Red Sox To Face Tigers In The ALCS

With a 3-0 win over the A's last night, the Detroit Tigers punched their ticket to play the Red Sox in the ALCS.  As I stated yesterday, I was pulling for the A's, but the Red Sox playing the Tigers is also exciting.  These are two teams with storied franchises with superstars, great pitching, and managers that demand respect.

Photo from SteveTheUmp.com

The series starts tomorrow night at 7:30 PM Eastern on FOX.  I can only imagine what the atmosphere is going to be like at Fenway Park tomorrow night.  If anyone is attending the game, I'd love to hear how it is.

The rest of the ALCS schedule is as follows:

Game 2: at Boston, Sunday, October 13th at 8:00 PM ET, on FOX
Game 3: at Detroit, Tuesday, October 15th at 4:00 PM ET, on FOX
Game 4: at Detroit, Wednesday, October 16th at 8:00 PM ET, on FOX
Game 5 (if needed): at Detroit, Thursday, October 17th at 8:00 PM ET, on FOX
Game 6 (if needed): at Boston, Saturday, October 19th at 4:30 PM ET, on FOX
Game 7 (If needed): at Boston, Sunday, October 20th at 8:00 PM ET, on FOX

How do the Red Sox and Tigers compare?  I went into this a little in yesterday's post, but I was mostly comparing the A's and the Tigers.  Let's take a look at these he Tigers in how the compare to the Red Sox:

Pitching

The Tigers probable rotation (with their 2013 season stats following):

Tigers
Game 1)  Anibal Sanchez (14-8, 2.57 ERA, 1.154 WHIP, 3.74 SO/BB)
Game 2)  Max Scherzer (21-3, 2.90 ERA, 0.970 WHIP, 4.29 SO/BB)
Game 3)  Doug Fister (14-9, 3.67 ERA, 1.308 WHIP, 3.61 SO/BB)
Game 4)  Justin Verlander (13-12, 3.46 ERA, 1.315 WHIP, 2.89 SO/BB)

Some projections show Fister and Verlander switched, but I'm thinking since Verlander pitched 8.0 innings last night, they'll give him the extra rest.  If you recall, Tampa Bays' Price was in a similar position before his Game 2 start against Boston last Saturday.  Price didn't fair too well, and I'm sure Tigers' manager Leyland has taken note of that.

Red Sox
Game 1)  Jon Lester (15-8, 3.75 ERA, 1.294 WHIP, 2.64 SO/BB)
Game 2)  John Lackey (10-13, 3.52 ERA, 1.157 WHIP, 4.03 SO/BB)
Game 3)  Clay Buchholz (12-1, 1.74 ERA, 1.025 WHIP, 2.67 SO/BB)
Game 4)  Jake Peavy with Red Sox (4-1, 4.04 ERA, 1.160 WHIP, 2.37 SO/BB)

John Farrell has not announced the rotation at the time of this posting, so this is just a guess based on the ALDS rotation.  I've read that Lackey and Buchholz may be switched around, which I think may be best with Scherzer slotted for Game 2 for the Tigers.

Offense

For offense, I'm going to take the 3 "top" offensive threats for each team; otherwise, we could be here all day.  

Tigers

Miguel Cabrera: .348 BA, 44 HR, 137 RBI, 103 R, 94 SO, 90 BB, 3 SB

Prince Fielder:  .279 BA, 25 HR, 106 RBI, 82 R, 117 SO, 75 BB, 1 SB

Torii Hunter:  .304 BA, 17 HR, 84 RBI, 90 R, 113 SO, 26 BB, 3 SB

Austin Jackson lead the Tigers in 8 stolen bases for the season.  Some of the Tigers best hitters, Omar Infante and Jhonny Peralta, played only 118 and 107 respectively.  

Red Sox

David Ortiz:  .309 BA, 30 HR, 103 RBI, 84 R, 88 SO, 76 BB, 4 SB

Mike Napoli: .259 BA, 23 HR, 92 RBI, 70 R, 187 SO, 73 BB, 1 SB

Dustin Pedroia:  .301 BA, 9 HR, 84 RBI, 91 R, 75 SO, 73 BB, 17 SB

Jacoby Ellsbury had 52 stolen bases for the season, which lead the Majors.  Daniel Nava had a .303 batting average in 134 games for the Red Sox.

I'm not going to go out on a limb and say the Red Sox have the advantage over the Tigers in the ALCS.  Cabrera lead most of the offensive categories this season, but he had been slumping towards the end of the season.  The Red Sox need to get on base, manufacture runs, and have some great pitching performances to win these games against the Tigers.  Hopefully, they wind up on top at the end of the ALCS and head to the World Series.

Who Are The Red Sox Hoping To See In The ALCS?

Tonight is Game 5 of the ALDS between the A's and Tigers.  Whichever team wins this game will face the Red Sox in the ALCS.  It was announced yesterday that Game 1 of the ALCS will be Saturday at 7:30 PM Eastern on FOX, and Game 2 will be at 8:00 PM Eastern Sunday on FOX.  Lester was announced the Game 1 starter, and the rest of the rotation is yet to be determined.

Who would the Red Sox rather see in the ALCS?

The A's finished the season 96-66, with one less win than the Red Sox.  In head-to-head play, the Red

Photo from The Boston Globe

Sox and A's split 3-3.  Bartolo Colon was the A's best pitcher with a 18-6 record and a 2.65 ERA.  Offensively, the A's are lead by Josh Donaldson with a .301 batting average, 24 home runs, and 93 RBIs.  The A's also have Yoenis Cespedes and former Red Sox players Josh Reddick, Jed Lowrie, and Coco Crips.

The Tiger's finished the regular season 93-69.  In head-to-head play, they won the series 4-3.  The Tiger's pitching staff is lead by Cy Young favorite Max Scherzer who was 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA, but they also have Justin Verlander (13-12, 3.46 ERA), Anibal Sanchez (14-8, 2.57 ERA), and Doug Fisher (14-9, 3.67 ERA).  Offensively, reigning MVP Miguel Cabrera (.348 BA, 44 HRs, 137 RBIs), Victor Martinez, Torri Hunter, and Prince Fielder.

Personally, I'd rather the Red Sox play the A's.  It may just be history, but the A's have never seemed like much of a threat to the Red Sox.  Though, those West Coast trips always usually cost the Red Sox every season.  The stats, however, seem to favor the A's.

When you look closer at the A's, they're dangerous.  The A's team ERA is 3.56, compared to the Red Sox's 3.79 ERA.  Offensively, the A's team batting average is .254, while the Red Sox is .277.  The A's hit 186 home runs and scored 767 runs, and the Red Sox hit 178 home runs and scored 853 runs.

The Tigers always seem dangerous to me both with their pitching and their offense.  I would like to think that the Tigers' rotation is helped a great deal by a weaker AL Central division (compared to the AL East), but they had to play more teams than the Astros and Twins.  Miguel Cabrera, who won the Triple-Crown last year, is always dangerous to face.

The Tigers team ERA is 3.61.  Their team batting average is .283, and they hit 176 home runs and scored 796 runs.

The Red Sox seem to have the advantage in doubles with 363 (compared to the A's 301 and Tigers' 292), walks with 583 (compared to the A's 573 and Tigers' 531), and stolen bases with 123 (compared to the A's 74 and 35).  In regards to the stolen bases, Ellsbury snagged 52 bags alone.  (Ortiz was 5th on the team in stolen bases with 4.)

So, who would I rather see face the Red Sox?  I'm still saying A's.  I believe pitching win the playoffs, and the Tigers rotation was better during the season.  The Tigers also have more power, lead by Miguel Cabrera.  That's just my opinion though, since the A's are equally as dangerous.

Photo from CBS Detroit