road was over 5 as he gave only 16 free passes in 90.2 innings pitched. In his 15 innings of work so far in these playoffs he has walked NOBODY while striking out 15. He appears to have complete command of the strike zone currently. Beckett should be totally fresh and able to last for a good 7 innings or more. Red Sox have the arms in the pen to shut things down over the final couple of innings, including rock-solid closer Papelbon.
Sabathia lost a 1-0 decision to Dice-K at Jacobs back on July 24th, his only regular season meeting with Boston this year. In 7 career RS starts he is 2-4 with a 3.91 era. He was 11-4 with a 3.13 era at home this season. C.C. didn't look particularly good in his encounter with the Yankees, posting a 5.40 era for the game and allowing 10 baserunners (4 hits, 6 walks) and 2 home runs over his 5 innings of work. He survived that start, to get the W, but his next playoff start?game #1 of this series?was dreadful as he posted a 10.61 era for the game while allowing 7 hits, 5 walks, and 8 earned runs for his 4.1 innings pitched, picking up the loss. One has to imagine him giving a better performance for this contest but I think that the 11 walks to only 8 strikeouts, so far in these playoffs, is a bit of a warning sign. I'm finding it very difficult to come up with an appropriate rating for Sabathia in this contest; I have to rate him quite high as he has done his best work at home, but I certainly can't rate him as high as Beckett for this match. Indians middle relief is very good but closer Borowski, as I keep mentioning, is not the greatest closer.
Red Sox .800 OPS vs L regular season
Indians .760 OPS vs R RS
Red Sox .768 OPS on the road RS
Indians .795 OPS at home RS
Red Sox hitting .288 vs L
Indians hitting .268 vs R
Red Sox hitting .259 vs L on the road
Indians hitting .278 vs R at home
Red Sox hit .368 vs L last 10 (Sabathia only)
Indians hit .282 vs R last 10
(these offensive stats exclude Tuesday's game)
Red Sox 13-15 on the road to L RS
Indians 35-19 at home to R RS
The first line that I see for this game is a bit of a drag. Not a ton of value with Boston but I think that they're the right play. Sabathia may be due for a good game, mind you. No good under-umps working in these playoffs so my preference for totals?the under?isn't getting much help (Gorman is an under-ump though the announcers for game #3 claimed that he was the opposite, using his "era" as proof). If Sabathia tosses a good game then this one should play under, but how Sabathia performs is something that I'm having a hard time figuring out. I'm probably looking at a small play on the Bosox. I'm going to wait for a better line, though, as I think that I'll be able to get it. Two minutes after typing that and the -113 that I saw has moved to -120. Damn. I might try one unit for that price, if that's the best that I can get. I can be a real sucker for dominating starting pitchers?e.g. I took a bad hit backing Peavy for their one-game playoff?so I could be way off on this one. Still, Sabathia has been garbage in the playoffs thus far.
I'm going to look at a few more angles before doing anything with this one.
I'll post what I find, if I think it should factor in.
Predicted score: Red Sox 4 Indians 3
Plays pending.
GL
My Take is this.DR Fade can take this into acct also.To the best of my knowledge this is only Beckett's second stint in the playoffs.
He's 2-0 this season with a 1.20 era.
In 2003 he made 5 postseason starts, 1 agaiinst the Giants, 2 against the Cubs and then 2 against the Yankees (he also had 1 relief appearance, at the Cubs):
Sept 30th @SF: worked a brilliant 7 innings, allowing only 2 hits and 1 earnie while striking out 9, but he took the loss as the Giants won 2-0.
Oct.7th @Cubs: he allowed 6 earnies over 6.1 innings but the Marlins won 9-8 (no decision for Beckett).
Oct.12 vs Cubs: complete game 2-hit shutout while walking 1 and striking out 11; Marlins won 4-0. The Marlins were down 3-1 in the series when Beckett tossed this game #5 gem.
Oct.15th @Cubs: worked a solid 4 innings of relief (1 hit, 1 earnie) after an inning of relief by Brad Penny, as Redman had a crappy start; Marlins came back to win 9-6.
Oct.21st vs Yankees: he took the loss in a 6-1 Yankees win, despite pitching quite well (7.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 earnies, 3 walks and 10 K).
Oct.25th @Yankees: the game they keep talking about. He outduelled Andy Pettitte as the Marlins took the series, winning the game 2-0; Beckett went complete, 5 hits, 2 walks and 9K.
So, he actually went 2-2 in the 2003 playoffs, but had a great 2.11 era for the 6 games. In his one stinker, on the road (uh-oh), he allowed 4 in the first then shut the Cubs down until the 6th where the Cubbies scored another pair; Marlins took the game in 11 innings. It was two 2-run homers that hurt Beckett the most, 1 in the first and 1 in the 6th. His other 2 road starts that year were brilliant.
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I still think that the key to this game will be how well Sabathia performs. If the Indians win the game then I think it will play under. If the Bosox win the game, it's harder to tell. Hmmm...C.C. is bound to throw better, wouldn't ya think? He was good all season long, even finishing the year the quite strong (Indians won his final 6 regular season starts).
If I had good reason to suspect that something was wrong with C.C. then I would add to this play, but like Beckett's bounceback from a horrible game #1 performance in the 2003 NLCS, Sabathia could very well stymie the Bosox today.
I preferred Beckett in game #1 and I prefer him today. Indians being home is more of a concern for me than the man on the mound for Cleveland.
Bosox did have a losing record on the road to lefties (13-15), and the Indians OPS at home was 50 points higher than it was on the road.
Should be a hell of a game.
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