[ad_1]
The championship series of the American League has not even begun and it is already historic. The Boston Red Sox against the Houston Astros mark the first time in league history that a team with 108 wins in a season (Boston) will face a team with 103 playoff wins. The 211 combined wins represent the second-highest number of playoff series, behind the 212th Yankees-Padres World Series in 1998, which proved to be a rout. There will be no rout here. These teams are too good and have too much to play. It's been seven years.
Three reasons why Astros will win
Chris Sale will start the first game and David Price will start the second game against the Boston Red Sox against the Astros in the AHL series, which begins Saturday. Justin Verlander will start the first match for Houston.
The defending champions had a franchise record of 103 wins and still could not match Boston. Yes, this match is epic.
Is it finally the year of the Indians? Can the Red Sox finish their historic season? Or will we see a rematch of the Dodgers-Astros World Series? Our experts make their choices after the season.
2 related
1. Start throwing. The Astros have the best turn of the game, led by Justin Verlander, a future Hall of Fame member who launches exceptionally well and who enjoys moments like these as much as anyone in baseball. Gerrit Cole, who was not with the Astros last year, scored 12 strikeouts and no losses in his division series against the Indians. Tom Seaver (1973) is the only caster in history to have more withdrawals on hold (13) without a playoff ride. Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton, who did not even play in the division series, gave the Astros the best quartet of starters in the playoffs. And that does not include Lance McCullers Jr., who can get out of the concealer. Boston's rotation is great with Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi's talent. But with the failures of David Price in the playoffs (his team lost all 10 starts in the playoffs), the rotation is not as good as that of the Astros.
2. Medium relief. The Astros led the AL in the EER video game this year. The most underrated part of their team is the bridge between their starters and their closest, Roberto Osuna, who made 12 saves and a score of 0.88 WHIP in 22 innings after being acquired from Toronto. Intermediate runner-up Collin McHugh has been brilliant all season: 72 hits, 45 shots allowed, 94 go-slips and 1.99 ERA. Ryan Pressly, acquired from the Twins for the running, has traveled three and has withdrawn 32 in 23 rounds, throwing serious gas. This Houston pitcher staff had 30 strikeouts and allowed 13 hits in the Indian Division series. The Red Sox Enclosure still has some problems getting closer to Craig Kimbrel.
3. The range. This is the best of the Astros range since the beginning of the season. George Springer, having scored two more homers against Cleveland, now has nine in the playoffs, mostly by an Astros player and most often out of first place. Alex Bregman, best player of the Astros this year, has reached the base 10 times and hit two circuits of the division series. But what's even more encouraging is that Marwin Gonzalez, who has not had a particularly good regular season, defeated the Indians 7-on-13. And Carlos Correa, who suffers from a back injury , hit a circuit of the opposite court. It's a great offensive team if it actually succeeds.
One of the reasons I'm completely wrong
The Red Sox are an excellent team, superior to their 108 wins. It sounds silly, but there is chemistry and cohesion within this team that we do not see in many places. More concretely, they have the best offensive team, deep and relentless, in the match. Mookie Betts, who will win the AHL MVP, and J.D. Martinez, who, unlike many other current hitter, can hit hard or put it into play in virtually every major situation. They have a featured pitcher, Sale, who has launched 6 scoreless innings against the Yankees (one of them highlighted in Match 4), even without his best performances. The Red Sox have the advantage on their field and they have gotten the best home baseball record this season. And they have a manager, Alex Cora, whose sense of play and others is exceptional. Every shot he made in the division series against the Yankees worked.
Source link
