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Baseball Today: Friday, October 12 »

Different Indians?

When last Boston saw Cleveland, the Red Sox were rolling through the Indians, winning three of four games at Jacobs Field in late July. The only blemish for Boston during the series was a 1-0 loss.

Now it is almost two months since they last met. Boston finished the regular season with an overall 5-2 advantage over the Indians, but as Red Sox manager Terry Francona said a short time ago, those four games in July don't mean a whole lot as the teams square off in the ALCS, with Game 1 on tap for tomorrow night at Fenway Park.

"I don't know if there are advantages or disadvantages (to be taken from the July series)," said Francona. "It's probably going to depend on how we play and how they play (in the ALCS, and not what happened in July).

"We catch teams at periods during the year. I remember running through Detroit (in early July, the last series before the All-Star break) at a period and I remember thinking, 'Wow, that might be the best team in baseball.' But then their bullpen got beat up a little bit," said Francona of the Tigers, who failed to make the postseason.

"And then going through Cleveland (in July),even though we won, I remember thinking 'Wow, they've got a good team.' I think health has something to do with that. They're healthy (now). Some of the younger players have some games under their belt. They've gone through some big series. I know they feel good about themselves," said Francona.

So, he cautioned, Sox fans shouldn't get too caught up in what happened during the regular season. Only "now" counts.

"I don't think it really matters how we played back in April or June, or how they played," said Francona. "I think what's important is you try to get your team healthy and feeling good about themselves, and I think both teams are probably there right now."

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 2:56 PM | Permalink