All I can say is that I was wrong. Like many other sportswriters and broadcasters across the country, I thought the San Francisco Giants offense was no match for the Rangers bats and the team from Texas would eventually begin to light-up the Giants staff. Through 2 games of the World Series, my prediction could not be more wrong. Not only has the Giants staff held the Rangers offense in check, they have piled on the runs. The Giants have scored 20 runs in 2 games and have only allowed 7, and 3 of those were 9th inning junk runs from the Rangers in game 1. Matt Cain absolutely embarrassed the Rangers’ hitters last night and it is a 1-sided series unless the team from Texas can use their home field as inspiration in games 3, 4 and 5. This is why they play the games, folks. (more after the jump)
For the Giants, most of their offense has come from their infielders. Of the team’s 22 hits in the World Series, 14 have come from the infield spots and catcher. The biggest surprise has been 3rd baseman Juan Uribe who has 2 hits and 5 rbis in 8 plate appearances. He had a big 3-run home run in game 1 and continued to roll in game 2 with 2 more rbis. During the season, Uribe hit .248 with 24 home runs and is continuing the same trend of power with a low average this post-season, hitting .171 with 2 home runs, but both jacks have been huge and his ability to lift his team in the later innings has been key to the Giants success. The other big hitters have been Aubrey Huff and Edgar Renteria, 2 players Red Sox fans know a lot about. Huff spent parts of 10 seasons in the AL with Tampa Bay and Baltimore and Edgar Renteria spent the 2005 season at Fenway Park.
As impressive as the hitting for the Giants has been, the Texas Rangers bullpen has been equally poor. As a group, they have allowed 11 earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched and have allowed small leads from the Giants to explode into blow outs in quick fashion. If the Rangers want to remain in this series and turn around their success at home, they need to tighten-up out of the ‘pen and allow their offense to have a shot at closing the gap late in the contest if they fall behind. With deficits of 7 and 9 in 9th inning of the 1st two games, the offense had not chance to make it a game. In game 1, the Rangers offense came alive in the 9th to score 3 runs, but still couldn’t make the game a real contest because of the huge hole they were in.
Game 3 will feature LHP Jonathan Sanchez vs. RHP Colby Lewis, another potential pitchers’ duel, if both guys are on their game. Colby Lewis was in control against the Yankees to send the Rangers into the World Series last week by throwing 8 innings of 3-hit ball with just 1 earned run and 7 strikeouts. He is looking to repeat the performance in another huge game for the Lone Star state representatives in their hopes to turn the series around en route to their 1st title in franchise history. On the other side of the field, Jonathan Sanchez has had spurts of brilliance in 2010, but has a tendency to be erratic and lose control. If he can put together a solid outing, his team could be just 1 win away from eternal glory. After putting together a career year at 13-9 with a 3.07 era, he is primed for another top performance on the big stage.
The series is far from over, but the Giants are enjoying an off-day today halfway to the ultimate prize. The series swings to Texas with all the pressure on Ron Washington and his Rangers, but if there is one thing I have learned about the MLB over the last few years, it is that anything is possible. Just look at the 2004 ALCS…