Red Sox vs. Rays

Boston Red Sox -1 1/2 vs. Tampa Bay Rays

With another win Thursday in Boston, the Tampa Bay Rays will clinch the American League Pennant. Let me repeat that. With another win Thursday in Boston, the Tampa Bay Rays will clinch the American League Pennant. Imagine reading that statement in April without falling on the floor and laughing uncontrollably.

Sure, Tampa Bay was predicted to be better this season, but this much better?  Plus, pundits have been predicting good things for the team formerly known as the Devil Rays for a couple of years now and nothing had happened.

But 2008 has been a totally different year in the Bay area.

And the 2008 ALCS has been totally different than the 2008 regular season for Boston and Tampa Bay. Boston was 1-8 in Tropicana Field this season and Tampa Bay was 2-7 in Fenway Park, but these trends have flipped in the postseason. The Red Sox won Game 1 and nearly stole Game 2 in St. Petersburg, while the Rays have convincingly won both games in Boston thus far.

Every step of the way this season, the Rays have been doubted. They started the season strong, but stumbled shortly after and everyone buried them. They soared in the middle of the season to first place, everyone said it would not last, surely the Red Sox and/or Yankees would catch them. They stumbled down the stretch, letting Boston get back in the race. “That’s it,” pundits said, “the only hope Tampa Bay has is for the wildcard.” They righted the ship and claimed the AL East crown by playing well against the Red Sox in late season head-to-head matchups. Certainly their lack of experience would doom them in the playoffs, especially against the postseason veterans in Boston’s lineup, they all said. Each time there has been doubt, the Rays have answered loudly. Their latest loud response was Tuesday’s clobbering of Boston, 13-4, to step into the driver’s seat of the ALCS by leading 3 games to 1.

Boston is staying calm and saying the right things. After all, everyone knows, the Red Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS just four seasons ago. They were in a similar spot then as well, with the middle games being in Boston and having to stage the improbably comeback primarily on the road.  This will be the case again for the Boston Red Sox as they take it one game at a time, beginning with Game 5 Thursday at Fenway. To get their comeback started, the Red Sox will throw Game 1 starter Dice-K Matsuzaka up against the Rays and hope he will duplicate his success of shutting out Tampa last Friday night to get the series back to sunny Florida.

Meanwhile the Rays hopes of achieving their first ever World Series berth will ride on ace Scott Kazmir, who has been penciled in instead of James Shields, whose turn it was.

InSpin.com

Phillies vs. Dodgers

Philadelphia -1 1/2 vs. Los Angeles

Is there any question that baseball playoffs could be sports’ most exciting? Monday night’s intense and nail biting Game 4 of the National League Championship Series certainly proved the case. Two sources, one somewhat likely, the other not so much, were the heroes of the evening.

First off was Shane Victorino. His two run blast tied the score and set up journeyman Matt Stairs’ heroics as he sent another two run homer into the stunned L.A. faithful’s lap, giving Philadelphia a lead they would not relinquish thus achieving a stranglehold on the series, 3 games to 1.

The theater pauses for a night for both teams to catch their breath. It will remain to see who will benefit from the night off, but one thing appears certain: both teams can not be ecstatic about the day off.  With such a dramatic late inning victory, the Phillies would probably want to play and try to clinch the pennant tonight. By sitting a night, Philadelphia will certainly lose the momentum of Monday’s win. On the other side of Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles probably wants to play ASAP to erase the bitter taste of Monday, while capturing the emotion and stellar play of their Game 3 victory from Sunday night. Neither team will get their way as they wait until Wednesday for the do-or-die Game 5.

Which Dodger team will take the field Wednesday? The pressure is clearly in their corner and this is a team who arguably had the least amount of pressure all season long. Playing in the worst division in baseball, the Dodgers were the best of a sorry bunch and had no real pressure for the division crown late in the season.  In the NLDS, L.A. were monumental underdogs from the first pitch of Game 1 in Wrigley to the sweep-clinching Game 3 victory. Now they face pressure and it will remain to see how they will respond. And before Dodger fans can comfort themselves with the presence of Joe Torre on the bench, know this: with Monday’s loss, L.A.’s skipper has lost seven of his past LCS games.

The Phillies are in a great spot. If they lose Wednesday, they travel back to Philadelphia to attempt to clinch in front of their home fans and are 4-0 in the 2008 playoffs in front of those fans. Of course long time Phillie fans will never accept victory before it is bestowed upon them for the many monumental collapses over the years. If they win Wednesday, they will earn a trip to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1993.

Things won’t be easy for the Dodgers as they throw their ace and Game 1 winner Cole Hamels up against Chad Billingsley, who was shelled in his last start versus the Phils and lasted only 2 1/3 innings.

InSpin.com