Before the champagne stopped spraying in the Red Sox clubhouse Monday night, Terry Francona knew his pitching rotation for the next series. Francona, by now, is an old hand at setting up his staff, and he has come to believe the simplest answer is usually the best.
Guided by simplicity and granting equitable rest to his starters, Francona never changed his mind from then until shortly before noon yesterday, when he announced the Sox' rotation for the American League Championship Series.
Daisuke Matsuzaka will start Game 1 tomorrow night against the Tampa Bay Rays, followed by Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Tim Wakefield in Games 2, 3, and 4. The first three starters will pitch in the same order for Games 5, 6, and 7, if necessary.
Since the Red Sox' top three starters are each scheduled to pitch twice over seven games, Francona believes the order in which they pitch matters little. His mission then became allocating each pitcher the right amount of rest.
Matsuzaka last pitched Friday in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Angels, giving him six days of rest. Beckett last pitched Sunday, giving him five days of rest to recover from his first start in 13 days, a layoff caused by a right oblique strain. Lester pitched Monday and will also receive one more day of rest than usual.
"That's the way we're set up to go," Francona said. "The reasoning is actually pretty simple. You could get into a lot of details, but there really didn't need to be. The way it lined up was appropriate. Again, for us, those three will pitch twice if it goes to seven. In the end, as long as they're pitching, the order isn't as important. So then you go, 'OK, what's best for them?'
"It gives people rest - not too much rest, not too little. This is probably the best way. We didn't want one going on eight [days' rest], one guy going on regular. Keep everybody somewhat in line. Rest at this time of year is huge. We'll take advantage of it while trying not to give too much."
Francona did not stress going with his best pitchers early in the series, his logic simple: If you need a great pitcher to win, say, Game 6, you're doomed, anyway - better to provide proper rest. He felt no need to throw Lester - the dominant force of the ALDS who pitched 14 innings without surrendering an earned run - on four days of rest in Game 2 and ensure he would pitch twice in the first six games.
"It's best-of-seven. It's not best-of-six," Francona said. "The idea is to win the series, not win Game 6. I never quite understood that philosophy. Our idea, the way we set it up, is to win the series. If it's such a big deal to pitch [Lester] in Game 6, what happens [in] Game 7? We'll give the guys the rest they need and set it up for the entire series. And then if you're losing, don't panic."
