Take It To The Bosox Early And Often!

Cleveland needs a big win tonight and that will not come without an aggressive offense and a huge pitching performance from Jake Westbrook. Jake is 3-1 with a 4.23 ERA lifetime vs. Boston. In his last outing, a 5-1 loss to Chicago, Jake barely survived the first inning but then righted himself for the rest of the game. Jake is a sinkerball pitcher who who has built a successful career on inducing batters to hit ground ball outs. During that last outing, Jake had trouble with his release point, it was actually a little too low and the walks got him into trouble early. Then he adjusted and pitched well, only the damage was already done and the Indians could not overcome a 5 run deficit, especially scoring only one run.

Tonight they face an emotional hurdle as well. Coming off 6 chemo therapy treatments since being diagnosed with Lymphoma a year ago, Jon Lester will be starting for the Red Sox.

Here is hoping Jon Lester pitches well enough to stay in the Red Sox starting rotation but just not good enough to beat the Indians.
Once again, the Indians can control their own destiny by taking the first of four with Boston.