The Boston Red Sox have found themselves in a perfect spot, they’re one game away from going to the World Series for the first time since they won in 2007 and they’ve gone back to Boston to finish off what they started. With the momentum of the series in their favor the Red Sox have tapped Clay Buchholz to take the mound against the Detroit Tigers’ potential American League Cy Young-winner Max Scherzer in a Game Two-style rematch; same venue, same gunslingers and same stakes, who has what it takes to survive the day?

Game Five proved that the Red Sox could overcome one of the many obstacles that deflated their spirit at the start of the American League Championship Series, they didn’t get no-hit by Anibal Sanchez again. In fact, they sent him packing thanks in part to three runs, one of which came off of a second inning solo home run by Mike Napoli. Napoli has certainly been the difference maker in the Red Sox batting order. He is batting .375 with two home runs, two RBI and four runs scored and has helped rejuvenate the life in the Boston bats along with leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury who has a double, a triple and a .316 batting average of his own. If Red Sox manager John Farrell knows what’s good for him he will start the right-handed Napoli over lefty Mike Carp against Scherzer. Yes, it totally goes against playing the percentages; however, Carp accounted for two of the 13 strikeouts that the Red Sox were dealt in Game Two, so it’s not an unlikely scenario. One thing that does need to happen for the Red Sox is for David Ortiz to get out of his slump. Ortiz was finally able to notch his first hit, a single in Game Five, since his game-tying grand slam off of Joaquin Benoit in Game Two. For a guy who hits left-handed and doesn’t play any defensive, batting .105 in the series is not acceptable, especially him of all people.

As for the Tigers, something needs to happen to motivate Prince Fielder to contribute to the effort. Fielder is batting .211 for the series; however, he has yet to plate a run. The effort of the offense cannot rely solely upon Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. One thing that has proven to be a real shot in the arm is manager Jim Leyland’s decision to move Austin Jackson from the leadoff spot to the eight-hole. Jackson was 1-13 in the first three games of the series and has since gone 4-6 with two walks. Therefore, another shakeup might need to be in order for the power-hitting Fielder. On the mound, there isn’t much that Scherzer needs to do differently from his last outing. He only yielded one run and struck out 13 batters in seven innings. The most reasonable solution might be fore Scherzer to go the distance just as long as he can keep his pitch count under 90 before the ninth inning. After all, there’s no sense in not using your most dangerous weapon to its potential.

When all is said and done, the odds of this being the final game of the series are very high. Buchholz is a lot better of a pitcher than what was shown in Game Two and there is no doubt that he will be looking to make a statement to prove that. As for Scherzer, it’s not likely that he’ll be as dominant as he was in Game Two on the basis of how fast the Red Sox adjusted to Sanchez. The bats are heating up and the Tigers aren’t doing much to stop it.