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October 17, 2007
By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer
CLEVELAND _ The Red Sox have proven over the course of the last few seasons to be one, if not the toughest lineups to pitch against in the majors.
All of a sudden, however, the Cleveland Indians have found a way to stifle Boston’s lineup as the Indians have taken a three-games-to-one lead in the ALCS with Game Five tonight at Jacobs Field. A member of the Indians who spoke on the condition of anonymity sat down with the Journal and broke down the club’s approach against the Red Sox, which has obviously worked.
The nine every-day players for Boston are very similar when it comes to breaking down the scouting reports. Plus, the Cleveland bullpen has done a solid job at keeping the Red Sox offense a bay during this series, especially at Fenway Park because giving the Red Sox extra outs is like giving them extra runs at home.
“They are a patient lineup and you can’t fall behind them. When you get them in a hitter’s count, they will hurt you and we’ve seen that already in this series.”
**Dustin Pedroia:
The Indians want to be aggressive with the Sox’ rookie lead-off man and make him work as much as they can. In seven postseason games, he’s hitting just .172.
“He hasn’t shown enough pop to where he can really hurt you. If he gets his hits, leave them at singles because Boston won’t do a lot of running in front of their big guys. He’s a guy we want to throw strikes to and keep him off base, because we don’t want anyone on base with the big fellas behind him.”
**Kevin Youkilis:
He’s hitting .333 in seven postseason games and he began to hit the ball hard during Game Four of this series. The last thing the Indians want is Youkilis to get locked in.
“He’s a good hitter with very good command of the strike zone. He very rarely swings and misses. He’s a tough guy to pitch to because he doesn’t swing at junk outside the zone. When you do throw it in the zone, he has very good bat-to-ball skills. With him you need to stay out of the middle of the plate. He’s aggressive at balls in the zone.”
**David Ortiz:/Manny Ramirez
There’s not much you can do with Big Papi. He’s hitting .500 with three homers and four RBI in the postseason, and even if the opposition puts the shift on, he can still do some damage. Cleveland has done a good job at pitching him away, especially with the sinker.
“You just need to catch him on the right day. If you catch him on the wrong day, then there’s nothing you can do. You need to be careful and you don’t want to let him beat you. Obviously, depending on the pitching matchup, it’s so tough with him and Manny (Ramirez) back-to-back. It’s not like you can pitch around David to get to Manny because he’s just as good of a hitter. Really, it’s damn near luck.”
The biggest thing with Ortiz and Manny is opposing pitchers have to decide how much damage they are willing to deal with in Boston’s 3-4 punch. Both hitters have very few holes and if you do beat them, it’s unlikely teams will have success twice in a row. It’s really about controlling rallies with the pair, which is why it’s key to keep Pedroia and Youkilis off the bases.
**Mike Lowell:
Hitting behind Ortiz and Ramirez has actually helped Lowell break out this season, especially in the playoffs as he enters tonight’s game with a .280 average with one homer and nine RBI.
“Last year he wasn’t nearly the hitter he was this season. He was still a good hitter last year, but he shored up some things this year with his swing and he’s going the other way a little bit more. He’s been a little more patient. He’s an aggressive hitter.”
**J.D. Drew:
The Indians don’t have too much experience against the Sox’ right fielder, but they have kept him pretty quiet during the ALCS. Of his four hits, only one has done any damage, which was a two-run single in Game One.
“He likes the ball up and over the middle of the plate. He wants a fastball he can get after and likes the ball away from him a little bit. You need to pitch him basic and safe.
**Jason Varitek:
The Sox’ switch-hitting captain is hitting at a lowly .192 clip (.333 from the right side and .174 from left) in the postseason. His three hits against the Indians are an RBI-double in Game One, a solo homer in Game Three and a single in Game Four.
“He’s different from both sides of the plate. On one side of the plate, he likes the ball up. On the other side he likes it down. Obviously, he’s a big strong man and you don’t want to leave anything sitting there in the middle of the plate. You want to keep the ball down. He’s not running as well as he has in the past, so if he hits a single that’s okay because with him no first with the guys behind him (the speedy Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo) gives you a chance for a double-play ball. The threat of the two-run homer is not nearly as big, although every one over there can pretty much put it out of the yard.”
**Coco Crisp:
The former Indian recorded a career year when he was in Cleveland during the 2006 season, his last year here. The switch-hitter posted a .300 average with 16 homers, 69 RBI, 42 doubles and 4 triples. He’s been pretty much silent in this series.
“That has a lot to do with [us] knowing him so well. We got to see him at his best, so we know where to stay away from him. We treat him as a speed guy and he’s the one guy we don’t want to walk by any means necessary because he can turn a walk into a double just like that. Attacking him has to be on our priority list, because we can’t give him the opportunity to run. We need to get him to hit the ball in the air. The last thing you want to do is walk a guy like him, even though he does have some thump, you want him to hit the ball and put it in play.”
**
Julio Lugo:
The Indians consider Lugo as the Sox’ true lead-off man. He swings the most, and like Crisp, he’s another speed guy teams want to keep off the base paths.
“He’s a bigger part of their offense than a lot of people give him credit for. Hitting at the bottom, you would think most nine-hole hitters would be your weakest player, but it’s a fit for him down there. He can hit in a lot of places, and he’s proven that in the past. He’s a fastball hitter and he wants to be aggressive. He might be the most aggressive guy in their lineup, and he should be. He can extend innings and roll that lineup around. With him being in the ninth spot really works into their lineup pretty well. Once the game starts, he’s kind of like the lead-off hitter with Pedroia and Youkilis hitting second and third.”
Even though the Cleveland pitchers have done a very good job with the Red Sox, the Indians are not about to breath a sigh of relief because you never want to wake a sleeping offensive monster.
“There no doubt there’s depth in their lineup. They are pretty dangerous, obviously. It’s not rocket science.”
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 6:38 PM | Permalink
