I was asked today what I think the Sox needed to do to win this series and thought it would garner some discussion here.

I think there are two keys to this series if you're going to beat a team like the Angels:

1) They have a lot of hitters that are mistake hitters, meaning they wait for pitches out over the plate to drive. This isn't the same Angels team that concentrates solely on small ball anymore, although they're not afraid to lay down a bunt when necessary. They were second in the AL in runs and sixth in walks. A big part of the Angels success has come from the breakout season by Kendry Morales, who hit 34 home runs this year. A lot of advanced scouts believe his bat is too slow to hit high velocity pitching, and IIRC, the Sox were either first or second in team velocity in the ML. Not only does Morales struggle with this, but the Angels offense as a team does and that's why I believe we have the advantage pitching wise in the series because not only do you have Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz throwing in the mid-90's, but you have Wagner, Bard, Papelbon, etc., who throw mid-late-90's out of the bullpen. So, IMO, the #1 key to the series is fastball command. A big part of the reason why the Sox have walked all over the Angels in the past has been fastball command, and in turn, it has kept the Angels hitters from hitting for any power. In the 2008 ALDS, the Angels hitters were held to just 5 XBH's in 154 AB's despite having 61 base runners in four games. Pitchers will have to continue to hold them to singles and they absolutely must keep base runners honest at first base. If they can do both of those things (command the fastball and hold runners on first), they'll be very tough to beat. But, fastball command hasn't necessarily been a strong point for both the Sox starters and relievers this year, so we'll see how that plays out.

2) Similarly to #1, I feel the Sox offense matches up very well in their advantage because they're a fastball-hitting line-up. Lackey hasn't had the command he's had in the past since coming off significant time on the DL due to an elbow strain. Our top half of the line-up can pound inside fastballs, and Lackey's approach since coming off the DL has been the traditional, and predictable, fastball in, off-speed away. He isn't striking out the number of guys he used to, so if the Sox can continue to lay off borderline pitches and pound mistake pitches, it'll be tough for the Angels starters to go deep in the game. Jared Weaver is what he is: a junkballer. He'll make you put the ball in play and is an extreme fly-ball pitcher that will be starting in a spacious Anaheim outfield. He'll succeed with that mentality against weak line-ups, but it's not exactly one for the postseason. In game three, Kazmir is going to have to pitch a gem at Fenway if the Angels are going anywhere. He's almost turned into a one pitch pitcher with the way he relies solely on getting ahead with his fastball and primarily only using his slider when ahead in the count because of the stress he puts on his shoulder. In short, the Sox shouldn't be short of runs if they continue to be patient and capitalize on mistake pitches and tap into that weak Angels bullpen.

Ditto Gibson.