Boston at Cleveland

Game one featured this same matchup of Cy Young contenders, and was expected to be a pitching duel between Sabathia and Beckett. It never materialized. We expect this one to be a classic pitchers duel, and why not? Entering the postseason, Sabathia had pitched 9 of 10 under 8.5 runs- tonight's totals, and now he is matched up with Beckett once again that saw 61.5% of his road starts fall below the 8.5-run mark. The Red Sox have their back against the wall and that means everyone is available to pitch in this one, and likely longer than usual. You could see Okajima for two and Papelbon for two innings if needed, especially since neither has seen much action. The Indians have been an UNDER team throughout the entire course of the second half as they are now 52-34 to the UNDER, and their bullpen has been putting up goose eggs throughout the playoffs. That translates into a 38-20 UNDER record, after the pen has pitched to a WHIP of under 1.00, for five days, covering three years. The Red Sox have had trouble scoring in this series and against teams .500+, as they have slid in under the total in 29 of 43 games against the good teams, .500+. They have also left their bats at home, as playing on the road has seen them 50-32 to the UNDER as well, and when they are on the road after a loss, they have played 23 unders in 35 games on the road. The first round pitching duel did not happen, tonight it does.