NEW YORK (AP) - Derek Lowe will get the nod over knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to start Game 7 of the AL championship series for the Boston Red Sox.
Kevin Brown is expected to go for the Newe York Yankees, with Javier Vazquez also a possibility.
A former 21-game winner with a no-hitter to his credit, Lowe was Boston's third starter before struggling in the regular season and getting bounced from the playoff rotation. When the injury to Curt Schilling rippled through the pitching staff, Lowe was given the Game 4 start and, with Boston facing elimination, held the Yankees to three runs on six hits in 5 1-3 innings to start the Red Sox on a three-game winning streak that forced the decisive seventh game.
Having appeared in only two games for 6 1-3 innings during the two playoff series, he is one of the best rested pitchers on the staff.
Wakefield was the No. 4 starter for the division series against Anaheim but didn't pitch because Boston won in three games. He was also scheduled to start the fourth game of the ALCS, but he was needed in Game 3 when the New York Yankees scored 19 runs and then threw the final three innings of Game 5, getting the win in Boston's 14-inning, 5-4 victory on Monday night.
Before Game 6, manager Terry Francona said he was still planning to give Wakefield his first start of the playoffs, but Wakefield said afterwards that Lowe would start.
Wakefield and Bronson Arroyo, who pitched an inning of relief on Tuesday night, would be available to help a bullpen taxed by consecutive games totaling 26 innings Sunday and Monday.
"They're beat. The whole group," Francona said before the game. "And they all keep wanting the ball."
Yankees manager Joe Torre wouldn't address a potential starter before Tuesday's game, preferring to believe that the series would end in six games.
"We're not talking about Game 7," Torre said.
He did not commit after the game, either.
Fox Sports
Kevin Brown is expected to go for the Newe York Yankees, with Javier Vazquez also a possibility.
A former 21-game winner with a no-hitter to his credit, Lowe was Boston's third starter before struggling in the regular season and getting bounced from the playoff rotation. When the injury to Curt Schilling rippled through the pitching staff, Lowe was given the Game 4 start and, with Boston facing elimination, held the Yankees to three runs on six hits in 5 1-3 innings to start the Red Sox on a three-game winning streak that forced the decisive seventh game.
Having appeared in only two games for 6 1-3 innings during the two playoff series, he is one of the best rested pitchers on the staff.
Wakefield was the No. 4 starter for the division series against Anaheim but didn't pitch because Boston won in three games. He was also scheduled to start the fourth game of the ALCS, but he was needed in Game 3 when the New York Yankees scored 19 runs and then threw the final three innings of Game 5, getting the win in Boston's 14-inning, 5-4 victory on Monday night.
Before Game 6, manager Terry Francona said he was still planning to give Wakefield his first start of the playoffs, but Wakefield said afterwards that Lowe would start.
Wakefield and Bronson Arroyo, who pitched an inning of relief on Tuesday night, would be available to help a bullpen taxed by consecutive games totaling 26 innings Sunday and Monday.
"They're beat. The whole group," Francona said before the game. "And they all keep wanting the ball."
Yankees manager Joe Torre wouldn't address a potential starter before Tuesday's game, preferring to believe that the series would end in six games.
"We're not talking about Game 7," Torre said.
He did not commit after the game, either.
Fox Sports
