The Red Sox are World Series Bound

The Boston Red Sox are back in the World Series. And oh man, it was a wild one.

I keep looking at this series and questioning how the Tigers aren’t winning the series. They had a 5-1 lead in Game 2, a 2-1 lead in Game 6, and they have three dominant pitchers in Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez and the pen almost threw a no-hitter in Game 1.

They also have the best hitter in baseball in Miguel Cabrera, accompanied with Prince Fielder, Victor Martinez, and Torii Hunter. I don’t know about you, but if I was a pitcher, I would never want to go through that. So how did the Red Sox win in six games?

The biggest difference it turned out was the relieving system. The starting matchup turned out to be relatively equal, and their hitting statistically is ranked almost equally, but the Red Sox took advantages when they could and the Tigers did not.

The best example came in the 7^th inning. The Tigers had a 2-1 lead, and were threatening with men on first and third with nobody out. The Tigers hit a ground ball to 2B Dustin Pedroia, who is able to tag out the runner on first, then throw it home to create a pickle with the third base runner, Prince Fielder.

And Prince Fielder should be embarrassed. He thought he was much closer to the base, so he tries to dive back, only to find himself on the ground three feet away from the base and with a mitt on his back. Double play. Fielder ended up without an RBI in the series, and is tied with Tim Raines for most consecutive plate appearances without an RBI with 80.

 

Defense was well in the Red Sox favor. With men on first and third AGAIN, Miguel Cabrera hits a ball up the middle, but SS Stephen Drew makes a miraculous play to get Cabrera out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 7^th, with men on first and second, Jacoby Elsbury hits a ball up the middle that SS Jose Iglesias was able to stop, but bobbled the ball and all runners were safe. 

The bases were loaded. Stepping in was Shane Victorino.

While watching the game, I knew that two batters up would be David Ortiz, who I bet everyone at first was up in this situation. The pitcher was Jose Veras, a strong, dominant reliever for the Tigers who was really strong against Victorino in the previous games. 

Veras threw three curveballs in a row. Victorino looked at the first one – strike. Another tough curveball – fouls it off. In an interview, Shane said that he was looking for a fastball on the third pitch, but Veras threw a curveball.

And on a hanging curve that would’ve landed in for strike three, Shane is able to get enough of it to go over the green monster.

It was a grand slam.

The Red Sox were now up 5-2, and they were just two innings away from the World Series.

Fenway went crazy. I went crazy. It was only the 5^th time where a team hit two grand slams in the postseason series. With only five hits in the game compared to the Tigers’ eight, Boston was able to pull out a fourth win. 

Koji Uehara was able to get the save in the 9^th, and they were now World Series bound.

Here were the X-Factors that I found in this series:

Bullpen. This one’s obvious. The Tigers’ pen cannot give up two grand slams to blow two leads and two quality starts from Max Scherzer, who will probably win the Cy Young award. Koji Uehara was named the ALCS MVP, and rightfully so. Yes, David Ortiz and Victorino both hit grand salamis, but it was Uehara that got the team out tough situations to get wins. He even pitched a five-out save to turn the series in favor of the Sox. 

Uehara would go six innings, getting a win and three saves with a 9/0 K/BB ratio in the series. Junichi Tazawa, who became the main set-up man for Boston, was able to get the Red Sox out of tough jams, especially when Miguel Cabrera was up to bat. Cabrera went 0-for-3 against Tazawa in the series, including striking out and grounding into a double play.

The Tigers always had a reliever problem this year, and it turned out to bite them in the rear by the end. The Red Sox bullpen, who had its problems in the regular season as well, fixed itself, mainly because of Uehara. That was the biggest factor; the Red Sox saved quality starts from their starting rotation, while the Tigers blew them.

Coaching. John Farrell made two big moves in Game 6, starting Stephen Drew and Johnny Gomes. Many people questioned it, but they turned out to be big. Gomes started off that bottom of the 7^th with a double, and Drew used his defensive abilities to get out of what could have been a deadly Tigers inning. Putting in the right relievers too turned out to be the deciding factor.

Don’t get me wrong, Jim Leyland is a Hall-of-Fame coach. But rookie coach John Farrell outdueled him in this series. There is question of whether Leyland will retire or not after this, but I think he’ll go one more season before he retires.

Last factor: Rookies. Xander Bogaerts was able to draw not one, but two walks against Scherzer in two crucial situations. He also doubled and scored to put the Red Sox on the board in the 6^th. A great defensive player too, Bogaerts is most likely the future for this team. Watch out for him.

Jose Iglesias, who used to play for the Red Sox, had a great series as well. He ended up batting .357, including having two hits in Game 6, but that error in the 7^th inning proved to be costly. Bogaerts was the rookie winner in this series, but Iglesias might win Rookie of the Year this year.

For the Tigers, it might have been a disappointing season. With some of the best players in baseball, and the favorites to win the AL Pennant this year, Tigers fans might be a little upset. They lose Johnny Peralta next season too.

But now, it’s Boston’s turn to celebrate. And they did it in one of the best ALCS’ in history, probably the best since the 2004 Yankee/Red Sox series, which, as well all know, was an incredible show to watch.

It’s World Series time. We’ll have to wait until Wednesday to watch it, but man will it be a fun one. It’s a rematch of the 2004 series, with the Red Sox winning that one. Read tomorrow’s post to catch up on the series preview.

Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns.