I don’t really want to talk about Beckett’s “one bad inning.” Didn’t we see enough of that act last season? Something just as concerning was what Mariano Rivera did in his one great inning: three batters, three strikeouts, 12 pitches.
Rivera’s career stats are mind-boggling. In his 14 seasons as the Yankee’s full time closer, his ERA was under two in ten of those seasons and he’s averaged just under 40 saves per year. To opposing hitters, he is a frightening model of consistency. And in the post-season, he cranks it up a notch: 0.71 ERA in 94 games.
It’s not all bad news for the Sox, Ortiz is a career .333 hitter against Mo, and Crawford tops that with a .350 batting average. And who can forget what the Sox did with Rivera on the mound in games four and five of the 2004 ALCS…
