Chink in the Armor
Here’s a hypothetical…
So the Sox wrap up the Wild Card and because of a late surge from the Minnesota Twins, they must open the postseason with a trip out to the Twin Cities for a best-of-five set. In the opener, Johan Santana, in the midst of an historic run of pitching dominance, outduels Pedro and earns Minnesota a 1-0 series lead. In Game 2, the Sox bounce back on the strength of a strong outing from Curt Schilling. In Game 3 back at Fenway, Bronson Arroy pitches well enough to win as the Sox get to Carlos Silva. The next night however, the Sox get trounced after falling behind early due to Tim Wakefield or Derek Lowe’s (take your pick) ineffectiveness. Of course this sets up a trip back to Minnesota to face the guy currently making Sandy Koufax look like Kirk Rueter. Does that sound good to anybody?
The Sox have two weeks to solve their 4th starter problem, a potentially fatal flaw of an otherwise spectacular postseason club.