Fenway is where the elite meet -- in May, anyway
They are elite teams in the American League, and both of them know it.
One, the Tigers, entered last night's game as the defending American League champion. The other, the Red Sox, have been dominant so far. After much hype -- and one eventful spring training game in which Josh Beckett plunked Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez -- the clubs wanted an up-close look at what the other has and how they match up.
The Tigers were eager to test Boston's new toy -- Daisuke Matsuzaka -- and while they came away impressed, they were not in awe following a 7-1 loss to Dice-K, who pitched an impressive complete game.
Both teams seemed to put this in perspective: It's one of four games here, games that are preliminaries. They have a sneaking suspicion that if each takes care of business, they might be seeing one another beyond the six regular-season games that remain.
"I don't think we were anxious and excited for this series, and it wasn't hyped up for us as much as it was in the media," said Sox third baseman Mike Lowell. "It kind of had a Yankees-Red Sox feel to it coming in. But sure, you want to see how you match up and what they bring to the table, and I'm sure they wanted to see what we bring to the table.
"Winning a game like this, sure, it's better than losing it, but in terms of what it means down the road between these teams, it's one of four games we're playing here this week."
"It's two really good teams going at it," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "They really made our pitchers work. They did a great job of professional hitting. They fouled off some nasty pitches. It was a good ballgame until the end."
The Red Sox have been able to take advantage of their opponents' misfortunes over the first 37 games of the season. They have beaten teams when they're down. The Tigers have been pretty hot offensively, but their bullpen has taken a hit lately, and it showed when the Sox broke open a 3-1 lead with four in the eighth off Bobby Seay, not a pitcher the Tigers normally would have pitching the eighth in a close game.
"A lot of people have been talking about these two teams," said Tigers DH Gary Sheffield. "It's early, but you look at their team and they have a lot of talent, a lot good pitching over there, so it looks like they'll be a top team.
"We know what we have over here, so it's reasonable to think these two teams are going to be there in the end. It's fun to play a team like that because you know you need to bring your top game to beat them. Tonight we didn't, but we hung tough for a while."
When a team can trot out Matsuzaka as its third starter, said Sheffield, you know that team is talented. And if that pitcher can throw a cutter inside to righthanded hitters and "it freezes you a little bit," he has a great chance of being successful.
The Tigers know they can hang in even without veteran lefty Kenny Rogers, who is out until at least early July after arm surgery. They are also without reliever Joel Zumaya and his 103-mile-per-hour heat. So, with a 23-14 mark, they're getting by very nicely.
For the most part, the Red Sox have been injury-free, though Josh Beckett (7-0) could miss his next start because of the avulsion in his right middle finger. Mike Timlin has missed time with a bout of tendinitis in his right shoulder. Otherwise, the Sox have been relatively healthy.
With the exception of J.D. Drew's funk (11 for 69 in his last 19 games to dip from .375 to .248), the Sox lineup has been revved up.
Julio Lugo had a significant game. Not only did his bases-loaded triple put the game away in the eighth, but he brought a very aggressive style right at the Tigers. Not fearing Pudge Rodriguez's potent right arm, Lugo stole second in the first in a rather unorthodox way, pulling up short of the bag. While he appeared to be tagged out, umpire Jerry Meals missed the call. The Sox didn't benefit from it, but it set a tone.
"I never steal a base on the catcher," said Lugo, who was credited with his 12th stolen base. "It doesn't matter to me who's catching. I try to steal a base on the pitcher."
The other thing the Sox did well was wear down starter Nate Robertson, who threw 115 pitches over five innings without walking a batter. They were able to get him out and get into the depleted Detroit bullpen. They couldn't have scripted a game plan any better.
The Sox also caught a big break on Coco Crisp's single in the fourth that broke a 1-1 deadlock. Center fielder Curtis Granderson misjudged the ball and was unable to recover in time. A better read might have kept the score tied and changed the complexion of things.
This early in the season, each team wants to show it has the ability to beat the other on any given night. While there's no such thing as momentum in baseball, there are matchups of pitchers and hitters to consider. Last night, Dice-K won the matchup, hands down. But it will be interesting to see who wins the matchups game by game and how the teams fare in their respective ballparks.
The Sox face the Tigers at
By then, there will be a larger sample of what these elite teams could expect from one another in October. 