Postseason Notebook--October 13, 2008

Normally masterful during the postseason, Joe Torre made a series of highly questionable bullpen moves in Game Four of the National League Championship Series, as the Dodgers absorbed their third loss in four games. The second-guessing--or was it first-guessing?--began when Torre took Derek Lowe out after five innings, despite the fact that the veteran sinkerballer had a low pitch count in the 70s and seemed to have settled in to a groove. Instead, Torre turned to rookie left-hander Clayton Kershaw, trusting the 20-year-old in a critical one-run playoff game.

Two innings later, Torre delivered the real head-scratching moment of the game. In the top of the eighth inning, he removed Hong-Chi Kuo, who had breezed through the seventh inning, replacing him with Cory Wade. After watching Wade allow a game-tying home run to Shane Victorino, Torre then summoned closer Jonathan Broxton, who proceeded to give up a game-deciding two-run shot to supersub Matt Stairs. By the end of this quagmire of befuddling bullpen moves, the Dodgers had to crawl home as 7-5 losers, putting them on the precipice of postseason elimination...

While the Phillies have taken control of the NLCS, the resurgent Rays are threatening to do the same in the American League. It's amazing how quickly momentum can shift in these short postseason series. Let's remember that the Red Sox, fresh off a 2-0 win in Game One, had taken an early lead in Game Two, scoring two first-inning runs against a laboring Scott Kazmir. Since that moment, the Rays have dominated the scoreboard, scoring 18 runs against one of the game's premier pitching staffs. Their young hitters, led by B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria, have shown little fear in taking in their first doses of postseason play.

The Red Sox' offense simply hasn't been able to keep pace with the Rays. As good as the Red Sox are, they do not have the offensive firepower of their 2004 and 2007 editions. We all know that Manny Ramirez is gone, but it's the back end of the lineup that really suffers, in part because of the absence of Mike Lowell. Their bottom three of Mark Kotsay, Jed Lowrie (or Alex Cora) and Jason Varitek brings little thump to the table.  Kotsay is playing for the purposes of speed and defense, Varitek is virtually shot as a hitter, and Lowrie, while a good complementary player, doesn't hit with much more than occasional power. With their offense running at something less than full efficiency, it becomes even more imperative for the Red Sox' vaunted pitching staff to regroup and keep them close at the outset of Games Four and Five.