The Boston Red Sox have easily found out the formula to winning come October. PITCHING!!!! The Red Sox by far have the best pitching staff that is situated for a seven or five game series against anyone. With three Aces in their hand (Lester, Dice K and Beckett) and one the river in Papelbon, the other playoff teams will need to find a way to get five-of-a-kind if they want to beat this team.
The Red Sox pitchers have been dominate so far in this post-season. Their starters have combined for a 2.03 ERA allowing 7 ER in 31 IP so far. The bullpen has been just as effective posting a 2.11 ERA, allowing 4 ER in 17 IP . In a combined 48 IP they have been averaged 8.56 K/per 9IP and averaging less than one hit per inning.
Many skeptics questioned Francona's decision to start Dice "K" in game one of the ALCS. Well so much for that. In fact in may have been the best decision he could of made. The move allowed all of his pitchers to stay in routine and if they happen to see themselves behind after game 5, they will have Beckett and Lester in games 6 and 7. Believing that the series will at least go 5 games, Francona will be able to start Lester and Beckett in game 1 and 2 of the world series. This was a smart move by Francona lining up his pitching staff in a way that gives his team the best chance to win the World Series, not just one game.
The most impressive stat so far this post-season must be that the Red Sox pitchers have only allowed a combined 6 extra-base hits the entire post-season. Four of those hits were allowed by Beckett in game 3 of the ALDS and in-fact those 4 hits were the only extra-base hits given up by any Red Sox starter so far. In comparison, the Red Sox offense has 16 extra-base hits and the other teams left all have given up more extra-base hits Tampa (11), LA (13) and Philly (9).
This team may be the complete package. The combination of dominate big game starters, a great closer, solid defense all around the field, a line-up with power and speed, and a bullpen that understands and thrive on their roles makes them a tough team to beat. There is one team that can beat the Red Sox , the Red Sox.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
NFL TOP 10 - 10/7/08
This weeks NFL Top 10 poll is for the week ending October 5th.
Dropped Out: SD (2-3)
#10 - Tampa Bay (3-2) Tampa drops three spots after a 13-16 loss to Denver. Now they have 4-1 Carolina coming to town this weekend. They need to find more offense if they want to be effective. Expect a hard hitting low scoring game once again from these two teams, and probably close to 70% run plays on offense.
#9 - New England (3-1) The Pats slide into the top 10 for the first time this season. They still have not faced a good opponent yet. Will have a tougher test against a struggling SD team this weekend. The question is are they for real when they need to play better teams, yet they only have four real hard games left (Buffalo-2 games, Denver and Pittsburgh).
#8 - Buffalo Bills (4-1) You knew the glass slipper would eventually fall off, you just didn't expect it to be to the Arizona Cardinals by 24 points. They are still a good team, just not elite! They as well as the Pats will benefit from a weak schedule this year. Lets see what they can do after their bye week against a desperate SD team.
#7 - Carolina (4-1) They move up three spots from #10 last week after dominating a pathetic KC team 34-0. Now comes their biggest test of the season so far with this week at Tampa and then games against two high powered offenses in New Orleans and Arizona. If they can keep up the will continue to move up.
#6 - Denver (4-1) Denver bounced back after an embarrassing loss against KC with a 16-13 win against Tampa. Next up Jacksonville and New England. They will need to find that powerful offense again to make an impact.
#5 - Steelers (4-1) You can describe this team in one word, RESILIENT! Does not matter who they have on the field, if you are wearing black and gold you will be in the game and most times come out on top. Third stringer Moore runs for over 100 yards and this team does not miss a beat. Now they get a week to rest and get healthy before playing Cincy.
#4 - Cowboys (4-1) Despite a 33-21 win over Cincy the Cowboys fall 2 spots from #2. Two reasons, they failed to put away a Cincy team that they had down big early and let them make it a game. Second, once again the secondary is still a problem letting too many yards and only have 1 interception on the year.
#3 - Washington (4-1) The Redskins after being down early at Philly dominated the rest of the game. Two straight weeks with wins at division rivals moves them up to #3. Now the ball is in their court. With three easy wins coming up (St.Louis, Cleveland and Detroit) can they keep up the intensity they showed the past two weeks?
#2 - Titans (5-0) The first time in franchise history this team has started 5-0 and they do it in style, hard nose football style. Nothing flashy in their 13-10 win over Baltimore, just good defense and they did not let their mistakes kill them. After their bye week the should easily make it 6-0 against the pathetic KC Chiefs.
#1 - Giants (4-0) They showed why they are #1 and a cut above the rest. Seattle came in and had no shot from the opening kick off, this is a team that dominates the teams they are suppose to even without their #1 wide-out. As said before they will have a rough second-half, so the next two weeks need to be must wins against Cleveland and SF.
Dropped Out: SD (2-3)
#10 - Tampa Bay (3-2) Tampa drops three spots after a 13-16 loss to Denver. Now they have 4-1 Carolina coming to town this weekend. They need to find more offense if they want to be effective. Expect a hard hitting low scoring game once again from these two teams, and probably close to 70% run plays on offense.
#9 - New England (3-1) The Pats slide into the top 10 for the first time this season. They still have not faced a good opponent yet. Will have a tougher test against a struggling SD team this weekend. The question is are they for real when they need to play better teams, yet they only have four real hard games left (Buffalo-2 games, Denver and Pittsburgh).
#8 - Buffalo Bills (4-1) You knew the glass slipper would eventually fall off, you just didn't expect it to be to the Arizona Cardinals by 24 points. They are still a good team, just not elite! They as well as the Pats will benefit from a weak schedule this year. Lets see what they can do after their bye week against a desperate SD team.
#7 - Carolina (4-1) They move up three spots from #10 last week after dominating a pathetic KC team 34-0. Now comes their biggest test of the season so far with this week at Tampa and then games against two high powered offenses in New Orleans and Arizona. If they can keep up the will continue to move up.
#6 - Denver (4-1) Denver bounced back after an embarrassing loss against KC with a 16-13 win against Tampa. Next up Jacksonville and New England. They will need to find that powerful offense again to make an impact.
#5 - Steelers (4-1) You can describe this team in one word, RESILIENT! Does not matter who they have on the field, if you are wearing black and gold you will be in the game and most times come out on top. Third stringer Moore runs for over 100 yards and this team does not miss a beat. Now they get a week to rest and get healthy before playing Cincy.
#4 - Cowboys (4-1) Despite a 33-21 win over Cincy the Cowboys fall 2 spots from #2. Two reasons, they failed to put away a Cincy team that they had down big early and let them make it a game. Second, once again the secondary is still a problem letting too many yards and only have 1 interception on the year.
#3 - Washington (4-1) The Redskins after being down early at Philly dominated the rest of the game. Two straight weeks with wins at division rivals moves them up to #3. Now the ball is in their court. With three easy wins coming up (St.Louis, Cleveland and Detroit) can they keep up the intensity they showed the past two weeks?
#2 - Titans (5-0) The first time in franchise history this team has started 5-0 and they do it in style, hard nose football style. Nothing flashy in their 13-10 win over Baltimore, just good defense and they did not let their mistakes kill them. After their bye week the should easily make it 6-0 against the pathetic KC Chiefs.
#1 - Giants (4-0) They showed why they are #1 and a cut above the rest. Seattle came in and had no shot from the opening kick off, this is a team that dominates the teams they are suppose to even without their #1 wide-out. As said before they will have a rough second-half, so the next two weeks need to be must wins against Cleveland and SF.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
