Fairly or not, the divisional series section of this year’s post-season met with a lukewarm response. The potential group of twenty games was reduced to just thirteen thanks to three sweeps and a 3-1 defeat of the Yankees, with the latter of which robbing the TV execs of their perennial dream Boston-New York ALCS. Game One of the NLCS reportedly had the lowest viewer rating of any League Championship Series since records began, so MLB must have been hoping for a big game to capture the imagination.
Cleveland’s dramatic extra-innings victory over the Red Sox was exactly what the post-season needed. After their blowout loss on Friday, many parts of the media were dismissing the Indians as an afterthought, the ALCS seemingly a mere formality for the AL East champions. To say that would be doing a disservice to the AL Central champions doesn’t state the case firmly enough: this is a very talented Cleveland team who would not be causing an upset if they made it to, and won, the World Series. Boston deserve their “favourites†tag, but it was more than a mere coincidence that the Indians finished with the same regular-season record as their more illustrious counterparts.
It barely needs to be stated that last night’s win was crucial for Cleveland. Recovering from an 0-2 hole in a best-of-seven series is never easy, let alone when you are facing a team like the Red Sox. Heading into the game, I thought they might have a chance against Curt Schilling. While he came out of his series-winning performance against the Angels with an impressive pitching line including seven scoreless innings, he took advantage of an unusually wide strike zone and his stuff did look hittable. It certainly was last night, but unfortunately for the Tribe the same could be said about Fausto Carmona. In the end it was the Red Sox’s bullpen that collapsed under the strain, with Eric Gagne leading off the fatal eleventh inning in a fashion typical of his performances in a Red Sox uniform.
Whatever the circumstances, the Indians would have been happy to head home with the series tied. Considering how Sabathia and Carmona have performed, they will be absolutely delighted. Now Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd need to come out on top in their duels with Matsuzaka and (probably) Tim Wakefield. Boston certainly look to have the advantage in the first match-up, although it will be interesting to see how Dice-K pitches on Monday after his pretty average divisional series start. Was it just an off-day or is Matsuzaka running out of steam at the end of his first MLB campaign? The difference between his pre and post All Star break ERAs (3.84 and 5.19) suggest there may be something in the latter. Cleveland will be all too aware that he has the talent to put in a lights-out performance regardless of previous form.
Game two of the NLCS was exciting as well, although the Rockies’ extra innings victory probably wasn’t the neutral fan’s dream outcome. After losing the opening two games at home, Arizona have a mountain to climb if they are to repeat their 2001 triumph. Colorado’s form continues to stun the baseball world. Everyone is asking whether they can keep it up, but we’ve reached the point where the question almost becomes redundant: they are keeping it up. When a team is on a winning run, the opposition holds out hope that a) a loss must be due and b) when it happens, several more will follow as their momentum will be snapped. While the law of averages suggests ‘a’ will come true sooner or later, we might be too far down the line for ‘b’ to be a factor.
Eric Byrnes has had a few things to say about the series, claiming on MLB.com that his team hasn’t been outplayed: “Not even close. They’ve [the Rockies] had a little luck go their way. Definitely, the ball has bounced in their direction. They’ve been the beneficiary of some callsâ€. That’s a questionable statement from someone who isn’t exactly renowned for being the most cerebral of ballplayers, but I doubt the Rockies will care about the comments. Byrnes can rename them the Colorado Luckies if he likes, all that matters is the final score and he will be reminded of that harsh lesson if the D-Backs don’t start winning soon. “Soon†means tonight as Livan Hernanez faces Josh Fogg in game three, with coverage starting at 00.45 on Five. First pitch should be around 01.30, giving Johnny and Josh plenty of time to look back at the opening games of both series.
