While the Minnesota Twins enjoy their hard fought victory over the Detroit Tigers in the 163rd game of the season, the start of the 2009 MLB playoff divisional series is less than 15 hours away. Here are the American League series match-ups and who should prevail to advance to the championship series.
Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees
On Wednesday, the New York Yankees, owners of the best record in baseball, will take on the Minnesota Twins who had to play a 163rd game to earn their playoff berth.
Even though CC Sabathia had an outstanding season with a 19-8 record with a 3.37 ERA and 197 strikeouts, people are still questioning whether he can show up in the playoffs. They need to remember when he struggled in the 2008 post season; he was pitching against the Yankees. Now that he has their bats on his side, he should be fine and earn the money he was given in the off season.
Aside from Sabathia, there are two other big names that will need to produce during this series, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeria. While the two of them combined for 69 home runs and 222 RBI’s, if they do not perform up to Yankee standards by players like Mickey Mantle and Derek Jeter, the team could fall short of their goals.
The Twins enter this series, winning 17 of their last 21 games despite missing their top two pitchers and former MVP Justin Morneau. While catcher Joe Mauer will make his presence known in the series, the real spark plug of the Twins lineup is Denard Span. During the season, Span hit .312 with 97 runs scored and 23 stolen bases.
If the Twins are going to pull out this series, they will need their pitching staff to pick up, especially Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn. The Twins need the starting pitchers to keep the game close and be able to turn it over to a outstanding bullpen.
The Yankees bats will have a feast against the Twins depleted pitching staff and will be the reason why they win the series in four games and advance to the championship series.
Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels
In the second series of the AL Divisional round, the Los Angeles Angels will look to exercise their demons when they take on the Boston Red Sox.
The potent Red Sox offense once powered by David Ortiz has found a new flag bearer in the form of Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis. Bay led the team with 36 home runs and 119 RBI’s during the regular season while Youkilis has emerged as the emotional leader of the team when they were in need of a spark.
The once untouchable rotation entered the post season with several questions. The Red Sox success will be tied in with the performance of Josh Beckett. Their workhorse in eight playoff series, Beckett has a 7-2 record with a 2.90 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 87 innings of work.
When it comes to hitting, the Angels lead the majors with a .295 batting average while becoming the first team to have 11 batters with at least 50 RBI’s. The key to their offense during the post season will be Kendry Morales and Chone Figgins, who will need to maintain their 2009 performance if the Angels are going to win.
While the pitching staff took a step back in 2009, the rotation is led by Jered Weaver and John Lackey, both who won 16 games during the regular season. Weaver entered a slump after the All-Star break, but was starting to come out of it towards the end of September.
This should be one of the most entertaining series of the 2009 MLB playoffs, with the Angels finally getting over the hump and earning a victory at the end of the five game series.
