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Sabathia, Beckett set to battle in opener of ALCS

Oct 12, 2007 - 1:53 PM Cleveland at Boston 7:10 pm EDT American League Championship Series Game One

BOSTON (Ticker) -- C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett will get the chance to show why they should be named the American League Cy Young Award winner.

The Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox continue their journey to the World Series in the opener of Friday's AL Championship Series at Fenway Park.

Sabathia gets the call for Cleveland, which made its way here by defeating the New York Yankees, 3-1, in the AL Divisional Series.

In his 2007 postseason debut, the hard-throwing lefthander gave up three runs and four hits with five strikeouts and six walks in five innings in winning Game One at Jacobs Field on October 4.

"It was the first game against the Yankees, first game of the playoffs, first playoff game in six years, so I was excited," Sabathia said. "It was just one of those deals."

The 27-year-old Sabathia is coming off an impressive campaign, finishing with career highs in victories (19), strikeouts (209) and ERA (3.21) in 34 starts.

"I think when you look back to the middle of 2005 is when (Sabathia) really transitioned into the pitcher that you see," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "But obviously he's continued to improve in the last couple of years right on top of that. But he made some adjustments to his game mentally, physically, fundamentally, emotionally, the whole nine yards.

"I mean, this is a guy that is a true No. 1, he's a leader of our pitching staff. You look at the consistency to which he handles himself and the toughness that he shows, obviously along with his ability, you've got an outstanding young man on the mound there."

On July 24, Sabathia fanned seven batters through seven frames, but came up on the short end of the stick of a 1-0 setback to Boston. He is just 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA all-time in the series.

Beckett counters for the Red Sox, who returns to the ALCS since 2004 after sweeping the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the opening series.

The righthander was dominating in his postseason start against the Angels in Game One, striking out eight en route to a four-hit shutout on October 3.

"I've done the same thing I've done all year," Beckett said. "You know, I was preparing for Monday, if we needed it, and fortunately we didn't end up needing a Game Four in that series. But just I've done the same thing that I've been doing."

A 20-game winner, the 27-year-old went 1-1 with a lowly 1.80 ERA in two starts vs. Cleveland, which defeated Beckett on July 25 despite his four-hitter.

"I mean, they've got a lot of guys there swinging the bats a little bit differently than they were then," Beckett said. "They've got a couple new guys, so you've just got to go at it as a new game."

With pitching taking most of the headlines in Game One, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez hopes to outduel Boston's 1-2 punch of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

Ortiz and Ramirez combined for four homers and seven RBI in the opening series.

"I think when they're both healthy, it certainly means a lot, not only to them but even to the guys in front of them and behind them," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Obviously the better more guys are swinging, the more dangerous your lineup becomes, and I'm not just saying that."