But seriously, a few thoughts...
Lowe on two days rest? What about Wakefield? He can be brutal, but is untouchable on his best day. I guess they don\'t want to start Mirabelli over Varitek to accomdate such, or don\'t want three passed balls an inning with Varitek in there. Still, Wakefield was great in Game 5 and has a rubber arm so rest is not a huge factor.
I originally thought Arroyo would be the starter, but the relief outings reduce him to a few innings tonight at best. They\'ll probably pitch all three at some point so it might not matter, but Lowe wasn\'t even going to start at all until Game 3 got rained out and now he\'s starting the pivotal game on half rest. It doesn\'t make sense. But then again, neither do many of Francona\'s moves and most work out.
I would not start Lowe under any circumstance tonight with his lifetime ERA versus the Yanks and his lack of rest. He\'ll probably try to go 5, then to Wakefield and/or Arroyo for a few, then the Embree/Timlin combo (which is finally rested), then Foulke (who is anything but rested). Lowe is a good pitcher to bring in when leading or trailing by a run or two and the pressure slightly lessened. But to start him off potentially at 0-0 with it all on the line: I don\'t agree. Out of the three pitchers in question, Arroyo has the best stuff and that\'s who I would go with even if he could only go a few. And if he couldn\'t go at all, I\'d start Wakefield and Mirabelli.
Also for the record, I think Kevin Brown is the right choice for the Yanks. He\'s hurt and he\'s emotional, but he\'s won a World Series and has pitched big games. Vazquez and El Duque waiting in the wings.
Also for the record, I think Tony Clark was the right choice. The only other option was Lofton and he likely wasn\'t going to win the game on one swing, which Clark could have (or he could have walked if he avoided Foulke\'s only successful pitch: the outside fastball).
Also for the record, I think Houston manager Phil Garner is making the right move by throwing Pete Munro and not Clemens on short rest. I\'m never a fan of throwing on short rest when leading in the series. This way, they either have Clemens-Oswalt for Games 1 and 2 of the World Series if they win today or have Clemens-Oswalt available for Game 7 if they lose.
Anyway, so what this all means is seven shutout innings from Lowe tonight, Brown gets bombed, Kenny Lofton hits for the cycle, and Munro tears his rotator cuff during pregame warmups. I got this shit down to a science and I be blinding y\'all with such.
The Payoff Pitch
Yanks 7, Red Sox 6
