A good buddy of mine texted me around 9 o’clock last night during the fifth inning of the Rangers-Giants game: Here’s the duel we wanted last night. Next pitch, Ian Kinsler drove a ball to deep center field in what turned out to be the farthest non-home run ball you can possibly hit in AT&T Park: the ball bounced directly off the top of the fence and came back into play. It seemed as though the baseball gods wanted a fine pitching performance from the San Francisco righty, Matt Cain.
Although the Rangers bullpen would ultimately implode and allow 9 runs to the Giants (I think we should put a moratorium on the notion that the Giants can’t hit – 20 runs through two World Series Games – enough said), Edgar Renteria’s solo-shot in the fifth inning was enough for Cain to work with as he cruised through 7 and two-thirds innings of work, allowing 4 hits, no runs, 2 walks, and striking out 2. That extends Cain’s streak of scoreless innings to 21.1 and the days of his current post-season success flying under the radar are certainly over.
If Game 2 forecasts the rest of the series, the Rangers may not make it out of Arlington alive. They left 7 men on base and went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position during Thursday night’s lopsided loss – not exactly the formula for playoff success. The bottom of the 8th was a disaster for the Rangers: a Buster Posey single, 4 straight walks, an Edgar Renteria single, an Aaron Rowand triple and an Andres Torres double gave the Giants seven runs in a single inning. Oh, did I mention that all of that happened with two outs!
The amazing thing to me about the Giants is not merely that they’re winning with a bunch of no-names, but how every night a different one of the “misfits” steals the show. Renteria homered early and later drove in three with a single in the crazy seven run 8th inning (2 for 4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs). On Wednesday it was Freddy Sanchez leading the way for the Giants (4 for 5 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs). Giants GM, Brian Sabean, received a lot of criticism for the big contracts he threw out to veterans such as Barry Zito, Edgar Renteria, and Aaron Rowand. There’s certainly a large factor of luck in the success of any baseball team, but Sabean now has the right to shove it in the face of those doubters.
The Rangers host their first ever World Series game Saturday night, and if Ron Washington doesn’t turn the ship around, Halloween might be a particularly scary night for Rangers fans if their team gets swept.
Jonathan Sanchez (LHP) and Colby Lewis (RHP) take the mound against each other at 7 o’clock Saturday night. I haven’t seen the TV ratings on this World Series, but unless some drama ensues quickly, they probably won’t be very high numbers.
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