Felger & Mazz on: The AL Pennant Race
With the AL pennant race heating up and the Red Sox remaining in contention, Felger and guest host Adam Jones discussed what could happen and what they think needs to happen in order for the Red Sox to make the playoffs.
Felger: "This Red Sox thing is- if it's not interesting right now, right on the verge of it, right on the verge of being pretty damn interesting..You really get to sink your teeth into scoreboard-watching and watching other games and it's just that...They're underdogs! They're underdogs, there's something about that to me that makes it more compelling. That's not what you want it to be every year, I like it when they're the favorite and winning championships, don't get me wrong. But there is something really thrilling about being an underdog and coming from behind and that whole storyline, and the Red Sox may be on the verge of having one of those kinda falls. So we'll see- they're winning again today, looks like they're on their way to a sweep- see what Tampa does tonight, what New York does tonight. I still say Tampa wins the division and the Red Sox are second, that's the one I said before the season started. So if the Red Sox catch anyone I still have a feeling its New York."
Jones: "The whole thing is getting the pitching rolling and getting consistent good start after good start after good start. That's how you string together these wins, they're going for their fourth win in a row today, they're going for the sweep in Toronto...So far it's been a great road trip, outside of the Josh Beckett game. Other than that it's been a pretty successful road trip for this team so far. I don't think it's a surprise when you get a good start from Lester, good start from Buchholz- Dice-K in between didn't pitch very well- but it looks like you're getting another good one from John Lackey today. That's how this team can make up for all their offensive deficiencies, and they need- and we talked it about this week- Lackey and Beckett. Those are the two guys who have dragged you down, every time you get a couple of wins, Lester, Buchholz, you follow it up with a loss or inconsistent start. If you can roll together quality start after quality start after quality start- and that's the way this team was built in the off-season- you roll those together, that's when you start getting winning streaks and that's how you start closing gaps in a small period of time. It starts with the pitching for this team."
