How we see it goin' down: Indians - Sox series

First Pitch: Thursday 7:10, Friday 7:10, Saturday 7:10, Sunday 1:35

Arms: Thursday: Derek Lowe, RHP (4-1, 2.39 ERA) vs. Josh Beckett, RHP (2-3, 4.45 ERA)

Friday: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP (3-2, 4.04 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz, RHP (3-1, 9.09 ERA)

Saturday: Josh Tomlin, RHP (1-2, 4.67 ERA) vs. Felix Doubront, LHP (2-1, 5.29 ERA)

Sunday: Justin Masterson, RHP (1-2, 4.89 ERA) vs. Daniel Bard, RHP (2-4, 4.83 ERA)

                                      Yard: Fenway Park   Watch it:  NESN  Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 17-13 (1st AL Central)	Record: 12-18 (Last AL East)
On road: 9-3	At home: 4-10
Streak: Lost 1	Streak: Lost 2
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Cabrera (.337)	Average: Ortiz (.359)
Homers: Kipnis (5)	Homers: Ortiz (7)
RBI: Kipnis (20)	RBI: Ortiz (23)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Lowe (4)	Wins: Buchholz (3)
ERA: Lowe (2.39) | Pestano (2.08)	ERA: Lester (4.29) | Atchison (1.35)
K's: Masterson (29)	K's: Doubront (32)

Last time

The Red Sox and Indians split a 4-game series at Fenway in early August. The Sox won the middle 2 games on walk-off's, while losing games 1 and 4. Masterson continued his dominance of the Sox, by striking out 9 batters over 6 innings, improving to 3-0 against Boston.

This time

Laser Show: David Ortiz

Ortiiz had a great game 1 against the Royals, then slipped a bit, finishing the series 1-for-9. He is still swinging the best bat on the team and is hitting the ball hard, just in the wrong locations. It is not the beginning of a slump, just a little speed bump.

Pitch Around: Asdrubal Cabrera

Asdrubal Cabrera always seems to do well against the Red Sox. That is the case at Fenway Park. Cabrera has a career .333 batting average at Fenway to go along with his .337 average this season. The power numbers are not where I thought they would be at this point, but he is making up for it with the average.

Don't Fall Behind: Justin Masterson

The Red Sox killer. Masterson has never lost to the Sox, going 3-0, with a 1.95 ERA, and 21 K's, over 27 2/3 innings. I would like the Sox to put an end to that, but the odds are in Masterson's favor.

How we see it goin' down

Cleveland is playing good ball, and will probably hold a lead for a majority of the series. It is tough to get a 4-game sweep. I don't see the Sox sliding much more than they have and they will put up a good fight against the Indians. Boston has done nothing to warrant a prediction of a series split against the Tribe, but this will be the beginning of the transition.