ALCS 2013: Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers Game 4 preview
By Bryan Rose
Who: Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers
Where: Comerica Park, Detroit
When: 8:07 PM, ET – Fox
Series record: 2-1, Boston
Much like their ALDS against the Oakland Athletics, the Detroit Tigers started off their ALCS against the Red Sox in promising fashion.
With a 1-0 series lead, Detroit was four outs away from taking a commanding 2-0 lead with Justin Verlander scheduled at home, where the Tigers would play the next three games (if needed).
Of course, games aren’t played on paper and it was a miraculous comeback from the Red Sox who sent both teams to Motown tied at 1-1 thanks to a four run, eighth inning comeback in Game 2.
Game 3 was an old fashioned pitching duel, just waiting for somebody to blink first. That blink came from Verlander and the Tigers who fell in a 1-0 score and are now faced with the prospect of winning the series in Boston, assuming it gets that far.
Hoping to prevent the Tigers from falling behind three games to one will be starter Doug Fister who has struggled heavily against the Red Sox this season. Fister, in two starts, was dinged for fifteen hits, five walks and six earned runs in just 10.1 innings of work. Shocking as it may sound though, despite that, Fister actually pitched very well in one of his two starts against Boston, giving up no earned runs in a seven inning start at Fenway, so his numbers look a bit worse than they actually were.
For Boston, mid-season trade acquisition Jake Peavy will take the hill.
Despite playing in the American League Central for half of the season, Peavy only faced the Tigers once and was hurt by the long ball, giving up three round trippers in seven innings of work. It’s a trend that has haunted Peavy all season. Other than that, he was relatively effective though keeping the ball in the park is a must, especially against the powerful Tigers.
Peavy and Boston will attempt to take a commanding 3-1 series lead while Fister and the Tigers will try to tie the series up at 2-2, making it a best of three, Wednesday evening.