| 17 September 2009
Josh Beckett can sink the dagger into the back of the Angels tonight with a win.
A win tonight would complete an 8-game sweep of the home stand (an exciting idea in itself), but it would also leave the Angels frustrated and anxious about any more trips to Fenway Park.
The Rangers have fallen apart over the past few days, so the Sox have a 6.5 game lead in the wild card race and the Angels, despite dropping 4 of their last 5, remain six games up in the AL West. If the season ended today, the Red Sox would play the Angels in the ALDS while Yankees host the AL Central Champion Tigers... and having them fear Fenway Park would come in handy after two games out west.
Josh Beckett and would likely pitch Game 1 of that series and tonight's start will be a good test for our ace. After struggling to close out August as effectively as he did May, June and July, Beckett seemed to turn the corner wit ha solid 7-inning outing in Chicago and five good innings against the Rays in a rain-shortened win his last time out.
He has yet to dominate like he did earlier this season, but The Commander is 9-1 in Fenway Park and the Fenway Faithful can smell blood right now. Becket is hasn't been great against the Halos, posting a 2-3 record with a 4.26 ERA, but he knows how to get pumped up for a big game and the crowd will be into this one.
The Angles will counter with Ervin Santana, who has pitched well since returning from the DL, but has gone 0-2 with two NDs in his last four starts. Sanatan is 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA and a .281 BAA at Fenway and 1-2 in five starts against the Red Sox.
Most of the Sox have limited experience with Santana, but David Ortiz is 5 for 12 (.417) with a homer and Victor Martinez, who is expected back in the lineup tonight, is 4 for 8 (.500) with a homer. Jason Varitek is 0 for 11 against Santana and hitting .130 in September, but with Youkilis still nursing a bad back and Beckett starting, we may see Tek behind the plate tonight...
...or we could see Tek on the bench with V-Mart catching and the left-handed Casey Kotchman at first base since lefties are hitting Santana at a .343 clip this year.
Torii Hunter is probably the most dangerous Angel with .455 (5-11) BA against Beckett, but the other big guns haven't faired as well: Abreu (.217, 65 AB), Morales (0 for3) and Vladdy (.242, 33 AB).
The guy I'll be watching is EricAybar. He had four hits last night and has a .440 average at Fenway. I can't put my finger on it , but there's something I don't like about this kid... if anyone could burn us tonight, I fear it might be him.
Bottom Line: Beckett, Fenway, the momentum... this should be a W.
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