I was looking through some articles on Yahoo! and I came across this very good scouting report for Game 6 of the ALCS, Indians vs. Boston Red Sox and thought i’d share it with you guys. Enjoy….
By Yahoo! Sports courtesy of Inside Edge
October 19, 2007
Inside Edge, a leading baseball scouting and information service, will provide scouting reports to Yahoo! Sports throughout the MLB playoffs. Here’s their breakdown of the American League championship series Game 6 between the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox.
HITTERS
• Indians slugger Travis Hafner is 0-for-11 in the last three games with seven strikeouts after starting off 3-for-8 in the ALCS. Hafner has taken 22 swings since Game 2 and has put only four balls in play.
• Rookie second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera is the only Indians hitter with a hit in all five ALCS contests. He is 6-for-21 in the series, with five of those hits coming on pitches located on the outer third of the plate. Cabrera has seen 16 strikes on the inner third, but has not hit one in the series.
• Red Sox batters have hit only eight of their 28 balls in play in the air against Fausto Carmona this season. Kevin Youkilis is the only Sox hitter who has gone airborne twice against the Indians starter.
• Mike Lowell has been much more dialed in when there are runners on base in the postseason. The third baseman is 1-for-13 with the bases empty, but 7-for-16 (.438) with three doubles when batting with runners on base.
• The Red Sox are just 3-for-20 (all singles) in the ALCS with two runners on base. Outfielder J.D. Drew is 0-for-4 in this situation.
PITCHERS
• The Red Sox used eight different pitchers and allowed 17 hits when Curt Schilling started Game 2 of the ALCS. Aside from that game, the Sox pitching staff has held playoff opponents to a .211 batting average.
• Don’t expect Schilling to fall behind in the count, or to give into the hitter if he does. The Sox starter has only been to a three-ball count five times in 49 postseason plate appearances. Schilling made seven pitches on three-ball counts to Indians batters in Game 2; all of them were strikes.
• Schilling had a hard time putting the Indians’ three big left-handed hitters away when he had the chance in Game 2. Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, and Victor Martinez all produced hits against the Boston right-hander with two strikes. Sizemore and Martinez both doubled off of his splitter.
• Fausto Carmona threw only 52 percent of his pitches for strikes against Boston in Game 2. That was the lowest single-game strike percentage for the Indians right-hander all season.
• Carmona was much too careful with his first pitch in Game 2. He threw only seven first-pitch strikes to the 20 batters he faced in that game, or 35 percent. Game 6 can have a totally different outcome if he can get ahead of Sox hitters. All five walks Carmona allowed in Game 2 began with a first-pitch ball.
• Indians reliever Rafael Betancourt continued his domination of postseason foes with another scoreless inning in Game 5. Betancourt has thrown his fastball for as strike 78 percent of the time in his six postseason appearances. The league average is 64 percent. Opponents are just 2-for-26 against the Indians right-hander in October.
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ALCS GAME 6 MATCHUP NOTES
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| Travis Hafner |
He has hammered Schilling’s fastball (3-for-3with a double lifetime) and hit his curve and split on the screws in Game 2 – one for a hit, the other a well-hit flyout. |
| Grady Sizemore |
He’s 3-for-3 against Schilling’s out-pitch to left-handed batters (the splitter). Sizemore also handles pitchers who are similar in style to Schilling; he has batted .345 with seven homers against them since 2006. |
| Victor Martinez |
After going 3-for-3 against the Boston right-hander in Game 2, V-Mart is now 7-for-11 in his career against Schilling, with hits against every pitch in his arsenal. |
| Franklin Gutierrez |
He has struggled severely in the playoffs (4-for-25) including an 0-for-2 performance against Schilling. Gutierrez was the only Indians batter not to make solid contact against Schilling in Game 2. |
| Ryan Garko |
The Indians first baseman is 0-for-3 against Schilling’s off-speed stuff and missed twice in three swings against his fastball. Garko did single off of a Schilling heater in Game 2 after seeing three in a row belt-high or above. |
| Jason Michaels |
Schilling has gone after him with fastballs on 80 percent of his pitches. Michaels has taken 21 swings against Schilling’s heater, with only one hit to show for it. |
| David Ortiz |
The only Red Sox hitter who has homered against Carmona’s outstanding sinker. Big Papi went 1-for-1 with a walk against the Indians starter in Game 2. |
| Alex Cora |
Has yet to bat in the postseason, but with Julio Lugo struggling, Cora could be an option for the Sox tonight. He’s 2-for-4 lifetime against Carmona and hit .318 (12-for-38) against right-handed fastballs down in the zone this year. |
| Coco Crisp |
The slumping centerfielder was the only Sox batter to hit two balls hard against Carmona in Game 2. Crisp lined out on a 1-2 sinker and singled sharply in two at-bats against the Indians starter. |
| J.D. Drew |
Not only is Drew 0-for-5 against Carmona, but he batted just .200 (11-for-55) against right-handed fastballs that were down in the strike zone this season. Carmona keeps his sinker at the knees or lower half the time. |
| Julio Lugo |
Batted .122 (6-for-49) against other hard-throwing, righty sinkerballers in the regular season. Lugo’s only two hits in his last 14 at-bats were a seeing-eye grounder and a bunt single. |
| Dustin Pedroia |
He busted out of his postseason slump in Game 5, but Carmona has his number. The Sox leadoff batter is 0-for-4 with strikeouts against both his sinker and changeup. |
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