It's the Pitching, Stupid

And so we live for another day. The Dead Sox are alive. So what is the difference between the listless team that sleepwalked through two dreadful losses in Games 3 and 4 and the vibrant ball club that bounced back with season saving 7-1 win last night? No surprise. The pitching of Josh Beckett

This is no great revelation by the way, but baseball now and forever has been controlled by the pitching. Think of the great baseball cliches:

- Good pitching beats good hitting.
- Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher
- Good pitching makes good coaching (I think I made that one up, but it's my favorite)

Any doubts that pitching is the key to winning baseball were erased in the events surrounding the ALCS this past week. With Josh Beckett on the mound, the Sox looked unbeatable, which they have been. Two starts. Two wins.

With the Three Cabelleros (Schill, DiceK and Wake) the Sox have looked like a lackluster group of futile banjo hitters. Three starts. Three losses.

The fact is the lineup is what it is, as Kevin in New York rightfully points out. It has its strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes it will click, and at other maddening times it will get shut down by distinctly average pitchers like Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd. Yes we (me?) can scream about "shaking things up" to get something going (and who can argue that Coco needs to be put out of his misery soon), but the reality is that like most teams, and this Red Sox team especially, will go only as far as their pitching will take them.

Let's go to the numbers.

Josh Beckett in his two starts has pitched 14 innings, given up 9 hits, 1 (ONE!!!) walk and 3 runs for a sparkling ERA of 1.93. Schilling, Matsusaka and Wakefield in their three starts have combined for the exact same 14 innings, but they have allowed 20 hits, 4 walks and 14 runs for a dismal ERA of 8.99. Is it any wonder we are losing the series 3-2?

So that brings us to Saturday night? What can we expect? Is the season going to end or are we going to a Game 7?

Well, as can see by the above, that will depend on Mr. Schilling. With three outs to go in the win on Thursday night, Schilling posted on Sons of Sam Horn game thread. His message?: "It's on bitches."

Here's hoping he can back that up. The Big Schill has proven to be one of the best pitchers on the biggest stages. The stage could not be any bigger that it will be on Saturday night at Fenway. After a clunker in game two, number 38 HAS to come up big in another season saving game. If he can baffle the young Indians with his new style, the Sox will live to fight another day, regardless of the futility of the bottom of the order. If not, the season will end on the Fenway lawn sometime after midnight on Saturday.

It's that simple. Let's hope Curt has another big game in that right arm. We need it now.