Texas Rangers look for momentum shift at home
The 2010 World Series so far has gone the way of the National League Champion San Francisco Giants who currently lead the series two games to none. Game three, to be played Saturday 30 October may be a must win situation for the Texas Rangers, who
do not want to give the Giants a stranglehold on the series.
Game one notes
For the Rangers, they started Cliff Lee, a career 7-0 in the playoffs. That was until he met up with the Giants hitters Cody Ross, Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff. All three were spraying balls all over the field as the Giants took the opening game
11-7, beating the now human Lee and handing him his first loss.
“We know he throws a lot of strikes,” Freddy Sanchez has said to the Associated Press. “We know he’s one of the best pitchers in the game, especially in the postseason. We just wanted to attack him early.”
It was not just the Giants’ offence; it was also Texas’ defence. Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, more known for his bat than his glove, committed 2 errors in the in the same inning, both leading to San Francisco runs.
Game two notes
The game started as everyone expected, with starting pitchers Matt Cain and C.J. Wilson both silencing the bats on each side. The only blemish was that Wilson gave up a homer to Edgar Renteria in the fifth, and then the Rangers bullpen in the eighth
blew the game up.
Patiently, the Giants batters waited out five walks against the Rangers bullpen, and then Renteria came up, and acting like “Johnny on the spot” took care of business and hit a two run single to left. The inning was capped off by Aaron Rowand’s two run
triple followed by a double by Andrés Torres. When the dust at AT&T Park finally settled, the Giants hung up a seven spot, and all of the runs came with two outs.
Game three keys to victory
The Rangers probable starter for game three will be Colby Lewis who has a 1.45 earned run average (ERA) so far in three appearances in the post-season. His goal will be to minimize the damage of the Giants offence, and keep the Rangers in the game
long enough to be able to battle. Vladimir Guerrero will be used as the designated hitter (DH) and Nelson Cruz will be playing defence in right field. As long as Guerrero does not touch a glove for the games in Texas, the Rangers have a very good chance
of winning.
For the Giants, they will need to silence what will sure be quite a rowdy crowd at the Ballpark in Arlington. How quickly they do that will depend on how quickly they can get the Rangers to dip into their bullpen.
Jonathan Sanchez is the probable starter for the Giants. His only decision came as a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies so far in the post-season, but his 2.93 ERA through 15.1 innings is good enough to get him the start.
If the Giants win, they go up 3-0, but if the Rangers win, it turns into a whole new series. The next three games will be played in Texas, where they say everything is bigger, but nothing will be bigger than a win for the Rangers in game three.
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