NY Stankees (83-63) at Red Sox (89-58)
Three game series Fenway Park
Standings: BOS up by 5 1/2 games over NY
Probable Starting Pitchers:
GM1 Fri 705 ESPN Pettitte (13-8) vs. Matsuzaka (14-12)
It's put up or shut up time for Dice-K, who after showing flashes of brilliance this season has fallen flat on his innocent-looking face the last month (1-4 record, ERA over 9.50). To get off the schneid, he will have to beat New York's second-best starter; Pettitte has won seven of his last eight decisions, and Clemens' ball boy has carried the shaky staff through the roughest stretch of the season.
GM2 Sat 355 FOX Wang (18-6) vs. Beckett (18-6)
What can you say about this one except that it is a battle of the team aces, it could decide the Cy Young race, and whichever team loses tonight, the other starter will have the weight of the team on his shoulders in this start. No pressure, fellas!
GM3 Sun 800 ESPN Clemens (6-6) vs. Schilling (8-7)
This one shapes up to be a classic matchup--about four years ago. Now it looks like an ad for male enhancement products.
When 45-year-old Roidger Clemens takes the Fenway mound opposite 40-year old Schilling on Sunday Night Baseball, not only will these two grizzled champion warhorses be relegated to secondary ace status on their own teams, they will probably be the secondary viewing choice of most of the Nation with the Pats taking on the Chargers in Foxborough at the same time.
Season Series: NY leads, 8-7
Preview:
The Stanks roll into Fenway for this final regular season matchup with the Sox as one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past three months.
Since ending May with a record of 22-29 New York has ripped off a 60-34 mark to take a commanding 3 1/2 game lead in the Wild card standings while slicing a 14 1/2 game deficit behind Boston to a steady 5-7 games for the past month.
Boston, meanwhile, has cooled considerably since its torrid 36-16 jaunt through the season's first two months, posting a down-to-Earth record of 53-45 from June 1st until now, a record that includes a lot of heartbreaking losses, sloppy pitching and lack of timely hitting.
Hitting hasn't been the problem for New York, which leads the majors in runs scored, batting average and on base percentage, but that's to be expected when you have the probable MVP of the league mashing 52 homers and 140 ribbies for you.
For a change Boston will enjoy being the hunted and not the hunter in this season series finale. The Sox have been in first place for most of the season, and despite that diminished AL East advantage, they still control their own destiny as far as the division title goes: keep winning, and it's theirs for the first time since '95.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time dissecting this thing--we all know what's at stake and what has happened in the past and what needs to be done. Win 2 of 3 in this series and the East is all but theirs. Lose a couple or three and the race is going to come right down to the wire, and with consecutive series sweeps under New York's belt, the specter of 1978 will be hanging over the Hub like a thick, depressing fog.
Three game series Fenway Park
Standings: BOS up by 5 1/2 games over NY
Probable Starting Pitchers:
GM1 Fri 705 ESPN Pettitte (13-8) vs. Matsuzaka (14-12)
It's put up or shut up time for Dice-K, who after showing flashes of brilliance this season has fallen flat on his innocent-looking face the last month (1-4 record, ERA over 9.50). To get off the schneid, he will have to beat New York's second-best starter; Pettitte has won seven of his last eight decisions, and Clemens' ball boy has carried the shaky staff through the roughest stretch of the season.
GM2 Sat 355 FOX Wang (18-6) vs. Beckett (18-6)
What can you say about this one except that it is a battle of the team aces, it could decide the Cy Young race, and whichever team loses tonight, the other starter will have the weight of the team on his shoulders in this start. No pressure, fellas!
GM3 Sun 800 ESPN Clemens (6-6) vs. Schilling (8-7)
This one shapes up to be a classic matchup--about four years ago. Now it looks like an ad for male enhancement products.
When 45-year-old Roidger Clemens takes the Fenway mound opposite 40-year old Schilling on Sunday Night Baseball, not only will these two grizzled champion warhorses be relegated to secondary ace status on their own teams, they will probably be the secondary viewing choice of most of the Nation with the Pats taking on the Chargers in Foxborough at the same time.
Season Series: NY leads, 8-7
Preview:
The Stanks roll into Fenway for this final regular season matchup with the Sox as one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past three months.
Since ending May with a record of 22-29 New York has ripped off a 60-34 mark to take a commanding 3 1/2 game lead in the Wild card standings while slicing a 14 1/2 game deficit behind Boston to a steady 5-7 games for the past month.
Boston, meanwhile, has cooled considerably since its torrid 36-16 jaunt through the season's first two months, posting a down-to-Earth record of 53-45 from June 1st until now, a record that includes a lot of heartbreaking losses, sloppy pitching and lack of timely hitting.
Hitting hasn't been the problem for New York, which leads the majors in runs scored, batting average and on base percentage, but that's to be expected when you have the probable MVP of the league mashing 52 homers and 140 ribbies for you.
For a change Boston will enjoy being the hunted and not the hunter in this season series finale. The Sox have been in first place for most of the season, and despite that diminished AL East advantage, they still control their own destiny as far as the division title goes: keep winning, and it's theirs for the first time since '95.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time dissecting this thing--we all know what's at stake and what has happened in the past and what needs to be done. Win 2 of 3 in this series and the East is all but theirs. Lose a couple or three and the race is going to come right down to the wire, and with consecutive series sweeps under New York's belt, the specter of 1978 will be hanging over the Hub like a thick, depressing fog.
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