When the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox in the AmericanLeague Championship Series last year, they had a dominant startingrotation and a solid bullpen to back it up.
This year, things have changed. History may seem to be repeatingitself, with the Yankees facing the Red Sox after beating Minnesotato take the ALDS, but the 2004 versions of these teams aredifferent. This series won't be a clash of dynamic startingrotations. This time around, the battle between the bullpens may bewhat determines the outcome.
Gone are the days of fear-inspiring Yankees aces. With a weakerstarting rotation, Joe Torre has been forced to rely heavily on hisbullpen, and this series shouldn't be an exception.
Mariano Rivera, for one, has responded to the call of duty. TheYankee veteran closer pitched in 74 games this season, more thanany of his previous years, and converted a career-high 53 out of 57save opportunities.
Rivera, Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill have established a strongback end of the bullpen that, despite being overworked throughoutthe season, is probably the strongest part of the team.
Gordon, a righty who sets up Rivera by pitching the eighthinning of most games, has been solid throughout the season,finishing with a 2.21 ERA. Like Rivera, Gordon is dependable andrarely chokes, and together Gordon and Rivera pose the mostdangerous one-two punch in the league.
Quantrill has been another bullpen workhorse for the Yankees,and he provided an overwhelming 95.1 innings of relief this season.In his first postseason appearance, Quantrill shook off a horribleSeptember to pitch well in the ALDS, throwing two innings ofshutout relief and earning the win in Game 2. But Quantrill, with a7.94 ERA against Boston, won't be entrusted by the Yankees to takeover with runners already on base.
The front end of the bullpen has been more troublesome, but astrong effort will be vital because the Yankees' starters usuallydon't go the seven or eight innings necessary to get to theclosers. The front end was inconsistent throughout the season, butwith a smaller starting rotation to worry about, there are moreoptions.
Tanyon Sturtze is probably the best option, and OrlandoHernandez could also be a vital asset. Hernandez, a Yankeesveteran, posts a 2.51 ERA in the 97 postseason innings he'spitched. But with El Duque's sore arm, Torre may hesitate to usehim this series. It's still the middle innings that will prove tobe the toughest for New York.
The Yankees bullpen will need to be at its very best to stifleBoston's potent offense. The Sox can hit good pitching. They'resurprisingly unfazed by Rivera and handed him his only two lossesof the season.
Rivera, having just suffered a family tragedy, may not be at hispsychological best when he takes the mound this week. But he'sstill Mariano Rivera, and it's October - so he'll be at hisphysical best. That should serve as a challenge even for the Sox'mighty lineup.
The Yankees, in contrast to the Sox, don't produce hits off ofdominating pitching. New York had a major league-record 61 comebackwins this season, largely because of this problem. They would fallbehind as their own starters got beat, and then their home-runbelting offense would catch up when the opposing bullpen wentin.
It worked for the regular season. It worked in the ALDS lastweek, when Ruben Sierra smashed a three-run home run to even thescore after Johan Santana had silenced the Yankees' offense forfive solid innings. But will it work against Boston?
That will depend on the performances of the Boston relievers.The dominating starters will likely outlast New York's starters,but even Yankee-killer Curt Schilling can't give eight inningsevery outing.
Furthermore, the Red Sox' bullpen is stronger this year,especially now that they have an effective closer in Keith Foulke.Foulke, a righty with a 2.17 ERA and 32 saves for the season,pitched well against the Yankees this year, with a 1.50 ERA, andgave a clutch performance in the clinching game against Anaheimlast Friday. However, Foulke can still be prone to choking. He blewseven saves this season - two of which came consecutively duringthe September division chase.
Mike Timlin, with a 4.13 ERA for the season, is one of the setupmen for Foulke, and may be Boston's strongest reliever. Timlin wasa key factor in the ALDS last week, despite surrendering agame-tying home run in Game 3, and manager Terry Francona will lookto him for solid relief against New York as well.
Alan Embree and Mike Myers, both lefties, are the othereffective options in Boston's bullpen. The Yankees failed to scorea single earned run in the 7.1 innings Embree pitched against themthis year, and Myers is 5-1 overall this season. Yankees relieverFelix Heredia is the only left-handed pitcher on New York's roster,and he's weaker than both of Boston's lefties.
When the starters have been hit, the Sox have had difficultieswith their front end. But now that regular-season starter DerekLowe has been sent to the bullpen, there's another option forfront-end relief, along with Curtis Leskanic. Leskanic did not seeaction in the ALDS, but it was Lowe that went an inning ofscoreless relief to pick up the win in Game Three.
With two teams that can't be counted out until the final pitch,the result of this year's ALCS could depend on what happens oncethe starters hit the showers.
