Matching the outfits

10/1/2003

Starting lineups

Red Sox: How to shut down Manny Ramirez, the linchpin to baseball's most explosive lineup? The A's might want to place a call to Joe Kerrigan. When Kerrigan was Sox pitching coach in 1999, Ramirez went just 1 for 18 for Cleveland in the Division Series, 0 for 8 at Fenway Park. With Kerrigan in Philadelphia as pitching coach, Ramirez went 0 for 11 against the Phillies this season. But Ramirez owns a big home run off Keith Foulke, hit .370 against the A's this season, and leads the Sox in hitting with runners in scoring position (.338). Clutch? These Sox own the best RISP average (.289) among the AL playoff teams, with six regulars at .298 or better. A well-rested Nomar Garciaparra will hit better than the .170 he hit in September, and Trot Nixon will find a way to heal in time to be in tonight's lineup. Defense on the right side is very weak.

A's: Billy Beane is the high priest of on-base percentage, but Oakland's .327 OBP was 33 points behind Boston and 6 points below the league average. The leadoff slot has been a problem all season; Oakland tried five hitters there, including Scott Hatteberg, who went 3 for 37 (some of those at-bats against the Sox), before settling on Mark Ellis. Ellis hit just .213 in September, while Eric Byrnes, who hit leadoff earlier in the season, hit just .208 in the month. New DH Erubiel Durazo struggled for much of the season but has settled into the No. 2 hole. The Sox have to keep Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez from beating them. Tejada hit .357 against the Sox; the lefthanded-hitting Chavez, a great defender at third base, hit .381 in the playoffs last season. Hatteberg led the A's in hitting in the postseason last year, batting .500 (7 for 14) against the Twins. Jose Guillen is playing with a broken bone in his left hand and has switched from right field to left with the return of injury-plagued Jermaine Dye (knee, shoulder). Guillen is 7 for 18, 1 HR, .318 vs. Pedro Martinez. A's hallmark is patience at the plate; they'll take their walks, but they hit just .224 vs. Sox this season.

Edge: Red Sox

Benches

Red Sox: This is the best bench the Sox have had in years. Gabe Kapler will play right field in place of Trot Nixon against Barry Zito in Game 2; Kapler hit .326 (30 for 92) against lefties this season, and .455 (5 for 11) against the A's. He has a strong arm but made six errors in the outfield. Damian Jackson gives Grady Little flexibility to use him in both the infield and outfield and as a late-inning defensive replacement for Todd Walker, though Jackson's penchant for flash led to some errors down the stretch. But he stole 16 bases and hit .308 in September. Lou Merloni had just 26 at-bats in September but his career highlight may still be the job he did filling in for Garciaparra in the '99 ALDS against the Indians. Mirabelli is a reliable backup behind the plate.

A's: Backup catcher Adam Melhuse provided some nice pop (7 2Bs, 5 HRs) in just 77 at-bats. Backup infielder Frank Menechino (.193) had a disappointing season, and Terrence Long, who made a Sox-killing catch against Manny Ramirez last August, lost his starting outfield job. Billy McMillon may platoon with Guillen in left, and Long and Chris Singleton give Ken Macha speed off the bench.

Edge: Red Sox

Starting pitchers

Red Sox: Pedro Martinez has lost just twice in his career to the A's. Both have come against Tim Hudson, his Game 1 opponent, who threw a two-hit shutout against the Sox this season. Martinez has been almost unhittable in September (4-0, 0.82 ERA) and in his last 17 innings of postseason play has allowed just five hits and six walks while striking out 23. It's been four years, of course, since Martinez has been in the postseason, and the Sox' fortunes will hinge not only on whether he can beat Hudson in Game 1 but whether Grady Little made the right choice in picking Tim Wakefield ahead of Derek Lowe for Game 2, which precludes the possibility of Lowe starting twice in the series. Since Aug. 13, the night he came out of a two-hit shutout after six innings against the A's with a blister, Lowe went 6-1 with a 2.97 ERA, and six times held opponents to two runs or fewer. But in only three of those starts did he retire a batter in the seventh inning or beyond. Wakefield was 3-2 with six no-decisions in 11 starts over the last two months, but five times went seven innings or more; he can keep the pen out of the game longer. John Burkett is a cross-your-fingers Game 4 choice.

A's: Even with Mark Mulder down the last six weeks because of a stress fracture in his femur, the A's led the league in ERA for the second straight season (3.63). Lefty Ted Lilly, who abandoned his curve to become exclusively a fastball/slider guy, was 6-1 in Mulder's absence, but was racked by the Twins for 10 hits and 6 runs in four innings out of the bullpen in last season's playoffs. He also was pounded for 10 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs in just three innings in an Aug. 20 loss in Boston. The A's have set up their rotation so that Hudson and lefty Barry Zito can make two starts apiece, but the Sox have hit Zito, last year's Cy Young Award winner. Lefties Johnny Damon and David Ortiz are hitting .500 against him and Nomar Garciaparra .375. Jason Varitek (1 for 13) will sit against Zito, with Doug Mirabelli catching Wakefield in Game 2. Mirabelli has taken Zito deep once in five at-bats.

Edge: Red Sox.

Bullpens

Red Sox: Their relief ERA of 4.87 was 12th in the league; A's ranked third (3.66), Twins fifth (3.84), and Yankees sixth (4.07). Only the Indians, Royals, and Devil Rays blew more saves than the Sox (21). But Mike Timlin, Alan Embree, and Todd Jones combined for 10 scoreless innings against the A's this season, and while Jones won't make the playoff roster, Embree and Timlin will be on call nightly. Byung Hyun Kim blew the only save opportunity he had against the A's and had a 6.23 ERA against Oakland, but he has pitched like a man with something to prove since Grady Little embarrassed him by yanking him from a save situation in Cleveland. Scott Williamson has the memory of Ramon Hernandez's three-run home run in Lowe's blister game to deal with, but if he can find his focus, he could be the stopper. The kid, Bronson Arroyo, won a spot with some nice work down the stretch.

A's: They'll make a case that closer Keith Foulke was their MVP, and with a 9-1 record, 2.08 ERA, and 43 saves in 48 chances, you can understand why. But Foulke has never been tested in October, and in his career he has given up home runs to David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (whose game-tying blast Aug. 21 is his only hit in 10 at-bats against Foulke). A's have terrific setup men in submarining righthander Chad Bradford and lefty Ricardo Rincon, but their long relief has been as shaky as everyone else's.

Edge: A's

Managers

Red Sox: Grady Little has done a nice job keeping this team loose and unburdened by history. It helps when you have characters like Kevin Millar and David Ortiz around. He'll probably be measured by the Wakefield-Lowe decision and how the bullpen fares, which could mean he's in for some rough times. But he also helped create a setting in which the Sox have picked themselves up time and again.

A's: Ken Macha, like Little, is making his debut as a manager in the postseason, but cut his teeth on a tough division race against the Mariners, one in which the A's made their move after Mulder went down, an impressive feat. Macha knows the Sox personnel, having spent time in the Boston system, and has the kind of closer in Foulke that makes a manager look brilliant.

Edge: Even