Get your shillings on Schilling for the Sox to extend lead

MLB / Mike Robb / 25 October 2007 / Leave a Comment

A blistering Beckett performance in game one gave the Bostonians the perfect start. Now they can extend that lead, reckons Betfair's Mike Robb

In my first preview I stated that Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett would be the key man last night at Fenway and he did not disappoint, starting as he meant to go on by striking out the first four batters in a row and going on to tie the record by starting four wins in a single postseason.

The 13-1 win was the most emphatic opening night victory in World Series history - the Sox really could not have asked for a better start.

But that was last night, so what of game two? If 'Big Game Beckett' is experienced, then Curt Schilling, Sox starter tonight, is his Grand Master. Widely regarded as one of the best post-season pitchers in baseball history, Schilling knows what it takes to perform on the big stage and starts a post-season game tonight for the 19th time in his career, having won the World Series on two previous occasions.

At 41-years of age, however, Schilling is no spring chicken and whether or not he has it in him to perform as he did when the Red Sox last won the title in 2004 remains to be seen. In contrast, Rockies starter Ubaldo Jiminez - who made his MLB debut last year, 18 years after Schilling first took to the mound - goes into the game as a rookie making just his third career postseason start.

So what does all this mean? Will you side with the experienced veteran or the untested rookie? Schilling is coming to the end of his career, and there can be no doubt that he will be feeling the pressure of age. It can be argued that Jiminez, on the other hand, goes into the game with nothing to lose and the chance to write his own story to make himself a hero.

This, for me, is an extremely tough one to call. I think we are likely to see a very different game to last night, and am tempted to back under 10.5 runs at around the 1.8 mark. However, for want of not making a negative bet that will ruin my watching of the game, I will be backing the Sox outright at 1.5. Don't bet your bottom dollar, but I fully expect the experience of Schilling to compound the Rockies' woes by making it two-out-of-two before we switch to Denver for games three, four and five from Saturday.