October 05, 2007
Games of the Day
TBS breaks the mold by not putting the Yankees in prime time. The late afternoon game (5:07 EDT start) pits Andy Pettitte against Fausto Carmona. It's a good matchup for both offenses, as the Indians OBA and slugging percentage goes up twenty points versus lefties, and the Yankees get a five point boost in OBA but a fifty point boost in slugging percentage against righties.
Pettitte, however, is not a typical lefty. He handled the Indians well in his only start, likely due to his ability to get right-handed batters. His reverse platoon difference has righties slugging almost ninety points lower than lefties. Stacking a lineup with right-handed power against Pettitte is just doing him a favor. And while people might point to his 14-9 record as an example of post-season dominance, his 4.02 ERA over those games indicates he's had some help from the offense.
Carmona finished the season very strong, going 5-0 with a 1.78 ERA in September. And even though Fausto did not defeat the Yankees in his two starts against them, he pitched very well. A 4.15 ERA against a squad that averages close to six runs per game means he kept the Indians in the game. As the Indians showed last night, that's all they really need.
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Photo: Chris Livingston/Icon SMI
In Boston, Kelvim Escobar tries to earn a split for the Angels as he faces Daisuke Matsuzaka. Only Wang in the AL this season allowed fewer home runs per nine innings than Escobar. Although he didn't face the Red Sox this season, Escobar did well against the other playoff teams, collecting four wins in four starts with a combined 2.93 ERA against the Yankees and Indians. He does lose some effectiveness after sixty pitches, however, so watch for him to get in trouble from the fifth inning on.
Matuszaka seemed to lose control as the season progressed. Before the All-Star break he walked 2.9 batters per nine innings. After, that number jumped to 4.4. I wonder how much of this was Dice-K tiring, and how much was the league learning how his pitches moved? Luckily for him, the Angles are not the most selective team in the league, ranking ninth in walks drawn. And despite the rise in walks, Matsuzaka maintained a high strikeout rate. Like Escobar, Daisuke hasn't faced the Angels this season, but he did not fare as well against the Yankees and Indians, posting a 3-2 record and a 5.50 ERA.
Enjoy!
Correction: Pettitte's post-season record is 14-9. I got the data on his record from Baseball Reference.com, which is usually right on.
Pettitte is not 18-6 in postseason, his record is 14-9, check your stats.
I'm sure Selig & Co. are dreading a Rockies/Diamondbacks vs. Angels WS. Probably a Cubs vs. Yankees/RS would be the biggest, ratings-wise, followed slightly behind by a Cubs vs. Indians.
I know it's off-topic somewhat, but anybody else besides me *really* happy that the division series is not on Fox? It's kinda strange having the TBS basketball announcers doing baseball games, but I like the color guys they've assembled with Gwynn and Darling plus Ripken in the studio. The one downside are the endless promos for that unfunny Frank TV show. But, hey, better that than unduly suffering Tim McCarver and numerous cutouts to stars of terrible Fox TV shows in the stands.
The divisions series' on TBS sucks if you don't have cable.
I'm enjoying the lack of pontificating and the reserved announing. Let the game do the talking. ESPN and Fox could learn something from these broadcasts. I'm not surprised, as TBS broadcasts of Braves games were for a long time some of the best produced on TV.
Andy Pettitte is the second most-winningest pitcher in post-season history, tied with Tom Glavine with 14 wins. He's one behind John Smoltz, who has 15.
Interestingly, Greg Maddux is 5th with 11 wins. The fact that the Braves' Big Three of the 90s are 1, 2, and 5 in post-season wins is not only a testament to Atlanta's consistent excellence over that period but also to how significantly the post-season changed with the advent of the three-tiered system.
For those of you wondering, 4th all-time is Roger Clemens, and 6th is the first non-recent guy, Whitey Ford.