Long before the carpet in the clubhouse dried after its dousing of beer and champagne, the Red Sox touched down in Chicago on Sunday night.
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The Red Sox will work out Monday when they get their first look at U.S. Cellular Field since July. Then Tuesday they will head back to the ballpark for the opening game of the American League Division Series.
Awaiting them will be Jose Contreras, the right-hander who might be the key to the series. That’s because the rest of the White Sox’s starters don’t exactly intimidate Boston.
Contreras is the only likely White Sox postseason starter with a winning record against Boston in 2005 at 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA. Game 2 starter Mark Buehrle is 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA, Jon Garland is 1-1 and 5.25 and Freddy Garcia hasn’t faced Boston.
Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said Contreras has “a devastating split. You’ve got to make him throw strikes and try to hit our pitches rather than hit his pitches. We’re going to be as good as our pitching is, regardless of how good their pitching is. That’s the important part. We’ve got to focus on us.”
It remains to be seen whether the Sox’s rotation can tame the big Boston bats of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.
“They’ve got good pitching, and they play good defense,” Red Sox infielder Alex Cora said. “Obviously, it’s going to come down to that. But we’ve got Manny going now. It’s pick your poison: David or Manny.”
Cora’s brother, Joey, is the White Sox’s third-base coach, so perhaps he could be in line for some inside information?
“No chance,” he said. “I have no chance.”