Dan Lamothe over at Red Sox Monster ran a roundtable on tonight's Boston-Cleveland matchup, and invited some of the finest blogging minds to participate- and somehow I snuck in to the mix. Ian from Sox & Dawgs, Mike from Red Sox Stats Guy, Cam from Sox Nest and Allan from Joy of Sox all joined in to give their thoughts on the series- along with yours truly.

You can see the full slate of opinions here- but these were my thoughts:

1. One of the big things we all have been hearing this week is that the Indians have an advantage because of Fausto Carmona and C.C. Sabathia. Last time I checked, though, the Red Sox beat Sabathia in a nail-biter once already this year and won five out of seven against the Tribe. How does Beckett-Schilling vs. Sabathia-Carmona play out for the two teams?

I don't think there's any doubt that the pitching, and more specifically the starting pitching, will be THE key to this series. And I don't think the regular season games (either the overall record edge to the Sox or the particular results of any one game) are going to have much bearing on this postseason matchup. These are two teams who are zoned in, and firing on all cylinders, and are not necessarily playing the same ball they were in July (or earlier).

Beckett-Sabathia is the sexy matchup, the one getting all the headlines- and those two Cy Young candidates battling it out is definitely going to be worth the billing. With Kielty starting and bringing his 1.030 OPS against lefty CC to the table, his addition to the potent Sox lineup could mean the difference against a tough Tribe batting order (including Travis Hafner who has absolutely killed against Beckett). But the game 2 matchup between veteran Schilling, with his postseason experience and amazing control, against the filthy nasty Carmona (who is even more deadly than C.C., in my opinion) is going to be just as thrilling. If the first matchup is a near dead-heat in stats, the second is more a contest of wills: Schill's mental edge and spotting accuracy versus the youth and that crazy powerful sinker of Carmona.

2. What about Games 3 and 4? How worried should Sox fans be about Matsuzaka-Wakefield/Lester? Also, should Sox fans be licking their chops when they see Jake Westbrook on the mound, or were his regular season stats against Boston (10 hits and five earned runs in six innings) a fluke?

The ticket to success for Dice-K is going to be full utilization of Varitek as a resource (and trusting Tek's calls), and commanding the strike zone. He's tried to push through walls in the recent past (which resulted in overthrowing and meltdown), and he seems to have gotten past that- so it's probably more now a case of consistent use of his core repertoire of pitches and not getting fancy. Westbrook is solid, but very hittable, so if our battery sticks to plan, I like our chances there.

Wake is more troubling for me because as badly as I want to see him pitch (for sentimental reasons, because I adore him), there's a huge question mark about how well he can command that knuckleball in a pressure-cooker of a playoff after just coming off an injury. And there can be no question about Byrd's ability to pitch under pressure after his performance last week against the Yanks. Maybe the best plan of attack is to use Wake for a shorter period, let the Tribe's batters mess around with trying to figure out that knuckler for 5 or 6 innings, and then pull him in favor of our 'pen.

3. When analysts talk about Boston's strengths this year, the deep bullpen always comes up. Cleveland's wasn't bad, though, finishing with the sixth best ERA (3.75) in the Majors. How important is getting to the Indians bullpen, and where do potential advantages for the Red Sox lay?

Cleveland's bullpen isn't just "not bad" - it's dangerous. The Rafaels are explosive: Betancourt only had 51 hits racked up against him in 79.1 IP with a 1.47 ERA (second-lowest among AL relievers), and Perez dominates over lefties (which is not-so-great news for Big Papi, who isn't the strongest when facing off against a lefty). Of course, Boston's Delcarmen and Okajima have been stellar as well. The difference between the two clubs' pens, to me, is the closer: the setup men are Cleveland's ace-in-the-hole, their closer is their weakness. With Borowski closing out games, the Sox lineup will have a hittable pitcher waiting for them in the 9th, even if the starting and setup pitching from the Tribe is lights-out. Cleveland will not have that luxury- and since Papelbon has had more than enough rest, he can be utilized even more heavily to bail out the team in a sticky situation.

4. The Indians had six players hit between 18 and 25 home runs, but no one with more than that. They also had only one starter, Victor Martinez hit more than .300 (he hit .301). How should Boston pitch to the Cleveland lineup?

Cleveland is every bit as disciplined at the plate as Boston- so in my opinion the key will be to develop consistency in commanding the strike zone, but limiting the power of the Tribe's lineup by utilizing breaking balls (and most especially Beckett's wicked curve). The Tribe notched just a .319 slugging percentage against sliders and curves (which was the third worst out of all MLB clubs), so that weakness needs to be exploited. Hit the strike zone, use those breaking pitches.

5. One Trot Nixon returns to the postseason on Friday, as well. He doesn't play much anymore... will he have any impact on the series, and what kind?

I think Trot's impact is going to be largely sentimental for the home crowd who still loves him, and as a tool for the media to make comparisons against J.D. Drew. Not that his connection to Boston should be written off- it's going to be a motivation for him, I'm sure. But considering the vast number of connections otherwise between the two clubs, I don't think this one will have any more impact than, say, Coco Crisp's connection to the Indians, or Betancourt's connection to the Sox. Or Manny's connection to Cleveland- will he remember to go to the right dugout at the Jake?

6. Tell me something the common fan misses when discussing the series. Any surprises jump out at you when looking at the two teams and their statistics?

Aww, come on now- no Sox fan is "common." I think the focus on the pitching of the two clubs (while totally justified) is overshadowing some of the other facets of the matchup a tad. Pitching is no doubt the key (as I said above), but considering how tightly matched up those Boston and Cleveland pitching staffs are, I can see it coming down to a couple of defensive plays that make the difference on the scoreboard. Plus, having the managerial experience of a Tito Francona and the encyclopedic knowledge of a Jason Varitek in our artillery could end up giving us that inch of an edge that makes the difference.

7. So, who wins? Why?

Wedge shaved off his playoff beard. Tek's playoff beard remains fully intact. Sox in 6.