Last night’s game was incredibly stressful. Nothing new in this series, but this time the stress involved holding onto a lead. The Red Sox came out strong and took an early 4-0 lead. The Tigers spent the rest of the game inching their way back, but it wasn’t enough. The Sox won 4-3 and took a three games to two lead in the American League Championship Series.
Game six is Saturday at Fenway, but don’t ask me when. You see the television networks are more important than the 30-40 thousand paying customers, so the game doesn’t have a start time yet. We’ll find out after tonight’s NLCS game. If the Cardinals win, the series is over and the Red Sox and Tigers play in prime time (or post prime time for a sporting event) at 8:00. If the Dodgers win tonight, game seven of the NLCS will be Saturday at 8:00 and the Red Sox and Tigers will play at 4:00 and Red Sox and Tigers fans will actually get to watch the whole game. To hell with the tens of thousands of fans who actually paid for tickets and need to actually get to the stadium. They are irrelevant when the question of television coverage comes up.
It’s Buchholz against Scherzer. If nothing else, it’s two last names that I probably misspell every time I try to write about them. Scherzer pitched like a god in game two and the Sox still beat him. Buchholz pitched like a chump in game two and the Sox still managed to win. The offense we saw last night needs to continue against this great Tigers pitcher, if it can. Buchholz needs to be better. A lot better. Game six is the biggest game of the year thus far, and it is an absolute must win. The Red Sox cannot give the Tigers life. They cannot let this series go to game seven. Beat them now while you can, Boston. Finish them.
One win away from the World Series. You can do it, Red Sox. Even if your fans are having heart attacks left and right due to the stress of it all. Win game six!