It seems criminal to work or do well anything on Labor Day but if nobody did anything, today’s ceremonial end to summer would be teeth gritting boring. But good news Americans, there is still baseball.
But for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, tomorrow's Labor Day meeting will mean a little more than just some manatee entertainment. For these two teams, tomorrow's game will be one of bitter reunions, stunning implications and above all, one looming possibility.
Come the end of the season, this Labor Day 3 game set might not go down as the last meeting between these two teams.
As it stands with just 1.5 games separating them in the AL overall race, the Red Sox and Tigers are the clear cut favorites to come out 1,2 in the American League. By default that also means that come the end of October, chances are they will be the ones battling for the right to go to the World Series.
Now i know what you are saying. "Oh just make the tournament and anything can happen." Yeah that is true but in this season more than ever, with these two teams the stats will undoubtedly go a long way towards predicting that without a doubt, the Red Sox and Tigers WILL play in the American League Championship Series. And here’s why.
When you look at the differences between the regular and postseasons one of the most obvious dependency is run scoring. Fact is, with better pitching, runs are often at a premium. But nevertheless, the Red Sox have scored the second most runs in baseball the team with the most is the Tigers. Even if you take out half their runs per game average the Sox and Tigers could easily drop any of the other playoff teams in the AL playoff situation.
But there is more to this probable ALCS match-up than simply run scoreing. There is defense as Jose Iglacias for Detroit and Dustin Pedroia for Boston both sure up the middle of the infield and each have a stunning ability to save runs. And then there is pitching. Without a doubt, you cannot argue with the pitching prowess of Max Scherzer and of late, Jon Lester, and Jake Peavy in particular have been just as good. The Red Sox and Tigers have the hottest pitching staffs in the AL.
Like was said earlier, there is more to this impending series than just an ALCS preview. For Jose Iglacis it will be the first time since July's blockbuster trade that he will play the team that brought him into the MLB.
Since the trade, Jose has been batting .292 with 26 hits in 28 games. As for the man he cleared a spot for: Stephan Drew, has been batting close to .300 and has rapidly increased his value in Boston. Yet what’s even better is the fact that David Ortiz is now just 2 hits shy of 2,000 in his career. He will likely hit that mark in this series.
Prediction: Let’s face it there are some deficiencies between this impending series and a theoretical one in October. Clay Buchholz is still away from the Red Sox while Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino both have the possibility of playing this game at less than 100% due to respective injuries. As for pitching probables, John Lackey who starts game one will likely have the edge over opposing starter: Jay Fister. But that will all change in game two as the likely-hood of a Detroit win will be very high. This is because 19-1 Detroit starter: Max Scherzer is well 19-1.
In addition to pitchers, the injury bug has also bitten Detroit as dominant hitter: Miguel Cabrara has been down for several days with a back injury. He will not play in the first 2 games of this series.
Because of injuries and pitching overall, my prediction for this 3 game set is 2 victories for Boston and 1 for Detroit.
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