Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
October 14, 2008
Playoffs Today

The Rays lead the Red Sox two games to one as Andy Sonnanstine takes the mound against Tim Wakefield. The Rays are ahead of the Red Sox for the same reason they finished ahead of the White Sox; they are out powering a power team. The lead Boston in slugging percentage .495 to .426. A big reason for that is B.J. Upton. He dropped from 24 homers in 2007 to nine this season due to a shoulder injury. Healthy now, his home run stroke returned in time for the playoffs. Imagine how many games the Rays would have won if Upton showed this kind of power all season.

Sonnanstine is one of the few Rays pitchers who performed as well on the road as at home. He gave up a few more homers away from the Trop, but issued fewer walks. He's a pitcher that allows a good number of batters to put the ball in play, so the improvement in the Rays defense helped Andy's ERA tremendously.

The Red Sox did not score an earned run off Sonnanstine this season, and the two unearned runs were enough to keep him from a decision in two starts. Twice he hooked up in pitching duels with Josh Beckett and twice the Rays won the games late.

Tim Wakefield actually has a pretty poor post season record. He's 5-6 with a 6.36 ERA. The years 1992 and 2003 was the only ones in which he pitched well, and 2003 is remembered for him giving up the Aaron Boone home run.

The Rays handled Wakefield well this season. He walked more (8) than he struck out (7) and allowed a home run every five innings. That was good for an 0-2 record and a 5.87 ERA. Red Sox nation should be very worried about this game.

Enjoy!


Posted by David Pinto at 12:46 PM | League Championship Series | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Chicks dig the Red Sox Hat

Posted by: Zach Snyder at October 14, 2008 02:17 PM

The Red Sox vs. Rays series hasn't disappointed. I look forward to watching game 4 tonight.

Posted by: Football Fanatics at October 14, 2008 02:41 PM

Boy, you sure called this one!

Posted by: JJ at October 14, 2008 08:50 PM
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