**** ALDS GAME 4 Tribe/Yanks (Byrd vs. Wang)****

[durron597]

i definitely think the yankees, indians and rockies are all capable of giving boston a run for their money

[KJS]

I am OK with this move. CC is not the kind of pitcher that can go on 3 days, IMO. He threw a lot of pitches in game 1 and he is not in the best condition, ldo. Take your chances with Byrd against a guy who you did well against in game 1. Bring in Laffey against a lefty heavy lineup if Byrd does not have it early. Worst case you have CC for game 5 with Fausto in the pen. Best case, move on to ALCS with your big 2 ready.

Go Tribe!

KJS

[durron597]

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Neither one of these teams has been very good in recent years.

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diamondbacks do have a world series win in this decade. though admittedly the team is pretty different.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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i definitely think the yankees, indians and rockies are all capable of giving boston a run for their money

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Yankees and Indians def. are. I think the Red Sox >>> any NL team.

anyways, I'll stop this hijack now and root for a 22-20 game with the bullpens being emptied, tx!

[Kneel B4 Zod]

lineups out tonight..

Mientkdswwswwffd is starting at 1b. I guess Torre thinks he needs the defense for Wang, but lord Mientkdfdfd is just so bad offensively, and 1b isn't really the place you need great defense.

also, who are the first guys out of the Yankee bullpen tonight? Obv. no Hughes and likely no Joba either. the latter was just super dumb, knowing that Wang would be going on 3 days tonight. I'm not sure why they took Hughes out, he was dealing and it's a short bullpen.

[RandomUser]

Looking more and more like a slugfest on both sides, with Cleveland having the edge in a 9-6 game.

[Victor]

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Beckett/Sabathia - Dead even.
Matsuzaka/Carmona - Big Cleveland edge.
Schilling/Westbrook - Bigger Boston edge.
Wakefield/Byrd - Boston edge.

Bullpen - Big Boston edge.
Lineup - Cleveland edge.
Defense - Boston edge.

I think Boston is the deserved favorite here, but it should be a great series. If the Yankees manage to win tonight, it changes the match ups a bit, and screws everything up if they throw Sabathia and Carmona in game five.

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i disagree with like half these.

cleveland has better bullpen and proly better defense.

boston def has better lineup (im assuming this is in terms of hitting.)

id say wakefield and byrd are close to even as well but thats just going on stats.

[Kos13]

I hate starting Byrd against this offense, but since we are doing that, this needs to be an "empty out the bullpen" night. As long as it's not a blowout in either direction, Betancourt should be going two innings tonight, and Perez and Lewis should combine for three. Then, if we have to go to Game 5, we have CC, Carmona, and an inning each from Betancourt, Perez, and Lewis.

(Borowski not pitching for the rest of the series would be great LDO.)

[Scary_Tiger]

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Bullpen - Big Boston edge.
Defense - Boston edge.

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No way. Cleveland's bullpen is better for sure with Lewis/Perez/Betancourt. Defense is also very close to call but is a slight Boston edge at best.

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But Borowski is your closer. So he'll get more important innings than he should.

Okajima/Delcarmen/Papelbon are excellent and will get the most important innings.

Betancourt/Perez are superb, but Borowski is getting the Papelbon innings and it's all Boston in the end game.

Lewis is pretty good, but the 6th best pitcher discussed so far, Timlin is still fine, but nothing special.

Gagne could come out and be good who knows, it would have to be a pretty interesting series before he or anyone else on the Indians got any important innings.

[legend42]

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lineups out tonight..

Mientkdswwswwffd is starting at 1b. I guess Torre thinks he needs the defense for Wang, but lord Mientkdfdfd is just so bad offensively

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His OPS is over 1000 since coming back a month ago, with several "clutch" hits. I know, sample size, but it's better than if he were slumping, and probably has something to do with Torre's decision.

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and 1b isn't really the place you need great defense.

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It doesn't hurt. And it could be a situation like game 1, where he pinch-hit for him in only his 2nd AB, after the Yankees fell behind early.

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also, who are the first guys out of the Yankee bullpen tonight?

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Mussina? And I think Torre said during the postgame press conference yesterday that both Joba and Rivera will be available. Screw the rules, I guess.