Listen to the Boston Red Sox vs. Detroit Tigers as they face off in the 2013 A.L. Championship Series at 8 p.m. ET, Sunday. The radio stream will be brought to you by ESPN Radio and it is free online. Catch some baseball the old fashion way and finish up your homeworks as you stress through this great meeting between two of baseball's best.
The focus was offense heading into the matchup. Both teams can pile on runs and light up the scoreboard, but pitching became the focus in Game 1 as the Tigers took the 1-0 lead in the game and series. The Red Sox could not get anything across after scoring 26 runs in the A.L. Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Okay, so that was yesterday, sparing Red Sox fans some of the pain, tonight's matchup should be a lot like Game 1; a pitchers' duel.
On the mound for the Red Sox, the unhittable arm of Clay Buchholz takes the ball as he attempts to cage the charging Tigers. He was not exactly lights out in his first start as his regular season and ERA could not be any more different. The Rays got three runs off Buchholz in Game 3, on a home run by Evan Longoria. Buchholz pitched six innings in that game, allowing three runs on the bomb, and recording five strikeouts.
Buchholz missed a good portion of the 2013 regular season, missing the Tigers in both series this year.
The Red Sox did not have quite the fortune of missing Max Scherzer, the Tigers starter tonight. Scherzer saw the Red Sox twice this season, pitching 14 innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out 14 in two starts. Scherzer was 1-1 during the Red Sox in 2013. He has been dominant in both starts, allowing two earned runs in each game.
The Red Sox have the right guy on the mound in Buchholz. He has electric stuff that can keep the Tigers' hitters off balanace. He will have to get Jhonny Peralta out, since the Dominican shortstop is currently the toughest out in the Tigers' lineup. The Red Sox will have to wake up after striking out 17 times and looking more like the Atlanta Braves. They have a tough matchup ahead of them as Scherzer will surely stack up on some K's tonight.
Click here to follow the radio stream of the Red Sox and Tigers in Game 2 of the ALCS.