Red Sox Win ALCS In 7 Games

The Red Sox who were down 3 games to 1 at one point are now on their way to the World Series against the Rockies. This marks the 11th time in MLB history a team has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-7 series.


The Indians could not shut the door. After grabbing a 3-1 series lead, the Indians never led at any point in Games five, six or seven. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched five solid innings while Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon each tossed two scoreless innings. In addition to the pitching, rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia added his first career post season home run while driving in five. Boston will hosts Colorado in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday.

East Coast Bias- October 15, 2007

Today's Headlines

- NFL Rundown

- College Football Rundown

- NLCS and ALCS Review

The Weekly Phil

- Eagles Win 16-9


On today's podcast show we discuss the big games in the NFL and rundown the Top 25 action in the College game. We also get into the exciting MLB postseason games with a review and preview of the NLCS series between the Rockies and D-Backs and the ALCS series between the Indians and Red Sox. And we end the podcast with some Eagles talk following their victory over the Jets in the Weekly Phil.

ALCS Preview

Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians

The Red Sox are coming off a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels in which they outscored them 22-4 in 3 games. The Cleveland Indians come into the ALCS after defeating the New York Yankees in 4 games. Both teams have solid pitching but I think this series will come down to how well the lineups produce for their starters.

The Pitching - Both teams have great 1-2 punches in their rotation with the likes of Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling for the Sox, and C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona for the Indians. The Indians bullpen was sixth in ERA during the season (3.75). Rafael Perez, who could be the next K-Rod, and Rafael Betancourt are both solid coming out of the pen for the Indians. The Red Sox bullpen consists of Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, who both helped the Red Sox to a bullpen ERA of 3.10 during the regular season.

Edge - I have to go with the Red Sox. While the bullpen doesn't have a lot of post season experience minus Papelbon, the starting pitching for the Sox includes a World Series MVP (Beckett) and Curt Schilling, who has been to 3 World Series. Experience in the starting rotation wins out.

The Lineups - The Red Sox lineup includes the likes of David Ortiz (.715 BA and two HRs in the postseason) and Manny Ramirez (.375BA and two HRs). And good news for the Red Sox, Ramirez has a career batting average of .571 (12-for-21) with four HRs and seven RBIs against C.C. Sabathia, the Indians game 1 starter. The Indians lineup consists of the triple threat Grady Sizemore, the big bat of Travis Hafner, and the sweet hitting Victor Martinez. The key to the Indians success though will be their superior speed on the basepaths. If they can move runners around they'll have a big advantage in the series if the games are tight.

Edge - The Red Sox take it again but only because of the recent resurgence of Manny Ramirez's bat. Big Pappi already has his sweet stroke going this post season so if Manny keeps hitting like this, the Indians could be in for a short series.

Do Or Die For MLB Teams

The Cubs, the Phillies, the Yankees, and the Angels are all now trying to stave off elimination. All of these teams are currently in 0-2 holes and beginning tonight, the Phillies and Cubs begin their attempt to win 3 in a row.

Saturday Games

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Chicago Cubs

A 3 run home run by Chris Young sparked the Diamondbacks to a 8-4 win and a step closer to challenging for the NL Pennant. Doug Davis won his first career postseason game while allowing four runs in 5 2/3 innings and striking out eight. Chicago's Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee have combined to go 4-for-27 through two games in the series. The young and upstart Babybacks could shut the door again on the Cubs who are still looking for their first World Series title since 1908.

Diamondbacks lead 2-0


Philadelphia Phillies vs. Colorado Rockies

A decision to take Kyle Kendrick out of the game after loading the bases proved to a be a costly mistake by Charlie Manuel. Reliever Kyle Lohse came in and served up a grand slam to Kaz Matsui putting the Rockies up for good. The Rockies won the game 10-5 thanks to a great performance from the bullpen (gave up only 1 earned run in 6IP). With the series shifting to Colorado, the Phillies have quite a task ahead of them. The Rockies batted .298 at home, including a staggering .376 BA by Matt Holliday.

Rockies lead 2-0

Sunday Games

Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels

A healthy Manny is a clutch Manny. Thanks to a 3 run walk off home run Manny Ramirez propelled the Red Sox to a 2 game lead in the 5 game series. After a rocky start from Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox bullpen came in and shut the door going 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Angels pitchers gave up 9 walks including 5 by Cy Young hopeful Kelvim Escobar. Manny Ramirez has 21 post season homers, one shy of Bernie Williams for most all-time.

Red Sox lead 2-0


New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians

The Yankees held a 1-0 lead heading into the 8th inning, then it got all buggy. A swarm of bugs began attacking Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain in the 8th inning and while he didn't want to blame the bugs, they certainly contributed to his 2 wild pitches in the inning. One of those wild pitches led to a Indians run by Grady Sizemore. Indians fans were treated to a win in wild fashion when in the 11th inning Travis Hafner singled in the winning run. The Indians Fausto Carmona pitched 9 solid innings in his post season start. Yankees stadium will be host to the next two games, assuming they last another game.

Indians lead 2-0