October 20, 2007
Playoffs Today
Travis Hafner
Photo: Rhona Wise/Icon SMI
The Indians and Red Sox return to Fenway Park tonight for game six of the ALCS. In their last game at Fenway, with the same Carmona/Schilling matchup, the teams took 5 1/4 hours to play eleven innings. Get a pot of coffee on if you're going to watch the game tonight.
If Fausto Carmona starts, the game goes eleven innings. He pitched brilliantly against the Yankees, going nine innings but getting more support from the Canadian Soldiers than the Cleveland offense. The Red Sox, however, approached Fausto with selectivity, drawing five walks in just four innings, negating Carmona's five strikeouts over that period. In both cases, however, Cleveland pulled out the victory in extra innings.
David Ortiz
Photo: Rhona Wise/Icon SMI
Like Carmona, Schilling pitched much better in the ALDS than in his ALCS start. He shut out the Angels for seven innings, giving up just six hits and one walk. But in 4 2/3 innings against Cleveland, he allowed nine hits, including two home runs. Since his ability to strike out batters diminished this season, Curt survives by making good pitches in the strike zone. The Indians are getting a lot of hits on their balls in play this series, so that's a bad sign for Curt.
The teams are even at 28 run scored apiece over the first five games. Cleveland, however, hasn't received much production from their designated hitter, Travis Hafner. Compare his numbers to David Ortiz in the series so far:
2007 ALCS
| Stat | Ortiz | Hafner |
| Batting Average | .400 | .158 |
| On-Base Average | .522 | .238 |
| Slugging Average | .733 | .316 |
Hafner's also struck out eight times, while Papi's only gone down on strikes twice. If Travis hit close to his norms in this series, it might be over by now.
Enjoy!
Correction: Fixed the table headers.
i think hafner and ortiz are switched in the table