Sunday, October 12, 2008

MLB Postseason Recap

Tampa Bay was able to even the series with the Red Sox at 1 game a piece:

Tampa Bay Rays 9 Boston Red Sox 8: Other then the length of the game, this was a great postseason game and one that could swing the momentum in the Rays favor. I say could because momentum is only as good as the next starting pitcher and the Rays will have their hands full with Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester in Game 3. For now though, this was a great victory for the Rays in a must win situation. Scott Kazmir and Josh Beckett both pitched poorly, but the bullpens did their job for the most part on both sides. I put Evan Longoria on notice for this game, because he had struggled so much in Game 1 at the plate. Well, Longoria certainly showed up in this one going 3-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. His home run in the first inning to tie the score at 2-2 was a big confidence booster for the Rays in my mind. That showed that they were't going to go down easy and that this is probably going to be a long series.

You also got to give props to B.J. Upton for his monster home run off of Josh Beckett in the third and also because he won the game with his popup to right field in extra innings. B.J. Upton is finally healthy in my mind and we are seeing someone who could be a Hall of Fame caliber talent. He is still just 23 years old and has excellent plate discipline already. I expect him to bounce back with a monster season next year and he certainly has been impressive in the postseason so far. By the way, what was up with that throw from J.D. Drew on Upton's sac fly? I always thought Drew had a pretty decent arm, but he looked like Johnny Damon making that throw to home last night. Pathetic.

The Boston offense was driven by Dustin Pedroia and Jason Bay. Pedroia seems to have broken out of his slunp after hitting 2 solo home runs last night. Meanwhile, Bay continues to have a great postseason after going 3-5 with 4 RBIs. I'm still convinced that AL pitchers haven't figured out how to pitch to Bay yet. Maybe they never will, but he can't be THIS good can he? Something of concern for the Red Sox is David Ortiz, who is struggling at the plate and has not hit a home run the whole postseason. Maybe Game 3 is the game he will go deep, but right now the Boston offense is being carried by Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay, and Dustin Pedroia.

Game 3 is going to be a tough one for the Rays to win. Matt Garza is going to have to pitch an excellent game for the Rays to have a chance to beat Jon Lester. You have to figure that Lester will give up 3 runs at the most, so Garza needs to have his A-game, but problem is he is not a very good road pitcher. For the Rays to win this series, I'm thinking they will probably lose Game 3, but then they will have to win Game 4 & 5, which is certainly possible. I would not want to go back to Tampa down 3-2 if I was the Rays. I think Game 4 will be huge in this series though, because you will have the 4th starters pitching, so there is really no advantage and you would expect at least one team to be able to score some runs.

Put On Notice: Matt Garza, David Ortiz

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