San Francisco Giants beat Cliff Lee to go one up in World Series (Part 6)
The Texas Rangers were a long way from home and they were making their first appearance in the World Series against any team. They were facing the San Francisco Giants at their home stadium, AT&T Park. The objective was simple;
win the biggest trophy in Major League Baseball, by beating the other side in 4 games out of 7.
The first match began with valour and it saw the visitors take a two run lead. But the hosts replied with an equalizer in the third inning. Now the match entered the 5th inning with Andres Torres on the plate, facing
the Ranger’s Cliff Lee.
Andres Torres wasted no time in making an impact and he did so with a double to the left. The shot got Freddy Sanchez out in the field again and the batsman was more than ready to face the top pitcher in the opposing team. Sanchez
blasted a double to the deep centre and that led Torres to an easy run, lifting the Giants to a 3 – 2 lead. The 5th inning was hardly over for the side and Buster Posey came out to face Cliff. The hitter, who led a run in earlier, was not able to
repeat his milestone again as Lee struck him out, looking. However as soon as the ball thrower was making an impact with the ball, he was losing his momentum in the next line of pitches. He walked Pat Burrell next and brought on Cody Ross to the plate.
The first two bases were full and the Rangers were looking to get the Giants out of the 5th inning, but with Ross on the plate, the game took a different turn as the hitter’s single to the centre got Sanchez home for
the 4th run of the team. Pat was now on 2ndbase and Aubrey Huff came in to get him through as he also smashed a single to the centre, availing the run and stretching the lead to 5 – 2.
With Huff on first and Cody on second, Ron Washington took no chances. He replaced Lee with Darren O’Day and that opened up the bout for the Giants. Juan Uribe was the batter on the plate and he gave the reliever a heartfelt welcome
by smashing his throw for a home run down the left centre. The hit was enormous and it got Ross and Huff through for two additional runs. The effect was multiplied and the side was now sitting on 8 runs.
The Texans were disorganized and it felt like the National League champions had stole the fixture from under their rivals’ noses. The Rangers however, were the American League Champions and they had a chance to reply in the top
6th inning. Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz were lost in the bout as the starting hitters swung themselves out to Tim Lincecum. Ian Kinsler was the next one in and he walked off the fiery pitcher’s throws, to the first. Bengie Molina, who was
a San Francisco catcher, before July came on and made his mark on the game as the veteran played another important role in the game by doubling to the left and getting Kinsler through for the 3rd Texan run.
It felt like a real game was on the cards and the Rangers were trying to counter their opponents with the bat as Molina reached third of Mitch Moreland’s infield single to the third. There was yet another chance to score and David
Murphy walked in for O’Day to bat. The veteran was on mark and his single to the right was enough to get Bengie through for the fourth run. The score was now 4 Texas – 8 San Francisco and the match was turning out to be a spicy encounter for the fans who were
watching on, clinging to the edge of their seats. There was still hope for the Texans and as the game went into the bottom 6th inning, there was speculation that the Giants were going to go ahead.
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