A look at the pitching matchups for the 2007 American League Championship Series:
Starting Rotation
Red Sox: RH Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27), RH Curt Schilling (9-8, 3.87), RH Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40), RH Tim Wakefield (17-12, 4.76)
Indians: LH C.C. Sabathia (19-7, 3.21), RH Fausto Carmona (19-7, 3.06), RH Jake Westbrook (6-9, 4.32), RH Paul Byrd (15-8, 4.59)
Edge: RED SOX. Both teams are great, but because Games 1 and 2 are at Fenway Park, give the edge to Boston. Sabathia and Beckett are the best two pitchers in the American League this year, which creates quite a matchup in Game 1. But Fenway is brutal historically to left-handers. And can Carmona do what he did to the Yankees on hostile ground with big-game Schilling as his counterpart? Boston also has an edge in Matsuzaka vs. Westbrook, and if it's Wakefield vs. Byrd in Game 4, you can clock pitches with an hourglass.
Bullpen
Red Sox: RH Jonathan Papelbon (1-3, 1.85, 37 saves), LH Hideki Okajima (3-2, 2.22), RH Eric Gagne (4-2, 3.81), RH Manny Delcarmen (0-0, 2.05), LH Jon Lester (4-0, 4.57), LH Javier Lopez (2-1, 3.01), RH Mike Timlin (2-1, 3.42)
Indians: RH Joe Borowski (4-5, 5.07, 45 saves), RH Rafael Betancourt (5-1, 1.47), LH Rafael Perez (1-2, 1.78), RH Tom Matsny (7-2, 4.68), RH Jensen Lewis (1-1, 2.15), LH Aaron Fultz (4-3, 2.92), LH Aaron Laffey (4-2, 4.56)
EDGE: Red Sox. Give the Indians an edge with setup guys Betancourt and Perez, who have been the best in the league this season. But Papelbon is no doubt better than Borowski, and the Red Sox have better depth in middle relief.
