Red Sox Take Lead in Series by beating Verlander at his own game

 

Any fan of baseball, at some level begins to appreciate the fact that there's no such thing as a sure thing. Justin Verlander is about as good a pitcher as there has been since Pedro. You might be able to put King Felix in that mix too. Verlander has pitched 200 innings for 8 years, had 200 K's for 5 years.  That is simply dominance, and extended dominance. You have to like your chances when he is on the mound.

 

Yet against all reason, the Tigers have lost 4 of the last 5 games he has pitched. Verlander has given up ONE RUN in FIVE GAMES, Three in the postseason, and has one W to show for it. I'd be foaming at the mouth, if I was him. He was in complete control yesterday, and let one pitch beat him - a good pitch, just not good enough. And now they are down 2-1, and have given home field advantage back to the Red Sox.

 

The Red Sox/Tigers Series Nutshell

The first game was hard to watch. Sanchez - the former Red Sox minor leaguer - was as good as I've ever seen him. He made the Sox lineup look like minor leaguers, that's for sure. Wonder if he still had a chip on his shoulder for being traded? But there was a glimmer of hope. The Sox, as they've done all season, wore him out. His pitch count was so high Leyland took him out of the game in the seventh - despite the fact he hadn't given up a hit. And that meant they were in to the Bullpen of the Tigers, which, in my humble opinion, stinks.

 

Tip your cap, the Detroit bullpen got their nine outs that night, and won the game 1-0. Many Sox fans were thinking - my Dad included - that down 0-1 with Scherzer and Verlander next - things were pretty grim. But I optimistically pointed out to my Dad that if the Sox could continue to get the Detroit bullpen, their leads won't hold up. And, I further postulated, the Red Sox would continue to get better at bats as the series wore

Sox Baseball in October.  Can't beat it!

on. The more familiar they get with a pitcher, the more dangerous this group of grinders get. And they are simply playing the best baseball of the year, with aggressive pitching (no nibblers on this team), terrific base running, and managerial calls that almost always seem to work out.

 

Cue game two, which saw all of the above, a come back for the ages against a Bullpen that I think showed it's true colors. In game 3, the Sox matched the Tigers pitch for pitch, but came out ahead on a home run by Napoli, who was riding the pine in game #2. The bullpen completely closed out the Tigers, who had their chances, but kept finding themselves down 0-2 to a couple of guys nobody saw pitching late innings for the Sox in April.

 

Predictions for the rest of the series

This series will remain tight. The Tigers are clearly one of the top two teams in AL, and their pitching is fearsome. I thought the Sox would be down 2-1 at this point, and would win the series in 7 as they took advantage of that Bullpen down the stretch. Certainly, the Tigers can win, but they have a lot going against them now. Fister is no Verlander, he pitches to contact, and it's hard to see another 1-0 game this series. Can Sanchez be as effective after throwing all those pitches? He'll be on five days rest, but does he have another 120 pitch no hitter in him? I doubt it. Ditto Verlander, who, as great as he is, may struggle trying to pitch BETTER than he did yesterday. Leyland is clearly trying to hide his bullpen (who uses three pitchers in the ninth inning to get 3 outs?) and they must suspect that he doesn't trust them. That can't be good. So it'll be up to the hitters of Detroit to start putting numbers on the board, and if they do get hot, that could end the ride that Sox fans have been on since April.

 

But don't count on it. The Sox at bats are getting better, the bullpen has loads of confidence, and they have the lead - with two more games at friendly Fenway if they need them. They have no quit in them, and I think they will grind away with Detriot wondering what happened when the Red Sox are through with them. We will see - but I know I'm blocking out my calender to watch the rest of this series.

 

Here's hoping the Dodgers pull out a miracle to get to the W.S. That would be must-see TV.