MLB: Rookie Madison Bumgarner thumps the aching Rangers in Game 4 (Pt. 1)
It wasn’t pretty for the Texas Rangers and it wasn’t supposed to be either. For one thing, the team had lost 2 of its World Series encounter and moving into game 4 was either going to get the team close to an exodus or an equalizing wins tally. The fixture
was slated to take place in the home of the the Texan squad and with a crowd of over 50,000 supporters, the reality of the situation was simple, the home team had to win the game to steer the pressure off them and start afresh in their pursuit of the ultimate
title glory in major league baseball.
For the San Francisco Giants, the possibility of a win was not at a loss. The opportunity to win big was on the cards and it wasn’t going to be an impossible goal by the record books. The Texans never had a good record at home and it was going to be a hard
task for the hosts to bag an all important win that could see them square the wins off with the visitors. The Rangers had another thing to consider and it surely wasn’t their home ground disadvantage, but their lack of team spirit. Even though they had won
the game in the previous night, there was still a problem concerning their morale in the hitting line up.
The Rangers had done it all to make it to the finals and it wasn’t an easy task at all. At first there was the record of losing every playoff series they had featured in, before this season. When the roster beat the odds to win the series tie with the Tampa
Bay Rays, there was another challenge awaiting them at their doorstep. The team had the hard goal of defeating the reigning World Series Champions, the New York Yankees to clinch the American League Championship title.
Before that could be done, history predicted that the roster wasn’t going to triumph. The reason was that whenever the Texans went into the post season, they fell short of a win because they always faced the Yanks in the playoffs. But, with a win in the
campaign already, there was a possibility that the Rangers would go on to write history with a new page in their existence. It wasn’t long till that was accomplished as the West division title winners clinched the American League title in the 6th
game beating the mighty Yankees with Colby Lewis on the mound.
For the San Francisco Giants, the road to the World Series was in no way similar. The side last won a major title in the 1950's and now it had the opportunity to accomplish something they had not done in the last 60 years. The side went clear to the playoffs
this year when it bested the San Diego Padres that had remained on top of the National League West table for the majority of the time in the regular season. It was not till the final weeks when the team lost the right points and moved behind the Giants.
Manager Bruce Bochy was the architect for the progression in to the National League playoffs and it was his managerial expertise that got him the series victory over the Atlanta Braves, who had come through the wildcard berth. The Central team lost the bid
for a progression into the National League Championship when San Francisco handed the team with a loss in the 4th game at AT&T Park. That ultimately ended Bobby Cox’s career and lifted the Giants further up in the playoffs.
The Giants faced the Philadelphia Phillies next and when the top teams locked horns, it looked like the East Side champions were going to progress. However that wasn’t to be the case as brilliant performances from Tim Lincecum, Cody Ross, Andres Torres and
Matt Cain go the ball club clear into the World Series.
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