LFR Sports

T A I L G A T E R PREDICTS CLEVELAND/COLORADO WORLD SERIES

I like hometown boy C.C Sabathia in this series. It seems like he's been around forever, but he's only 27 and it's time for the national spotlight to shine on the large lefty.

I like Josh Beckett, too. After three straight shutouts in the playoffs, you have to begin to look at him through a historical lens. Dominant pitching in the playoffs is rarefied air, but doing continuing it four seasons after winning the World Series with Florida equals big-time consistency.

I like Cleveland in Game 1, though. I sense the marquee pitching matchups won't make the final storyline. To win, the Tribe will need to make a statement. Usually, this comes from an unlikely source. How about Asdrubal Cabrera? The Cleveland rookie secondbaseman hit just .176 against New York in the Division Series, but hit .283 during the regular season.

I like the Indians stopping Kevin Youkilis. The Sox have Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, but Youkilis is indispensible offensively and, notably, defensively at first base. Crush his exhuberance and Boston's hopes will rest on powerful, one-dimensional superstars whose performance could go either way in short seven game series.

I like this series going seven games because of Cleveland's closer, Joe Borowski. Despite converting a sterling 45 of 53 save opportunities, he retired the side in order just 16 times and a robust 5.07 ERA. He got away withit in the regular season, but in the playoffs when tensions are higher and the opponent's tenacity is sky high problems are likely. The Indians probably won't score enough against Boston's pitching to moot this point and suffer a game or two because of it. INDIANS IN SEVEN.

I don't like the idea of a Cleveland/Colorado World Series, but that's what we will have and believe me, FOX won't like it, either.

Labels: ALCS, Indians, Red Sox

CLEVELAND VS N.Y. YANKEES (starts Thurs.)
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If there is a team in this year's playoffs that resembles the unlikely champions of the past six seasons--Arizona in 2001, Anaheim in 2002, Florida in 2003 and the White Sox in 2005--it's the Indians.

Much like double-headed monster of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling at the top of the rotation that Arizona used to upset the Yanks, the Indians have Vallejo's C.C. Sabathia and the wiry Fausto Carmona.

The key to this series will be the bullpens. Even though Cleveland has their two aces pitching four of the possible five games, of the two the experience of Carmona could come into play against a high-scoring, veteran Yankees offense.

New York's strength, conversely, is not their starting pitching. Chien Ming Wang is solid and should take well to the pressures of pitching games one and four, but the rotation of Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens or whoever else has a decidedly retro feel and that is not something that inspires hope in a short playoff series.

Cleveland has become a popular boutique pick to win it all and rightly so. They have power and good situational hitting all wrapped up with a blanket of superb, gritty young stars. Ryan Garko, Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and so on and so on, but Cleveland's bullpen will be the icing on the cake.

In the playoffs, history shows that a strong bullpen can shore up many deficiencies. Cleveland has Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt and possibly someone like Jake Westbrook leftover from the shortened rotation. Closer Joe Borowski could be a question mark that will make a trip to the World Series incumbent on limiting the amount of close games he'll have to finish up. INDIANS IN FOUR.

Labels: ALDS, Indians, Yankees