So with the NLCS starting up tonight, I might as well throw in my 2 cents.
As I have mentioned before, Boston is my team and I will be shamelessly rooting for them for the rest of the playoffs. If I had anything to say about how it went, they would sweep the rest of their games and that would be that. But that's no fun. And plus, although the Red Sox are good...I don't even think they're THAT good.
First off, we have the Colorado Rockies playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Talk about exciting right? But it should be a better match up than you think. Here are two teams that get their runs by playing small ball for the most part.
I think the Rockies are riding a hot streak that I haven't seen in a long time. I haven't seen a team playing this well since the 2004 Red Sox and the 2005 White Sox. The Rockies matched up well against the Diamondbacks when they played them during the regular season, which doesn't really matter in the postseason, but it still tells part of the story. But they played the D-Backs to end the year, and over the course of those three games--games that the Rockies had to win--Colorado won 2 out of 3 of them. The one they lost was to none other than Brandon Webb, who they'll face in game one tonight.
I think if the Diamondbacks have a chance of winning this series, it will be because of their starting pitching. Brandon Webb is too good for the Rockies to handle, and he should get two, maybe three starts. The Diamondbacks don't score a lot of runs as a team, so if they're going to win, it pretty much has to come from their pitching.
All of that said, these teams are quite evenly matched. I think the Rockies win it in 6 games.
Impact players: Hawpe & Helton for the Rockies. Jackson & Drew for the D-Backs.
Now on to the American League. The Sox are playing the Indians, and Boston is my team, so I obviously will be paying special attention. I hope they win and I think they will win. I think they are playing their best baseball of the season right now, and that's important for the Sox. I also agree with Peter Gammons, when he says that playoff experience does matter, and the Red Sox have more of that in this series.
Now the Cleveland Indians are a great team in their own right. They are a very worthy match up for the Red Sox, and this series could very well go all seven games. If Cleveland wins, it will be because of their starting pitching. And conversely, if they lose it will be because of their relief pitching and Joe Borowski.
I think Borowski will single-handedly lose at least two games for the Indians. Red Sox will win in 6 games.
Impact players: Youkilis & Pedroia for the Sox. Garko & Sizemore for the Tribe.
