Red Sox vs Angels Preview

Daisuke Matsuzaka will be on the mound for the first time since June as the Sox finish off a homestand agains the AL West leading Angels. Unless Boston melts down in the last 20 games of the year, we'll see Anaheim (yes, they're still the Anaheim Angels to me, not to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...) in the first round of the playoffs. Don't take the results of the series as any indication of the way it'll go in October though. This series is big for the Sox to continue the momentum of the homestand (they've swept all five games against the Orioles and Rays), but we all know how Boston fares against the Angels in the postseason. Don't be worried if they drop two out of three, especially considering the pitching matchups.

Tuesday 7:10 PM NESN Lackey (10-7, 3.53 ERA) vs. Matsuzaka (1-5, 8.23 ERA)
Wednesday 7:10 PM NESN Saunders (13-7, 4.81 ERA) vs. Byrd (1-1, 6.08 ERA)
Thursday 7:10 PM NESN Santana (7-8, 5.52 ERA) vs. Beckett (15-6, 3.82 ERA)

GAME 1

Matsuzaka is back on the mound and trying to complete the Sox rotation now that we know Beckett, Lester, and Buchholz will get it done on their day. I'll have a post devoted entirely Dice-K coming up, so check back in for that. Lackey is pitching fairly well in his contract year and you know he'll be even more hungry in October, trying to earn some extra dollars by proving he's a big time pitcher. He's definitely their ace, but Jered Weaver has emerged this year as a good #2 guy. This should be the toughest opponent of the series for Boston, so expect to see their best lineup against him. It will be interesting, however, to see who catches Dice-K.

GAME 2

Saunders has been a disappointment for the Angels this year after an all-star season in 2008. His ERA is up to 4.81 from 3.41 last season. He's gotten improved run support to make up for it and account for his 13 wins. Look for Boston to put some hits together against him and get a lot of baserunners, but the question is whether or not they'll get the big hit to put it out of reach and take the pressure off Byrd. There's not much to say about Byrd. We know what to expect. Just hope he misses some bats and stays in long enough not to burn the bullpen, considering the Sox have no more off days for the rest of the year.

GAME 3

Ervin Santana has also been a mystery for Anaheim. He spent a long time on the DL early in the year and has had a lot of short outings (115 innings in 20 starts, less than 6 innings a start). He's started to turn it around lately, bringing his ERA down form 7.29 to 5.52, and still has electric stuff, but cannot be counted on to say the least. Beckett seems to be getting back to his usual self, with an ERA of 3.00 and no HRs allowed in his last two starts. He got a shorter outing Saturday, so hopefully he'll be even stronger and fresher on Thursday and going forward.

NOTES
-Boston is 4 games up on Texas (who are 6 games back of Anaheim in the West).
-The bullpen should be completely fresh with Beckett finishing the game Saturday, Buchholz going seven innings and Lester going eight Sunday, not to mention the day off today.
-V-Mart has a 15 game hitting streak going.
-Fun Fact: Clay Buchholz is engaged to a model from Deal or No Deal.