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October 19, 2007
By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON – C.C. Sabathia showed he wasn’t up to the test in the glare of the playoff lights. Saturday night at Fenway Park, we’ll see if Fausto Carmona can carry the load.
Entering the American League’s Championship Series, the Red Sox had grave concerns about how well they’d be able to dent the 1-2 starting pitching tandem of Sabathia and Carmona. Each won 19 games in the regular season, with impressive ERA’s, and gave the Cleveland Indians the firepower to dream of winning the World Series for the first time since Bob Feller and Bob Lemon beat the Boston Braves back in 1948.
The Red Sox tore through Sabathia in Game One for a 10-3 win and chased Carmona after four innings in Game Two. Sabathia had the chance to close out Boston Thursday night but the Sox got to the big lefty again and won Game Five, 7-1. The Sabathia/Carmona combination owns a 0-2 record and 9.82 ERA in three ALCS starts. Carmona, a Dominican sinker-baller, gets his chance to show that at least one of Cleveland’s aces can get the job done Saturday.
“I’m going to try hard to stay aggressive, the same way I always pitch,” Carmona said. “Whatever happened last time, I’ve forgotten about it. It’s going to be a new start and I’m looking forward to it.”
Carmona ran into control problems in his Game Two matchup with Curt Schilling. He pitched into the fifth inning but was eventually chased after surrendering four runs on four hits with five critical walks. In the third inning, he failed to challenge Boston star Manny Ramirez and a walk forced in a run. The Indians ended up rallying for a 13-6 win in 11 innings.
Carmona’s strength is getting off to a quick start on every hitter and relying on his sinker ball. He led the American League by getting hitters to hit ground balls 3.28 times for every fly ball. The Red Sox avoided a parade of ground balls by exhibiting their classic patience at the plate, said Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis.
“In reviewing the video tape, there were pitches Fausto made that hitters swing at throughout the course of the season,” Willis said. “The Red Sox, being very disciplined and obviously a veteran lineup of professional hitters, they laid off a lot of pitches that other clubs at times swing at.”
Carmona said that he felt he was a bit ``too fine’’ in trying to nibble around the strike zone and prevent Boston’s batters from squaring up his pitches.
“I was trying to be a little too fine,” he said. “I’ve got to make sure I’m not going to leave any pitch down the middle of the plate. I was thinking just a little too much.”
Carmona’s track record entering this series is impressive. He was 9-4 and led the majors with a 2.26 ERA in 15 starts after the All-Star break and owned a 5-0 mark with a 1.62 ERA in his last five starts of the regular season. In the ALDS against the Yankees, Carmona made his first playoff start a memorable one by holding the Yanks to one run on three hits in nine innings. The Indians captured the game in extra innings, 2-1. Now the Indians hope Carmona regains that form in time to deliver the team to its first World Series since 1997.
“I think he tried to be a little too fine,” in Game Two, Indians’ manager Eric Wedge said. “He has such a great arm and such great movement on his pitches. When he does try to be too fine his ball is going to run off the plate a little bit. What he needs to do is be aggressive with these guys, stay on the plate and run it off when he needs to.”
Posted by Kevin 
at 6:58 PM to McNamara
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