The AL East

Yesterday, after a late night party and a missed train, I finally made it into New York City to meet my friend Marc for the Yankees-Red Sox game at 4. We wandered the city before taking the subway to the new park. Over the course of this week, I plan to make a few posts about the teams, the game, and some interesting questions Marc and I came up with.

The Red Sox are first in line. And they have a lot of problems. 

Through three games in this series, the offense has gone 16-111 (.140). That's WELL below the Mendoza Line and just an awful showing for one of the best teams in baseball. With that kind of performance, aging former star John Smoltz and resident head case Clay Bucholz could not be confident on the mound.

Smoltz needed to be moved to the pen or designated a long time ago. He doesn't have what it takes to pitch five innings effectively anymore. The Sox either felt bad for him or respected what he used to be too much. It cost them. Lesson learned.

Bucholz is astounding because his career may only be at the AAA level. He pitches like an ace, a future number 1 on any team when he's down there. Bring him up, and he crumbles like a stale cookie. He got lucky with a lot of double plays on Saturday, but you can't give up five walks and expect to hold a team like the Yankees down.

That being said, the Red Sox are pretty much out of the race in the AL East. The Yankees now own the best record in baseball and I'm fully expecting them to complete the sweep tonight at 8.

Speaking of the Yankees, it's all coming together for them.

Of the two teams, the Red Sox were supposed to be the ones with abundant depth in the rotation. And yet, the Sox clammer to even get 5 innings out of their starters. 

Burnett has been lights out and shows no signs of slowing down. Shutout baseball is more than you can ask of a starter. And he did it, for 7.2 innings. He simply shut the Sox down.

Sabathia is showing why he is the highest paid pitcher in baseball. The Yankees seem pretty brilliant in buying him. After watching him down the stretch last year, everyone believed he was being abused and would certainly have a down year, get hurt, or worse. Apparently, clutch pitching is his forte and he just likes to save his best stuff for August and September.

Watching him in person yesterday, the Sox just looked baffled and confused. It was an ugly day at the plate with 9 strikeouts and only two Sox hitters getting on base more than once. With Sabathia on the mound, ONE Sox baserunner reached second base. One. Not a single other time did the Sox have someone in scoring position with Sabathia out there. He got a standing ovation when he left in the 8th and he deserved it.

The end of the whole matter is that tonight, the series will be over and the Yankees will hold a commanding lead over the Red Sox in the division. The Sox are playing for the wild card and even that is almost hopeless with the way they're playing. 

If these two miraculously make the ALCS, I'll be excited because I'm up in Boston for school. But unfortunately I don't think Fenway will be seeing any baseball after October 4. The Yankees, on the other hand, should expect to be 2-0 in any series with Burnett/Sabathia the way they are. I fully expect to see New York going apeshit come World Series time.

More to come about the Stadium as well as some game time musings later this week.

-TSI