Boston Red Sox are the 2013 ALDS Champions!!!

[scotty216brs]

Congrats to them, well deserved!!! SO happy right now

 

[MaineMule]

You and me too!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DeliciousBacon]

What an epic game! I expected Hellickson to get shelled and for this to be over by the 3rd, turned into a real classic. Bring on the Pirates!

 

[maxe0213]

What an epic game! I expected Hellickson to get shelled and for this to be over by the 3rd, turned into a real classic. Bring on the Pirates!

Bring on the Pirates? I'm not sure if your being wishful or what. They still have to play the A's/Tigers. As well as the Pirates still would need to beat the cardinals and the dodgers.

 

[scotty216brs]

A few notes about the game before the coffee finally wears off...

-Farrell FINALLY pinch hit for his man-crush Stephen Drew! McGee was pitching who made Drew look silly last night and I was all giddy when I saw Boegarts come out of the dugout. Put up a big league at bat to draw the walk and ended up scoring the tying run. He later scored another run after he walked in his second at bat. See Farrell? It paid off!! Boegarts has to be the most mature hitter I have seen on this team at his age. Most young hitters would have swung at some of those pitches out of the zone being a bit too anxious. Good baserunning, too. Give this kid more AB's!!

-Peavy pitched fantastic tonight. I wasn't sure why Farrell took him out after only 5.2 because we were only down a run and there was only a runner on first. Besides the one run, he was flawless with no walks and great command and velocity. Hardest I have seen him throw at 93mph consistently. I never liked that trade from the start but if he continues to pitch like that then I will warm up to that trade real quick.

-Breslow came in an DOMINATED the middle of the Rays order. 4 straight strikeouts....a TON of movement on his fastball and he kept the ball down. He is definitely our go-to bullpen guy and I think we tend to forget that he has pitched great all season.


-Victorino set the ALDS record for HPB, lol. He is going to be sore tomorrow but he could care less because it helped his team win the game. Anytime him and Ellsbury get on base that many times during a series you know we are going to score some runs.


-Napoli needs to start getting hot at the plate because there is no way Ortiz is going to get pitched to in the ALCS. If he gets locked in then I have no worries about our offense.


-I was very surprised Hellickson only pitched an inning+. I thought he looked good in the first but not so sharp in the second. I suppose Maddon was taking no chances but 8(+) innings for a bullpen is a lot to ask for. It worked out for the Rays (Damn you, Drew! ::shakes fist: but surprised to see that. Then again, it's Joe Maddon and no one can predict what he will do.

-Why did Maddon not bring Archer back for the 9th? Fresh arm and if he got into trouble THEN bring in Rodney. But no he had to put in Rodney who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with a beach ball and then brings in the last available bullpen option to clean up the mess. David Price was starting to warm up at the end of that inning. David Price...you know, the guy who was going to start game 5 if there was one?


That's all I got for now....overall very well played series by Boston, and now they get a few days to prepare for the next series. Can't wait to see Lester in game 1.

 

[scotty216brs]

Bring on the Pirates? I'm not sure if your being wishful or what. They still have to play the A's/Tigers. As well as the Pirates still would need to beat the cardinals and the dodgers.

They will go down swinging....I wouldn't count them out against the Cards. 20 year playoff drought will do that to ya...


Ultimately I would like to see the Sox play the Tigers and then the Dodgers. A's would be nice too because half their team is former Red Sox players, lol.

 

[maxe0213]

They will go down swinging....I wouldn't count them out against the Cards. 20 year playoff drought will do that to ya...


Ultimately I would like to see the Sox play the Tigers and then the Dodgers. A's would be nice too because half their team is former Red Sox players, lol.

I hope that the Pirates win. Pirates Dodgers would be a way better series than Cardinals Dodgers IMO. I think the Sox would sweep or take the series in 5 against the A's. However, against the Tigers, I would be surprised if the Sox win more than 2 games.

 

[DeliciousBacon]

Pittsburgh is going to be my NL pick this year; no team in the playoffs this year deserves some success more than the Pirates. Two decades of poor decisions and failure have finally led to players like McCutchen and Cole that should be their nucleus for at least the next decade.

 

[DeliciousBacon]

I hope that the Pirates win. Pirates Dodgers would be a way better series than Cardinals Dodgers IMO. I think the Sox would sweep or take the series in 5 against the A's. However, against the Tigers, I would be surprised if the Sox win more than 2 games.

The Sox handled Scherzer very well just over a month ago, and the pitchers who struggled against Detroit aren't with the team right now. Scherzer and Verlander are a scary 1-2, but Verlander hasn't been his usual self this season, and Detroit doesn't have a 3-4 that can match Lackey and Peavy right now.

 

[scotty216brs]

Pittsburgh is going to be my NL pick this year; no team in the playoffs this year deserves some success more than the Pirates. Two decades of poor decisions and failure have finally led to players like McCutchen and Cole that should be their nucleus for at least the next decade.

Will the lack of playoff experience hurt them?? They seemed to do fine so far but the real pressure test comes at game 5.

 

[scotty216brs]

I think the Sox would sweep or take the series in 5 against the A's. However, against the Tigers, I would be surprised if the Sox win more than 2 games.

If I'm not mistaken the A's/Tigers series is tied 2-2....yet you think we will sweep the A's meaning we have a better team. So a better team will not win more games vs. the Tigers then the A's have already? Interesting.

Oddly enough I fear the A's more than the Tigers. Sox tend to not hit well vs. young top of the rotation starters. Not to mention some of our pitchers are big time fly ball pitchers and the A's have more power across the board then the Tigers. Either way I see it going 6-7 games no matter who we play.

 

[bmp1971]

I'm thinking it will be Boston and LA in the World Series, and the Red Sox will win in 6. I don't see the A's or Tigers beating Boston this year in the ALCS.

Great pitching tonight. Great game. A real classic, until Rodney showed up.

Go Sox!

 

[maxe0213]

The Sox handled Scherzer very well just over a month ago, and the pitchers who struggled against Detroit aren't with the team right now. Scherzer and Verlander are a scary 1-2, but Verlander hasn't been his usual self this season, and Detroit doesn't have a 3-4 that can match Lackey and Peavy right now.

I would be scared of facing Scherzer and Verlander each twice in a 7 game series at least. I'm not sure who there 3-4 will end up being but I'd rather have Sanchez over Lackey 10 out of 10 times.

Using the Sox playing the Tigers a month or whatever ago to back up your opinion doesn't really help. Its the postseason. Its all different now.

If I'm not mistaken the A's/Tigers series is tied 2-2....yet you think we will sweep the A's meaning we have a better team. So a better team will not win more games vs. the Tigers then the A's have already? Interesting.

Oddly enough I fear the A's more than the Tigers. Sox tend to not hit well vs. young top of the rotation starters. Not to mention some of our pitchers are big time fly ball pitchers and the A's have more power across the board then the Tigers. Either way I see it going 6-7 games no matter who we play.

Yes I think your team is better than the A's. However, I think your team is worse than the Tigers. I would hesitate to say that the A's have more power than the Tigers. Tigers lineup > A's.

It doesn't work the way you say it is. And you should know that. If the Marlins sweep the Dodgers in 3 games, that doesn't mean that the Marlins will sweep the Braves. A "worse" team can win on any given day bud. Its about matchups. And I'd be a lot more scared for the Tigers than the A's if I were you.

 

[bmp1971]

 

[bmp1971]

Note on tonight's game:

Red Sox pitchers: 0 BB, 0 HBP, 0 WP.

Rays pitchers (9 in 9 IN): 8 BB, 2 HBP, 2 WP.

Congrats to Peavy and the Sox pitching staff! They came up HUGE.

 

[scotty216brs]

Note on tonight's game:

Red Sox pitchers: 0 BB, 0 HBP, 0 WP.

Rays pitchers (9 in 9 IN): 8 BB, 2 HBP, 2 WP.

Congrats to Peavy and the Sox pitching staff! They came up HUGE.

Yeah anytime the Sox can go a whole game with out giving up a walk they will have a lot of success. I loved when Koji has the 3-2 count and threw the change-up middle middle to get the strikeout to end the 8th. DeJesus didn't have a chance.

 

[scotty216brs]

Yes I think your team is better than the A's. However, I think your team is worse than the Tigers. I would hesitate to say that the A's have more power than the Tigers. Tigers lineup > A's.

In what way are the Tigers better than the Sox, pitching? The Tigers has given up 3 more runs in 4 games (Rays: 12 runs/A's: 15 runs) to a lineup you said was not as good as the Red Sox lineup. Miguel Cabrera is not 100% health wise so he is not a threat like he usually is. Tigers don't have a shutdown closer, and Verlander hasn't been as good this year as he usually is. He had a good start against the A's but there are a lot of free swingers in that lineup. Don't get me wrong, Tigers are probably the better overall team but they are not without their holes. Red Sox only big problem is their relief pitching but so far Breslow and Tazawa have pitched very well in pressure situations. I think either way the series will go 6 or 7 games but I'd rather take my chances with the Tigers.

 

[dbacksfan4life]

+1!

 

[maxe0213]

In what way are the Tigers better than the Sox, pitching? The Tigers has given up 3 more runs in 4 games (Rays: 12 runs/A's: 15 runs) to a lineup you said was not as good as the Red Sox lineup. Miguel Cabrera is not 100% health wise so he is not a threat like he usually is. Tigers don't have a shutdown closer, and Verlander hasn't been as good this year as he usually is. He had a good start against the A's but there are a lot of free swingers in that lineup. Don't get me wrong, Tigers are probably the better overall team but they are not without their holes. Red Sox only big problem is their relief pitching but so far Breslow and Tazawa have pitched very well in pressure situations. I think either way the series will go 6 or 7 games but I'd rather take my chances with the Tigers.

So your saying the Tigers are a worse pitching team because they gave up three more runs in a four or five game series? Thats your evidence to back that up?? Come on buddy. I know your a sox fan but using that as your evidence? I'm not saying the Tigers are perfect BUT a lineup of

Jackson, Hunter, Cabrera, Fielder, Martinez, Avila, Infante, Peralta, Iglesias scares me a hell of a lot more than Crisp, Lowrie, Donaldson, Moss, Cespedes, Reddick, Vogt, Barton, Sogard. (The two lineups which were used game 1).

The Tigers rotation went Scherzer, Verlander, Sanchez, Scherzer, Verlander. Put that out over a seven game series your looking at Scherzer, Verlander, Sanchez, Scherzer, Verlander, Sanchez, Scherzer vs the Sox who would have Lester, Lackey, Bucholz, Peavy, Lester, Lackey, Bucholz. I'm taking the Tigers in that matchup 10 out of 10 times.

Cabrera is still a THREAT. Obviously. Yes he's not 100 percent but he can hit the ball out of the ballpark every time he's at the plate. The Tigers have to be the favorite in that series.

I think the Sox are sitting on their couches just like their fans for the WS if they get the Tigers.

 

[olerud363]

Just more salt in the wounds for Blue Jays fans as Farrell in his "dream job" just keeps rolling.

I'm hoping the Pirates can continue on to the WS. Who else is left besides the Blue Jays on the list of teams without a post-season appearance in the last 20 years?

- Rodrick