RealGM

This is a very important series. A sweep could end the Yankees hold on the AL East or push them as close as 2 games back of the Red Sox.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1
Matsuzaka (14-12) 4.44 ERA 1.33 WHIP
vs NYY (2-1) 6.98 ERA 1.40 WHIP

Pettitte (13-8) 3.78 ERA 1.40 WHIP
vs Bos (2-1) 4.75 ERA 1.58 WHIP

Game 2
Beckett (18-6) 3.27 ERA 1.14 WHIP
vs NYY (1-1) 5.49 ERA 1.83 WHIP

Wang (18-6) 3.69 ERA 1.27 WHIP
vs Bos (3-1) 3.24 ERA 1.44 WHIP

Game 3
Schilling (8-7) 3.93 ERA 1.28 WHIP
vs NYY (0-2) 5.76 ERA 1.52 WHIP

Clemens (6-6) 4.45 ERA 1.34 WHIP
vs Bos (1-0) 1.50 ERA 1.17 WHIP

The two big boppers for the team are really hitting right now.

Alex Rodriguez



Hitting .486 in September with .568 OBP and slugging 1.162. He is also the future MVP of the American League this season.

David Ortiz



Hitting .341 in September with a .472 OBP and slugging .805. Coming off his 13th career walk-off homerun.


I wanted to add two players from each team that I think could really play huge roles in the success of their teams.

For the Yankees

Joba Chamberlain



Well Joba sure did send a message when the Sox were in the Bronx. Anybody who's thrown 16 scoreless innings sure is doing something right. The Yankees were stuggling to find a guy that could get the ball to Rivera and Joba sure has stepped up in that role.

Johnny Damon



Having a down season, but he still plays a big role for the Yankees. His role is even bigger with Jeter a bit banged up. Damon needs to find a way to get on base for the big bats that follow him. I'm also sure that Damon is poised to come up big against the Red Sox.

For the Red Sox

Manny Ramirez



Well firstly it matters if he actually plays for this series. He took batting practice Wendesday and could be ready for the series. Obviously this would be a huge lift for the Red Sox to get their cleanup hitter back. Manny is a career Yankees killer and is doing it yet again this season. Hitting .392 with 4 homeruns. Of course it's also very important the Sox don't bring him back to early and he ends up being gone for the playoffs.

Clay Buchholz



Much like Chamberlain will be pitching in a role he won't see all that much in his career. Obviously looking at the Red Sox starters numbers against the Yankees the pen will play a major role. And the young Buchholz could be one of the major guys to help out. Of course he's only come into one game in relief, but he did throw 3 scoreless innings.


I believe this series will end up being a battle of the pens. The Red Sox have the better one and I expect them to prove it this weekend. The Red Sox really need Dice-K to come up with a solid outing in game 1. However, he's been far from solid lately. For the series I'm going with Sox take two out of three. Yanks win the first, Sox come back and take the next two.

Thanks to Torre's brutal ability to look towards future games, Joba will only be available for one game this series.

In a 4 run game, Torre sent him out for a 2nd inning on Wednesday. That means he got yesterday off, will be off today and if he pitches tomorrow: he can't pitch in the series finale. Torre made him unavailable for 2 of the 3 games (instead of 1 of the 3) for 4 run lead against a very poor offense. Thanks Joe!

I'm expecting a loss tonight (don't trust Dice-K at all with the way he's been lately) but expect the two teams to split the final 2 games of the series. The Red Sox really only need to win 1 game to put themselves in a great position to hold onto the division. Just don't get swept, please.

kobeSTOPkobeDONT wrote:In a 4 run game, Torre sent him out for a 2nd inning in a 4 run game on Wednesday. That means he got yesterday off, will be off today and if he pitches tomorrow: he can't pitch in the series finale. Torre made him unavailable for 2 of the 3 games (instead of 1 of the 3) for 4 run lead against a very poor offense. Thanks Joe!

.

Didn't know that, thanks for the help Torre. Maybe he was expecting to beat the crap out of Dice-K like every other team has been lately. Either way I really want to see Joba on the mound this series with the game on the line.

Sweep 'em! Dice will come up big tonight. I've just got a hunch.

mr_sunshine wrote:Sweep 'em! Dice will come up big tonight. I've just got a hunch.

We'll see what dice is made of tonight. I hope he comes up big.

kobeSTOPkobeDONT wrote:Thanks to Torre's brutal ability to look towards future games, Joba will only be available for one game this series.

In a 4 run game, Torre sent him out for a 2nd inning on Wednesday. That means he got yesterday off, will be off today and if he pitches tomorrow: he can't pitch in the series finale. Torre made him unavailable for 2 of the 3 games (instead of 1 of the 3) for 4 run lead against a very poor offense. Thanks Joe!

I'm expecting a loss tonight (don't trust Dice-K at all with the way he's been lately) but expect the two teams to split the final 2 games of the series. The Red Sox really only need to win 1 game to put themselves in a great position to hold onto the division. Just don't get swept, please.

Well I think Francona will pull Dice at the first sign of trouble. He wont wait for a complete meltdown. I dont expect a 3.1 IP 7ER line for him.

kobeSTOPkobeDONT wrote:Thanks to Torre's brutal ability to look towards future games, Joba will only be available for one game this series.

In a 4 run game, Torre sent him out for a 2nd inning on Wednesday. That means he got yesterday off, will be off today and if he pitches tomorrow: he can't pitch in the series finale. Torre made him unavailable for 2 of the 3 games (instead of 1 of the 3) for 4 run lead against a very poor offense. Thanks Joe!

I'm expecting a loss tonight (don't trust Dice-K at all with the way he's been lately) but expect the two teams to split the final 2 games of the series. The Red Sox really only need to win 1 game to put themselves in a great position to hold onto the division. Just don't get swept, please.

who do you suggest we should have used?

Honestly anybody in your pen should be able to hold onto a four run league.


Nice start for the Red Sox, but Dice has to come out and not have one of those innings he sometimes has from time to time.

Thank you for your terrible defense Mr. Giambi.

Great job Okajima way to let them back in. I guess the overuse had to start catching up to him tho.

Would have rather seen Gagne or Delcarmen start they 8th fresh.

Ah this is going to be a great game to lose...sweet.

Wow... half my friend's dorm is on suicide watch, and I almost tossed a Yanks fan out of a 4th story window. **** douche bag was sitting there rubbing it in in a room where he was outnumbered 15 to 1. Thankfully he left at the right time (for his sake). This game made me feel like crap....

Honestly, why the hell didn't Buchholz get in the game? Or Del Carmen?

I hate when managers bring back a relief pitcher after they pitched the inning before. Even more so when Tito has been using the guy too much anyways. I would have liked to see Gagne or Delcarmen start it fresh in the 8th. Very bad loss for the Red Sox, hopefully they can bounce back today.

I really think Tito lost this game. Talk about micro managing. Bringing in Oki, who has been overused this year, in a 5 run game is just stupid. Then, that leads to Paps going into a second inning. I'm so sick of this team. I'm not worried about getting to the playoffs, because they are practically in already, but they won't go anywhere. They always implode against good teams and Francona doesn't help the situation with his boneheaded moves. They could win the next two games and it won't change my opinion of this team. That being said, I love our core for the future with Pedoria, Ellesbury, Dice K, Beckett, Lester, Buchholtz etc... They are set up, but this year, I don't see it. Something is missing. Killer instinct? Heart? I don't know, but it is there.

I think this team has plenty of heart, they just had a very bad loss. They've been able to hold off the Yankees all year. I still believe they are a very tough team to get rid of come playoff time due to their pitching.

I'm shocked by Dice-K came up huge last night. Okajima was due to have a stinker and he had at a terrible time regardless if he should of been in there or not.

it was only a matter of time people

Tito has totally mis-managed this new "lights out" bullpen IMO.

Why is Hinske playing over Ellsbury in left today? Is this not incredibly moronic?? We're in a division race game Tito!! Wake up!

Markos wrote:Why is Hinske playing over Ellsbury in left today? Is this not incredibly moronic?? We're in a division race game Tito!! Wake up!

i logged in to type the same thing. is ellsbury hurt, or is tito just being a jack ***?

im convinced that jacoby can do no wrong. he just makes ish happen. die yankees die.