I Like Baseball

Seriously, Earl, were you at the game last night? The sign "I Like Baseball" just smacked of something you would bring to a game. Kind of like when you yell "Hey!" way off-time...

That being said, my comment in our last post was "almost" spot on...Last night had me greatly worried. Lester was way better than I thought he'd be, and he is clearly an ace. Lackey was great, too. When it went to the bullpens and I saw how Shields was throwing, I thought it was going to Game 5.

Now it is on to Tampa. The Sox haven't played well all year, but that doesn't count now. The Angels owned the Sox this year. How'd that work out? However, the Rays went with 4 starters in a 5-game series, and they all pitched well. Kazmir, Garza, Sonnanstine (sp?), and Shields. The Sox had two great starts from Lester, one decent start from Daisuke, one not so great start from Beckett. I am guessing that Wake is the fourth starter with the series having a minimum of two dome games.

The Sox faced very good starting pitching in the Angels series, and didn't produce a lot of runs. That was to be expected. They ground out at-bats, and took advantage of opportunities (capitalized on mistakes). They also coughed up two leads, and clearly stayed away from members of their pen as much as possible. Francona's managing was outstanding.

The Rays looked fantastic against the White Sox. They didn't show jitters. Solid starting pitching, solid pen. An aggressive offense, and athletic defense. When they beat the White Sox, they weren't jubilant, young players. They looked like they had no doubt that they belonged.

I can't help but think Rays in 6. The Sox are the underdog. At least in my mind.