Preview of Game 3 of the ALCS

The Red Sox and Tigers are set to face off for Game 3 of the ALCS.  The series is tied 1-1, and it's really anyone series at this point.  The Red Sox will send John Lackey to the mound today, while the Tigers will send Justin Verlander.

Let's recap the series to this point:

After Game 1, I think it was safe to say the Tigers looked like they had the advantage.  Their starting pitching is electric, and the Sox looked like Little Leaguers at bat.  Lester had a great outing, but it was no match to the Tigers' Sanchez.  The Red Sox lost a heartbreaker 1-0.

Game 2 started out much like Game 1, with the Red Sox seeing pitch after pitch fly by them for strikes at the plate.  Unlike Game 1, Buchholz wasn't challenging the Tigers batters like Lester had been, and he gave up 5 runs, including 2 home runs.

As we now know, the Red Sox bat came alive, punctuated by a David Ortiz grand slam in the 8th inning, and the Red Sox Game 2 6-5.

Photo from USAToday

Which Red Sox will we see today- the Red Sox who are power hitters or the Red Sox who look more like zombies at the plate?

As stated, the Red Sox will be going against Justin Verlander, 2011 Cy Young Winner (he came in 2nd to David Price last year).  This season, Verlander is 13-12 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.315 WHIP.  His career postseason numbers are: 7-4, 3.48 ERA, and a 1.113 WHIP.

Against the Red Sox, Verlander's results have been mixed, to say the least.  In three of the eleven starts against the Sox, Verlander has surrender 5 runs, which is the same amount of games he's surrender 0 runs.

The Red Sox faced Verlander once this season, which was a 7-5 lost for the Sox.  However, the Sox chased Verlander out of the game after 5 innings, making him throw 112 pitches.  That should be the strategy for the Red Sox tonight- to make Verlander work hard, throw a lot of pitches, and force him out earlier in the game.

Photo from ESPN.GO

Conversely, Lackey started his career against the Tigers winning 7 out of his first 8 starts while with the Angels.  However, since 2007, Lackey has not won against the Tigers.

Lackey has faced the Tigers twice this season, and they were both quality starts.  On June 20th, Lackey went 7 innings and allowed 3 runs; and on September 2nd, he went 7 1/3 innings and allowed to runs.  However, both of these games the Red Sox lost.

Photo from Bleacherreport.com

To win this game, the Red Sox will need to battle against Verlander and the Tigers.  As I stated before, the key to the Red Sox success tonight will be to get Verlander out of the game early.  Outside of Benoit and Smyly, the Tigers bullpen was pretty shaky this season.

Photo from NESN

Another thing the Red Sox need to work on is getting Ellsbury and Victorino on base.  They have 1 hit between the 2 of them in the first 2 games of the ALCS.  These two need to get on base to put pressure on both Verlander and the rest of the Tigers defense.  If Ellsbury and Victornio can get on base, they should be able to manufacture more runs.

As I mentioned yesterday, I will be live tweeting during the game today.  You can either follow the tweets directly from Twitter @BornIntoItInIA or here on the blog (on the right side of the screen).  Here's hoping for a Red Sox win!