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Josh Beckett, left, and James Shields have each suffered losses in the ALCS.

BIG-GAMERS: BECKETT VS. SHIELDS

By Tim Kurkjian, ESPN The Magazine

We'll have a battle of big-game pitchers in Game 6. However, I still don't think Boston's Josh Beckett is 100 percent physically. That doesn't mean he's hurt. It means that he's still a little bit rusty from the inactivity in September and, according to the people I've talked to, he doesn't seem to have the same arm speed he has had when he's completely healthy.

And it shows in his numbers. The last start Beckett made, he gave up three leads, something he'd never done in his major league career. In fact, he hadn't given up two leads in any game in his past 72 regular-season starts. So, clearly, he's not the guy he was last year. Not even close. And the radar gun backs that up, as well. Right now, his fastball is in the low 90s instead of the high 90s. But, with all of that, he is still Josh Beckett. And he was upset with the way he pitched in Game 2 in St. Petersburg. This is his chance at redemption. I think he'll pitch well, but I'm just not sure he's physically right enough to live up to his reputation of one of the five greatest postseason pitchers ever.

He'll be dueling Tampa Bay's James Shields, who is the Rays' best pitcher -- and this is precisely why they flipped the rotation and kept him for Game 6. Certainly his record away from Fenway Park is so much better. He was 9-2 at home this year. His nickname is "Big Game James," and this is certainly a big game. In Game 1 of this series, he was beaten by Daisuke Matsuzaka despite pitching well.

ALCS GAME 6

Red Sox at Rays 8:07 p.m. ET, ESPN Radio ALCS page

Even with the devastating loss in Game 5, the Rays are in the best possible position with their best pitcher going at home. But the dynamic has changed a little bit with the way things unfolded Thursday night. I'm sure at one point Shields wasn't expecting to pitch again in the LCS. Now, of course, he will. But he really loves this kind of stage, so I'm sure he'll be up for it.

It will be wild at Tropicana Field for Game 6. One of the ticket managers told me he thought the team could have sold 60,000 tickets for Saturday night's game. That's the level of interest right now. I guess some people will say the Rays always wanted to clinch at home anyway, but now the pressure is really on. So it should be really great to watch -- and hear. If Tropicana Field is anything like it was in the division series, it will be an extremely loud building.

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FAMILIAR TERRITORY FOR RED SOX

By Mark Simon, ESPN Research

The Red Sox have been in this position. They know what it takes. And they'll have the pitcher who entered this postseason with the best big-game reputation among healthy players (sorry, Curt Schilling) in Josh Beckett pitching Game 6 Saturday night, trying to extend the ALCS to a seventh game.

No team has come back from more 3-1 deficits to win than the Red Sox, and a good number of players are familiar with the way things played out in 2004 and 2007. So beating a team that was 57-24 at home this season does not seem like mission impossible, comparatively speaking.

Red Sox Comebacks From 3-1 ALCS Deficit
	1986	2004	2007	2008
Opponent	Angels	Yankees	Indians	Rays
Game 5 obstacle	3 down in 9th	2 down in 8th	Cy Young winner CC Sabathia	7 down, 7 outs left
Game 5 final score	7-6 (11)	5-4 (14)	7-1	8-7
Game 6 result	BOS, 10-4	BOS, 4-2	BOS, 12-2	?
Game 7 result	BOS, 8-1	BOS, 10-3	BOS, 11-2	?

Josh Beckett: Past 2 Postseasons
	W-L	ERA	OPP BA	STARTS
2007	4-0	1.20	.178	4
2008	0-0	11.57	.400	2