Boston Red Sox gaining momentum, while Indians peaked too soon

The Cleveland Indians have been a thorn in the side of our Boston Red Sox, but I truly believe that they peaked too soon. The Sox will have a chance in the AL postseason.

The Cleveland Indians went on a historic winning streak recently, but somehow no one really cared. They couldn’t even fill their own stadium. Could you imagine that happening for the Boston Red Sox? I can’t.

Now atop the American League, the Indians are the favorites to reach the 2017 World Series, but I’m here to tell you that they’ll fail to do so. That’s because the Red Sox will be the team playing deep into October.

The comeback, extra innings kings will reign supreme in October as they take care of business. They just keep finding ways to win.

Boston is sure to reach 90 wins on the season, needing to win just four of their next 12 games to reach that mark. Really, they could end up as a 95-win team in 2017. That still likely has them as the No. 3 seed in the AL for the postseason, which I think is a blessing in disguise. I’d hate to have to face Cleveland in the ALDS, and as the No. 3 seed we wouldn’t have to. In that scenario, the Red Sox would take on the Houston Astros while the Indians play the winner of the Wild Card game (probably the New York Yankees). Houston is a great team, but I don’t think they’re truly ready to succeed in the postseason just yet. Boston should be able to squeeze by in 4 games, even though that means these teams will have played 8 in a row against one another. You see, Houston and Boston have a four-game series to end the regular season, and then a best-of-five series in the ALDS. That sounds like a win for Boston to me.

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After that, the ALCS would be set up with a rematch between the Red Sox and Indians. I’m not going to go crazy and say Boston can sweep this series, but they should be able to win in 6 or 7 games.

The reason? Cleveland peaked too early and Boston is surging down the stretch. There is no way that the Indians will continue to play at the level they have over the last 25 or so games in the postseason.

The competition gets tougher, and the pitchers you face get even more menacing. Yes, the Indians have a stellar pitching staff of their own, but this time it won’t be enough to get them to the World Series. Chris Sale has not been as dominant as he was to open the season, but in the postseason I expect him to turn it on. Boston’s best pitcher has actually been Drew Pomeranz, and he will truly make a name for himself in Boston if he can help push the Sox into the Fall Classic. Having David Price come in from the bullpen could prove pivotal as well.

Next: Drew Pomeranz has sneakily been the Red Sox best pitcher

Right now, yes the Cleveland Indians look like the better team, but are we even 100% positive they’d get past the Yankees? That could prove to be a tougher challenge than most would think. After a grind in the ALDS, I believe the Red Sox would have more left in the tank and would have the players to take down the Indians in the ALCS, punching their ticket to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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