OK, so all we need is two this weekend. That gets us to NY for a game on Monday to determine the winner of the East. Arroyo v Chacon or Small...That's a tough call for Torre seeing how good Small was against us and how we roughed up Chacon.
Of course, that won't be necessary if the Indians lose 2 and we win 2. Sox and Yankees then make the playoffs...But who is declared the division winner?
And yet another scenario...
Sox sweep.
Cleveland sweep.
One of the central is the wild card winner, the other division winner. Red Sox East Champs. All with the same record. First round matchups?
Anyway, let's forget about all of this and look at some other matchups...
Wells v Wang- Wells hasn't been great in his last two outings thanks to the knee, but he said he is loose and ready to go. Wang...big pressure situation (big stage anyway). This is not a must win game for the Yankees, but pretty close (especially with "The Comeback" from last year looming). It is a must win game for the Sox (even though they could win Sat and Sun...it would be nice to get one win out of the way).
Game plan Boston- Score early and get in to the Yankees bullpen quickly. This means, Sturtze and Gordon...If we can take either one of them out of Saturday's game, we're much better off. Don't pitch to Sheffield under any circumstances...
Game plan Yankees- Don't throw a strike to Ortiz or Ramirez. With the way the rest of the lineup has been performing, you could walk those two to start an inning and still not get scored upon. Also, get to the pen...
Papelbon won't be in the game tonight. It's everyone then Timlin. This means we need a great start from Wells...
I know we're not going to mess with the lineup, but wouldn't it be great to move Graffanino to the two hole. The guy's an on-base machine and a threat to steal.
Damon
Graf
Ortiz
Manny
Nixon
Tek
Renteria
Mueller
Olerud
If the Sox and Yanks tie at the end of the season and both are ahead of Cleveland, the Sox get the Wild Card and the Yankees the division, as they will have taken the season series. MLB decided that a one-game playoff for the division winner/wild card was unneccessarily intense considering both theams would make the playoffs anyway.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't move Graff to the 2-hole. Rent should've been moved out of the 2-hole 3 months ago, but has been hitting the crap out the ball lately.
ReplyDelete