By Rick Morris
For the second time in less
than six months, Cleveland and Toronto are battling for a chance at the world
championship. This time around, it’s a
World Series spot on the line as the Indians and Blue Jays do battle.
Franchises only previously
bound by the Len Barker perfect game of 1981, these teams who surprised many by
surviving the ALDS meet in an intriguing collision of interestingly-matched
teams. Toronto’s widest advantage is in
explosive offense, as the core of their lineup can mash better than just about
anyone in baseball. Overall, they’re a
slightly poor-man’s version of the Red Sox in this regard (still ahead of Terry
Francona’s overachieving mix-and-match bunch) which should be encouraging to a
Tribe team that shockingly swept through powerful Beantown.
However, Cleveland will have
to overcome better starting pitching than the Red Sox could muster. As was the case with Boston, though, none of
their big arms can quite measure up to Corey Kluber, who proved himself healthy
and dominant in the Division Series.
When you pair this with the Tribe’s monster edge in the bullpen
(notwithstanding the Jays’ fine performance against the Rangers) and their
moderate edge defensively, it becomes clear that Toronto’s best hope is in
exerting their will with their great power production.
You have to believe that it
will happen at least once. There’s
probably a 14-1 beatdown in Cleveland’s future somewhere in this round. But this ride that the Indians are on just
doesn’t feel over yet, not least of which because they’d have been more
vulnerable to a well-rounded Texas team in the AL finals – in addition to the
fact that they wouldn’t have had home field in that scenario. Somebody up there likes these Indians – and,
in fact, loves them if they get to escape the Cubs! Cleveland
in 6.
NLCS
Chicago Cubs over Los Angeles
Dodgers in 6
or
Chicago Cubs over Washington
in 6
WORLD SERIES
Chicago Cubs over Cleveland
in 6
No comments:
Post a Comment