Boston leads series 1-0
Recap
Box Score
Win Probability Added @ Fangraphs
Highest WPA:
Travis Hafner .074
Ryan Garko .010
Kenny Lofton .003
Lowest WPA:
CC Sabathia -.337
Jhonny Peralta -.081
Franklin Gutierrez -.051
CC Sabathia, for his second straight start, couldn't throw a strike. Well, he threw strikes, but they weren't very good ones. Yes, the Red Sox are very good at taking pitches, but many of Sabathia's pitches were so remote that the most indiscriminate swinger would pass on them. The result of this wildness was predictable; the Red Sox scored eight runs off 14 base runners, and the game was over by the fifth inning.
The frustrating aspect of Sabathia's meltdown was that Beckett wasn't at his best. Yes, he was still very good, but the Indians didn't need a perfect start from Sabathia to stay in the game. Instead they got a deficit that even the best offensive effort couldn't overcome. Because the lead was 10-2 in the eighth, Beckett was pulled, his pitch count low enough so that he could be brought back for Game 4. The Indians' decision for their Game 4 starter was made a couple innings before.
The small consolation taken from this game is that it was just one game. Fausto Carmona goes tonight, and if he pitches like he did in the ALDS, the Indians can still leave Boston in very good shape. But Sabathia will have to pitch again if the Indians want to win this series, and he and Carl Willis will need to figure out how to fix whatever's wrong between now and CC's next start.
Next Up: Carmona vs. Schilling, 8:10 PM