Tag: MLB playoffs

On October 1, this blog asked the question whether offense  can carry an MLB Team to a World Series title.

The Boston Red Sox are four wins away from answering that question in the affirmative, at least partially, after winning the American League pennant last night against the favored Houston Astros. The Sox, who continue to enjoy home field advantage, are now 5-0 on the road in the playoffs, as they wait to see whether their Fall Classic opponent will be the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Milwaukee Brewers.

The sports media industry appeared to be as ill-informed as the “Trump can’t win” political pundits by making the Sox the underdogs against both the New York Yankees and the Astros.

In the division series, Boston defeated the Yankees three games to one, scoring 27 runs to the Bronx Bombers’ 14. In the AL champion series, after dropping the first game at home, the Sox eliminated the defending champions four games to one, with a run differential of 29 to 14.

Starting and relief pitching obviously plays a vital, and typically decisive, role in the post season.

Surprisingly, Sox pitching held up too, which included starters Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, Nathan Eovaldi, David Price (who finally got a post-season win Thursday night), and Eduardo Rodriguez entering in a relief role on their off days.

As WEEI host Glenn Ordway noted, first-year manager Alex Cora is “scotch-taping” the bullpen together, which performed better than the Astros’ counterparts, even with closer Craig Kimbrel’s near meltdown on Wednesday night. Unlike his predecessor, Cora prioritizes developing and maintaining strong rapport with the clubhouse.

Expect more mixing and matching of starters and relievers in the upcoming World Series which starts on Tuesday night.

On Opening Day 2018, the Red Sox collectively suffered a meltdown against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 9th inning at Tropicana Field, but they turned it around the next day and never looked back, on the way to an incredible 108 wins.

It’s refreshing that a team that sustained regular-season excellence is heading to the title round. That is not always the case in pro (or college) sports with a watered-down significance of the regular season. MLB is unique in that even given the marathon, pre-playoffs 162-game season, every game is important. The seeming randomness of baseball is another unique, compelling feature.

Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was named MVP of the ALCS. He had just three hits, but two were home runs (one a grand slam), accounting for nine RBI.

When they give up the DH in the National League stadium pursuant to MLB rules for at least two games, the Red Sox braintrust will be forced to make a decision as to whether to break up their spectacular outfield consisting of JBJ, presumed AL MVP Mookie Betts, and Andrew Benintendi in order to get J.D. Martinez into the game. Betts was an infielder before he broke into the big leagues.

.@RedSox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione got so excited during the final play, he literally fell out of his seat.

Can you believe it? 😂 😂 😂 pic.twitter.com/HdMe6upUpF read more