Rays should sweep
So much for those who said that the Rays’ lack of playoff experience would hurt them. In the first two games of the series at Tropicana Field, the White Sox were dismantled by the young upstarts.
Tampa Bay outscored them 12-6. They are out-hitting them by 59 points. Their team ERA is 3.00, compared to Chicago’s 6.75. What’s worse is that the Rays embarrassed them. When shortstop Orlando Cabrera decided to mix words with Grant Balfour, the Rays’ fiery reliever promptly sat him down after making him eat three nasty fastballs. Just in case Cabrera had forgotten the rules, Balfour then pointed him in the direction of his dugout. If I were Cabrera, I would’ve buried my head under home plate like an ostrich.
Will point you in the right direction
The Rays were a -150 favorite to win this series when it started. It should just be a matter of time before those backers, myself included, can cash those tickets. When a team is leading in the LDS two games to none, they have won that series 27 of 31 times. 21 of those 27 times ended in a 3-0 sweep. I initially took the Rays to win this series 3-1 at +250. I would much rather be with those who took them to sweep at +370. I will hope to make that money back today, taking Tampa Bay at -145.
I’ll give the White Sox the benefit of the doubt for just a minute. They will be turning to John Denks (12-9 3.32 ERA) to keep their season alive once again. They will be out of the dome, playing in weather that could drop to the low 50s. They have a number of big bats who could break out of their postseason slumps at any given moment. They are missing Carlos Quentin and Joe Crede a whole bunch right now. The team that led the Majors in home runs this year with 235, has only three extra base hits so far. If for no other reason, we should all be rooting for the sweep to see manager Ozzie Guillen’s postgame interview. It could get interesting. He’s loco.
Matt Garza (11-9 3.70 ERA) will be attempting to nail down the series for the Rays. Between he and Balfour, it will be fun to watch the game in HD and see how many F-bombs you can see lip-synched. Garza has not been great on the road this year, going 4-6 with an ERA of 4.53. He doesn’t need to be fantastic though. Tampa Bay’s bullpen is beginning to establish itself as a truly great one. Closer Troy Percival goes down with an injury, and Balfour, Chad Bradford, J.P. Howell and Dan Wheeler haven’t skipped a beat. They have given up one harmless run during an impressive 6.1 IP stretch.
They Rays were about a .500 club on the road this year, going 40-41. I don’t see them losing this game, but if by chance they should, they will be winning game 4. I’ll take that ticket too. They’ll be returning to Tampa soon. The White Sox won’t be.
In other news, congrats to anyone who took the Dodgers, and double congrats to anyone who took them to sweep at +1,200. Of course, I said the Cubs would sweep. I was just a little bit off on that one. I’m hoping to see the Phillies close out Milwaukee three games to one today to cash my +225 wager. Bread needs a new pair of flip flops.
