MLB Playoffs: Tale of the Tape Between Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies

The 2011 MLB Playoffs are inching closer and closer, and that age-old question is beginning to rear its head again: "Which two teams have the best chance to make it to the World Series?"

At this point in the season, the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies are looking like the two most complete teams heading into the postseason and both heavy favorites to make it to the Fall Classic.

Let's take a look at how these two high profiled ball clubs match up against one another. 

Ace Pitcher

Against most teams, Jon Lester is a pretty good No. 1 pitcher to put on the mound. Against Roy Halladay, he better have nothing short of his "A" game.

Doc Halladay has been his typical self this season: downright filthy. Currently, the Phillies' ace holds a 2.53 ERA and has 15 wins to his name.

That's not to sell Lester short by any means, however; the Washington native has a respectable 3.22 ERA and 12 victories under his belt.

These two would certainly put on a pitching clinic in the first game, but if the Red Sox high powered offense can squeak by just a few runs against their former division rival Halladay, the Sox might just pull out a hard-fought victory.

Though Boston has the more deadly offense to deal with, this matchup edge has to go to the Phillies' ace.

No. 2 Pitcher

Continuing the pitching duel after Game 1, Cliff Lee and Josh Beckett will both look to deliver their team a win in what is sure to be another low-scoring bout.

Nobody can doubt that on any given day, Lee may go out and strikeout 10 batters and keep his opposition to five or fewer hits, but he's looked a bit more vulnerable this season than in recent years.

In his first full season with Philadelphia since rejoining the organization, Lee struggled through the first two months of the season. In 12 games started through April and May, Lee gave up three or more earned runs in eight outings.

The longtime Cleveland Indian has gotten back on track after a bad July, but this unusual inconsistency from Lee is slightly worrisome.

Beckett has had himself a year most expected from Lee, posting a 2.40 ERA and 12 wins. June was the only blemish on an otherwise impressive season for Beckett, especially after his disastrous 2010 campaign.

Call me crazy, but I'm giving the edge to the Red Sox due to their explosive offense and Lee's up-and-down season.

No. 3 Pitcher

Now this matchup is a little more obvious as to which team has the edge. Pending health, Cole Hamels would take the mound for Philly while John Lackey would be called upon for the Red Sox.

Hamels has been lights out this season, posting an impressive 2.62 ERA and 13 wins. Philadelphia's No. 3 man also has 155 strikeouts recorded on the year.

Lackey finds himself on the opposite end of the ERA spectrum, posting a miserable 6.02 ERA in route to a puzzling 11 wins on the year. The former Los Angeles Angel of Anaheim has had himself another disappointing year in Boston, with just three shutouts through his 21 games started.

Philadelphia holds a clear edge over its American League opponent in this category.

No. 4 Pitcher

Pending that Clay Buchholz is unable to return during the postseason, the Sox would have to turn to ol' reliable Tim Wakefield as their No. 4 starter, while the Phils would send none other than Roy Oswalt.

While neither of these pitchers can claim to be in their prime anymore, it would seem that the back end of the "Philly Four" would have the best chance to deliver a win for his team out of the two.

While Oswalt has battled back injuries through the 2011 season, Wakefield has outright struggled since entering back into the starting rotation, giving up four or more earned runs in six of his 11 starts.

That's not to say Oswalt has had an overly impressive season, but at some point you'd think the former Houston Astro would come back into his usual form whereas we all know what Wakefield is.

No. 5 Pitcher

Postseason play is exactly why the Red Sox went out and traded for Erik Bedard. The former Seattle Mariner has been riddled with injuries in recent years. This has been Bedard's first time since 2007 with more than 15 starts in a season, and aside from a two-week DL stint and it's been an impressive one.

Many wondered if leaving the pitcher-friendly Safeco Field would hurt Bedard's turnaround season, but the Canadian hurler has done just fine on the bump in Fenway. While he's only had three starts since coming to Boston, he's allowed just five earned runs combined and struck out 17 through that stretch.

His fifth starter counterpart Vance Worley knows a thing or two about making hitters swing and miss. The young pitcher has posted 72 strikeouts this season despite not becoming apart of the starting rotation until June.

Worley is an impressive 8-1 on the year through 14 games while Bedard is 4-8 through 19 starts but the Mariners offense is a bit to blame for his less than stellar record.

Both are question marks, as Worley could crack under big game pressure while Bedard's recent streak could end at any time.

It's a tough choice, but Bedard squeaks by Worley simply because of the fact Boston is putting out a veteran pitcher while Worley has been suspect as of late.

Bullpen

It's Jonathen Papelbon and Daniel Bard against newcomers Ryan Madson and Antonio Bastardo with Brad Lidge playing the role of wild card.

When it comes to the closers, both have blown just one save all season, with Madson posting a very Philly-like 2.19 ERA in the process. Papelbon is no slouch in this category either, sporting a nice 3.02 earned run average.

Philadelphia's eighth-inning man isn't to be forgotten either. When Madson went on the disabled list, Bastardo came in and held down the fort at closer, recording five saves in as many opportunities.

Bard hasn't been called upon in the ninth much for Boston, but he's had an impressive year nonetheless, posting two months straight without giving up an earned run in June and July.

Then there's Brad Lidge, the former Phillies closer. Spending much of the year on the DL, Lidge has been impressive in his 6.2 innings of work, with just one earned run allowed during that time span.

The bullpens are nearly identical when it comes to the last two innings, but with Lidge looking to be back to his old self, the Phillies edge this one out.

Offense

There are currently three Boston Red Sox batters who you could make the case for American League MVP. Three. Those players being Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia, if you ask Terry Francona.

While all of Boston was expecting Gonzalez to be in this discussion, Ellsbury has been doing his best Carl Crawford impression this season with 22 homers, 78 RBI and 32 stolen bases. 

Philadelphia has its own impressive batting squad with Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and the newly acquired Hunter Pence, but it's hard to look each lineup up and down and not pick the Sox.

The three MVP candidates along with David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and Crawford are hard to slow down, let alone stop. The Phillies have the best chance to shut down this lineup with their pitching rotation but Boston has one of the top three most explosive offenses in the MLB right now.

Defense

Similarly to the way the Red Sox have a favorable edge in offense, one could argue the Phillies have just as much a favorable edge in defense.

Philly has just 53 errors in 2011, which is the lowest in the majors. When you don't commit errors you put yourself in the best opportunity to win the ball game. The Phillies have also turned more double plays than Boston this year, recording 258 to their opponent's 229.

With an impressive defense like Philadelphia's and an offense like Boston's it will be interesting to see who gets the best of whom.

Intangibles

Both teams have fantastic managers in Charlie Manuel and Terry Francona, both teams are extremely well run organizations and both have a great shot at hoisting the World Series trophy at the end of the upcoming postseason.

But it's difficult to forget that 2004 ALCS where Boston did the impossible and became the first baseball team to comeback from a 3-0 deficit. Now, these Red Sox are a whole different kind of team than the '04 squad, but it just seems that Francona knows how to orchestrate a comeback better than anyone in the MLB today.

For that reason, the intangibles edge goes to Beantown courtesy of Tito.

Who Has the Edge?

There's no doubt that these two squads would put on a great World Series that would likely go seven games.

These teams are evenly matched in many aspects of the game, which is probably why Fox Sports has them ranked one and two overall in their current MLB power rankings.

It's hard to go against the Red Sox considering they're offensive output this season along with their two top hurlers in the beginning of the rotation, but I've always felt pitching can take you farther than batting can.

The "Philly 4" are made up of some of the best pitchers in the game today, and when a team has to face four of arguably the top 15 pitchers in baseball consecutively it's tough to get a win regardless of the offensive players.

Without such a dominating four pitchers this series could easily go Boston's way, but with Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt all on the opposing side, the edge between these two teams has to go to Philadelphia.