MLB Playoffs update

Damn, Josh Beckett is money! The fact that he's got his breaking ball moving in the zone should be enough but his fastball still had major zip well into the 8th. His 2 games against the Indians in this series--the Red Sox only wins so far--have both been very impressive performances. I was disappointed Perez didn't convert that double play in the 7th the other night that would've at least cut down on the Red Sox offensive outburst but it didn't really matter at the time, Beckett was untouchable and the Indians just didn't have it. But it does give guys like Pedroia and Lugo chances to see some action and frankly I preferred those 2 being cold. (Coco Crisp neglected to get in on the action which is fine with me. Man, Shoppach and Marte for him is looking like a good trade for the Indians, no?) Much was made of Manny's comments ('If we lose its not the end of the world') but I thought that made him play too hard: thrown out at home in the 1st, ran into Lugo on Sizemore's bloop, arguing rather than running on his 'home run' (it looked out to me). The Red Sox prevailed so all's well in Manny-land but I thought he got in his own head for a while there.

Game 4 was all about Paul Byrd's kooky style-y and the inability of the role players in that Red Sox line-up to get anything going. Early on Tim Wakefield looked like he had it going on, which is always possible with that guy, but once he wobbled the Indians jumped on him. I thought the home plate ump let the strike zone get away from him at times but in the long run that favored the Indians. Though the frigid Travis Hafner got a coupla K's he didn't deserve and Victor Martinez had at least 1 at-bat go to waste because of the shifting strike zone, Manny grounded into a DP instead of getting the 4 pitch walk I thought he earned, making it all worthwhile in the end.

Game 3 was all about Jake Westbrook bringing the good stuff and Kenny Lofton's veteran (re: lucky as shit) hitting. Many malign Dice-K's performance and while he did get behind a lot of hitters (didn't it seem like he was 3-1 on just about everybody?), he didn't do that bad. I thought his biggest problem was the utter lack of offensive help. I cringed when Varitek hit that 2-run dinger, he's too good to stay that cold for long (that's true of Hafner too, right?). All in all, the Indians rallied behind Westbrook and did what they needed to do.

For the record as an Indians fan I prefer to be up 3-1 but by no means did I think it was over. I knew Beckett would be tough and its hard to imagine Schilling losing twice at home in the same series and I'm not looking forward to Dice-K in game 7. And the Red Sox are notorious for doing this kind of thing anyway. The Indians still seem like the underdog, don't they? They had the same number of regular season wins and they've got a game in hand heading back to Boston but they just don't seem equal. I still think its all about Hafner, the Indians will only finish it when he gets hot.

Oh yeah, and the Rockies swept the Diamondbacks. The Rockies are hot--or they were until they were forced to stop playing for a week and watch the AL work itself out. Hate to go against destiny, especially the fun, telegenic, plucky variety, but I'll take the AL winner over the Rockies in the end.