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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
Showing posts with label World Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Series. Show all posts
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Cardinals Win World Series
It's funny. I talked earlier this month about how the Tampa Bay Rays seemed like a team of destiny following their improbable run into the American League playoffs. Apparently I should've been paying attention to the other league. The St. Louis Cardinals were 10 1/2 games out of the Wild Card Race in late August and yet were able to clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the season and then knock off the team with the best record in baseball (the Phillies), the team that it finished behind in the NL Central (the Brewers) and now after twice coming within one strike of defeat in Game 6 have beaten the Texas Rangers and are World Series Champions. Oh, and by the way, they went the entire year with arguably their best pitcher on the disabled list. It was very reminiscent of what the Packers just did to win last year's Super Bowl. Dealing with injuries, sneaking into the playoffs, and then being the hottest team in the league when it mattered most.
I honestly wanted the Rangers to win this one. I like Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz, etc. Plus, the Rangers franchise has never won the World Series. I should be clear though, I'm not UPSET that St. Louis won though. Albert Pujols, arguably the best player in the game right now, may never play another game in a Cardinals uniform so what better way for him to finish his tenure in St. Louis (if that's the case). Plus, you had the hometown hero David Freese winning both the NLCS and World Series MVP awards. The St. Louis native hit .397 in his first postseason emerging from a pack of much bigger names (Berkman, Pujols, Holliday) to shine on the biggest of stages. How cool is that? His game 6 heroics are going to be talked about in baseball circles for years. And speaking of Berkman, I'm really happy for him. The Big Puma has always been one of my favorite players and since he was never able to win a title in Houston, it's nice to see him get one in St. Louis.
The Rangers, who have now lost back-to-back World Series, are undoubtedly discouraged, but there's no reason to think their window is closing. Texas is budding with young talent or players in their primes. Neftali Feliz is 23, Derek Holland is 25, Matt Harrison is 26, Elvis Andrus 23, Ian Kinsler 29, Mitch Moreland 26, Nelson Cruz 31, Josh Hamilton 30, C.J. Wilson 30, Alexi Ogando 28, Mike Napoli 29... Really, of their core group, only Michael Young is getting up in years. And Young just wrapped up a season in which if you include the playoffs he had 229 hits. So while for the next two days, this loss is really going to sting, especially considering just how close they were, this isn't going to be a franchise-crushing defeat that sends Texas back into mediocrity. We certainly haven't seen the last of these guys.
So, final thoughts on the 2011 World Series. Despite the lack of a marquee matchup, this was a highly entertaining series that had seven highly entertaining games. We saw the stars deliver (Pujols, Berkman, Carpenter), but we also saw a bunch of lesser names really rise to the occasion. For Texas, Mike Napoli and Derek Holland, for the Cardinals Freese and Allen Craig... Just great stuff. So Congratulations St. Louis. And for the rest of us, time to get excited about 2012. Hey, the Astros are technically tied for first again. I know I'm pumped.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
We're Gonna Have a Game 7!!!
What just happened? Somehow tonight's epic Game 6 morphed from one of the worst played World Series games in recent memory, if not ever, to one of the best games in the history of baseball. A game that featured 5 errors, botched sacrifice bunts, baserunning gaffes, 12 walks and 2 wild pitches somehow turned it around and from the 7th inning on was just non-stop excitement. Tony Larussa used 22 of the 25 players on his roster and the Cardinals came up with runs in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th innings to somehow give us a Game 7 in what can only be described as one of the most exciting World Series of my lifetime. Let's try and piece together what we just witnessed tonight as best we can:
*After the Rangers take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Lance Berkman changes the complexion of the game with one swing of the bat and puts St. Louis up 2-1 with a home run off of Rangers starter Colby Lewis.
*The Rangers of course battle back and who else but Mike Napoli knocks in the go-ahead run with an rbi single to bring home Nelson Cruz and give the Rangers a 3-2 lead in the top of the 4th.
*The two teams exchange runs to make it 4-3 Rangers when Alexi Ogando enters the game and is unable to find the strike zone forcing in a run with a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 4. But who comes to the rescue? That's right, Mike Napoli. This time it's his defense as he picks Matt Holliday off of third base and the Rangers escape the 6th inning still tied at 4.
*Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz go back-to-back off of rookie Lance Lynn, and Kinsler brings home Derek Holland with an rbi single to give the Rangers a 7-4 lead in the 7th, just nine outs away from their first World Series Title.
*Allen Craig, who entered the game for the injured Holliday connects off of Derek Holland in the bottom of the 8th to make it a 2-run game. Craig has driven in runs in four of the six games, three times coming off the bench to do so.
*With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, facing closer Neftali Feliz, just one strike away from a Rangers win, David Freese triples over the head of Nelson Cruz in right field tying the game at 7 and forcing the game into extra innings.
*Cardinal closer Jason Motte has no better luck than Feliz as Josh Hamilton hits his first home run of the postseason to right center and puts the Rangers back up by 2 in the top of the 10th.
*Bottom of the 10th, following a Ryan Theriot rbi groundout to make it 9-8, the Cardinals go down to their final strike again. This time Lance Berkman singles to center off of Scott Feldman scoring Jon Jay from second base and tying the game back up at 9. The Cardinals just will not die.
*Bottom of the 11th, facing new pitcher Mark Lowe, Freese hammers a 3-2 pitch over the center field wall for a walk-off win, 10-9.
It was really just an unbelievable game, and now we get to be treated to a Game 7. All kinds of storylines to follow in this one. Nelson Cruz left the game with an injury in the 11th that he apparently suffered on David Freese's 9th inning triple, Mike Napoli hurt his ankle early in this one and while he stayed in the game there's no telling what he'll be available for tomorrow, Matt Holliday left with an injury, both closers allowed runs tonight, both bullpens are pitching on fumes, Chris Carpenter may get the start in Game 7 on short rest... I can't wait. I think it's going to be one for the ages, to cap off what has just been a tremendous World Series. The never-say-die Cardinals against the trying-to-win-their-first-title Rangers. Do not miss this game.
*After the Rangers take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Lance Berkman changes the complexion of the game with one swing of the bat and puts St. Louis up 2-1 with a home run off of Rangers starter Colby Lewis.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
*The Rangers of course battle back and who else but Mike Napoli knocks in the go-ahead run with an rbi single to bring home Nelson Cruz and give the Rangers a 3-2 lead in the top of the 4th.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
*The two teams exchange runs to make it 4-3 Rangers when Alexi Ogando enters the game and is unable to find the strike zone forcing in a run with a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 4. But who comes to the rescue? That's right, Mike Napoli. This time it's his defense as he picks Matt Holliday off of third base and the Rangers escape the 6th inning still tied at 4.
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| Photo Credit: mlb.com |
*Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz go back-to-back off of rookie Lance Lynn, and Kinsler brings home Derek Holland with an rbi single to give the Rangers a 7-4 lead in the 7th, just nine outs away from their first World Series Title.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
*Allen Craig, who entered the game for the injured Holliday connects off of Derek Holland in the bottom of the 8th to make it a 2-run game. Craig has driven in runs in four of the six games, three times coming off the bench to do so.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
*With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, facing closer Neftali Feliz, just one strike away from a Rangers win, David Freese triples over the head of Nelson Cruz in right field tying the game at 7 and forcing the game into extra innings.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
*Cardinal closer Jason Motte has no better luck than Feliz as Josh Hamilton hits his first home run of the postseason to right center and puts the Rangers back up by 2 in the top of the 10th.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
*Bottom of the 10th, following a Ryan Theriot rbi groundout to make it 9-8, the Cardinals go down to their final strike again. This time Lance Berkman singles to center off of Scott Feldman scoring Jon Jay from second base and tying the game back up at 9. The Cardinals just will not die.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
*Bottom of the 11th, facing new pitcher Mark Lowe, Freese hammers a 3-2 pitch over the center field wall for a walk-off win, 10-9.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
It was really just an unbelievable game, and now we get to be treated to a Game 7. All kinds of storylines to follow in this one. Nelson Cruz left the game with an injury in the 11th that he apparently suffered on David Freese's 9th inning triple, Mike Napoli hurt his ankle early in this one and while he stayed in the game there's no telling what he'll be available for tomorrow, Matt Holliday left with an injury, both closers allowed runs tonight, both bullpens are pitching on fumes, Chris Carpenter may get the start in Game 7 on short rest... I can't wait. I think it's going to be one for the ages, to cap off what has just been a tremendous World Series. The never-say-die Cardinals against the trying-to-win-their-first-title Rangers. Do not miss this game.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Heroes of Game 5
No baseball tonight as the series shifts back to St. Louis for Game 6 with the Cardinals on the brink of elimination, but let's take another look at the heroes of Game 5.
5) Michael Young - The longest tenured Ranger is only hitting .210 in the postseason, but he picked a great time to get a big hit. Young led off the bottom of the 8th with a double off of Octavio Dotel, kicking off the winning rally and eventually coming around to score the winning run.
4) Mitch Moreland - The Rangers first baseman finally got a hit in the World Series, and boy was it a big one. Moreland hammered a Chris Carpenter offering into the second deck in right field some 446 feet from home plate to put the Rangers on the board in the bottom of the 3rd. Moreland also had a nifty stretch at first to take a hit away from Rafael Furcal in the top of the 8th.
3) Adrian Beltre - Beltre continues to play gold glove caliber defense at third and tied the game in the bottom of the 6th with a solo home run off of Chris Carpenter. The homer was Beltre's first since his 3-homer game in the Divisional Series against Tampa Bay.
2) Neftali Feliz - Feliz has been wild this postseason and that trend continued last night as he came in for the 9th inning and immediately hit Allen Craig to bring the tying run to the plate in Albert Pujols. But the hard throwing Rangers closer came up with a huge strikeout of Albert Pujols as part of a strike-em-out throw-em-out double play, and then after walking Matt Holliday to bring up the tying run again, he fanned Lance Berkman to end the game. Feliz has allowed just 1 run in 10 games this postseason despite 7 walks in 10 1/3 innings.
1) Mike Napoli - What a storybook postseason Napoli has had. Napoli delivered a 2-run double off of Marc Rzepczynski in the bottom of the 8th inning, and threw out Allen Craig trying to steal second base twice including once in the top of the 9th as he turned in yet another terrific October performance. Napoli has driven in 9 runs in the World Series, including at least 2 in four of the five games so far. He has 3 homers and 14 runs batted in during the playoffs while batting .314. Not bad for a guy who was traded twice before the season even started, once by the Angels for Vernon Wells, and a few days later by Toronto for Frank Francisco. Napoli hit .383 after the All Star Break this year with 18 of his 30 home runs and yet, despite all his recent success, he hit 8th in the Rangers order last night. Ridiculous. Through five games, this guy is your World Series MVP.
5) Michael Young - The longest tenured Ranger is only hitting .210 in the postseason, but he picked a great time to get a big hit. Young led off the bottom of the 8th with a double off of Octavio Dotel, kicking off the winning rally and eventually coming around to score the winning run.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
4) Mitch Moreland - The Rangers first baseman finally got a hit in the World Series, and boy was it a big one. Moreland hammered a Chris Carpenter offering into the second deck in right field some 446 feet from home plate to put the Rangers on the board in the bottom of the 3rd. Moreland also had a nifty stretch at first to take a hit away from Rafael Furcal in the top of the 8th.
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| Photo Credits: zimbio.com |
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
2) Neftali Feliz - Feliz has been wild this postseason and that trend continued last night as he came in for the 9th inning and immediately hit Allen Craig to bring the tying run to the plate in Albert Pujols. But the hard throwing Rangers closer came up with a huge strikeout of Albert Pujols as part of a strike-em-out throw-em-out double play, and then after walking Matt Holliday to bring up the tying run again, he fanned Lance Berkman to end the game. Feliz has allowed just 1 run in 10 games this postseason despite 7 walks in 10 1/3 innings.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
1) Mike Napoli - What a storybook postseason Napoli has had. Napoli delivered a 2-run double off of Marc Rzepczynski in the bottom of the 8th inning, and threw out Allen Craig trying to steal second base twice including once in the top of the 9th as he turned in yet another terrific October performance. Napoli has driven in 9 runs in the World Series, including at least 2 in four of the five games so far. He has 3 homers and 14 runs batted in during the playoffs while batting .314. Not bad for a guy who was traded twice before the season even started, once by the Angels for Vernon Wells, and a few days later by Toronto for Frank Francisco. Napoli hit .383 after the All Star Break this year with 18 of his 30 home runs and yet, despite all his recent success, he hit 8th in the Rangers order last night. Ridiculous. Through five games, this guy is your World Series MVP.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
Bullpen Phone Issues?
Maybe this is what happened last night. I mean come on, the game in the background is from the 2005 World Series. History repeating itself?
Best Nicknames in Sports
This World Series has not only been entertaining, but has also provided us with some of the better nicknames in sports right now. You have Albert Pujols aka 'The Machine', Marc Rzepczynski aka 'Scrabble', Mike Napoli apparently goes by 'Dirtbag'... Anyhow, it got me thinking of what some of the best nicknames in sports were. And I'm not talking about Lawrence Taylor being 'L.T.', or anything like that. I'm looking for the ones that at least required SOME creativity. So here's 25 for you. Let me know if you've got any other good ones that I missed:
Apologies to The Truth, The Big Ticket, The Glide, The Glove, Big Country, The Snake, The Yankee Clipper, Flash Gordon, Big Country, Mr. October, The Custodian, The Mayor, Tractor Traylor, KGB, Matty Ice, Dr. J, Doc Gooden, The Big Hurt, Stevie Franchise, The Chief, Larry Legend, Air Jordan, King James, The Jet, Sir Charles and the Babe. There just wasn't enough room for all of you. I miss anyone else? Post in the comments section if you've got a good one.
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Ozzie Smith - Major League Shortstop 1978-1996
"The Wizard"
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| Photo Credit: goodmenproject.com |
Karl Malone - NBA Forward 1985-2004
"The Mailman"
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| Photo Credit: geocities.ws |
Randy Johnson - Major League Pitcher 1988-2009
"The Big Unit"
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| Photo Credit: jeffpearlman.com |
Greg Norman - Pro Golfer 1976-2009
"The Shark"
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| Photo Credit: smashgolf.wordpress.com |
Hakeem Olajuwon - NBA Center 1984-2002
"The Dream"
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| Photo Credit: blacktoptens.com |
Roger Clemens - Major League Pitcher 1984-2007
"The Rocket"
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| Photo Credit: bostondirtdogs.com |
William Perry - NFL Defensive Tackle/Fullback, 1985-1994
"The Refrigerator"
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| Photo Credit: mirror.co.uk |
Deion Sanders - NFL/MLB Star, 1989-2005
"Prime Time"
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| Photo Credit: articles.sfgate.com |
Fred McGriff - Major League First Baseman, 1986-2004
"The Crime Dog"
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| Photo Credit: opiniononsports.com |
David Robinson - NBA Center 1989-2003
"The Admiral"
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| Photo Credit: soldieroftheday.com |
George Gervin - ABA/NBA Shooting Guard, 1972-1986
"The Iceman"
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| Photo Credit: sportige.com |
Mitch Williams - Major League Pitcher, 1986-1997
"Wild Thing"
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| Photo Credit: insidesocal.com |
Landon Donovan - Professional Soccer Player, 1999-Present
"Captain America"
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| Photo Credit: guardian.co.uk |
Walter Payton - NFL Running Back, 1975-1987
"Sweetness"
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| Photo Credit: giantbomb.com |
Andrei Kirilenko - NBA Forward, 1997-Present
"AK47"
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| Photo Credit: msn.foxsports.com |
Wayne Gretzky - NHL Center, 1978-1999
"The Great One"
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| Photo Credit: sciencewitness.com |
Calvin Johnson - NFL Wide Receiver, 2007-Present
"Megatron"
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| Photo Credit: webwallpapers.net |
Roy Halladay - Major League Pitcher, 1998-Present
"Doc" Halladay
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| Photo Credit: doublegsports.com |
Andre Dawson - Major League Outfielder, 1976-1996
"The Hawk"
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| Photo Credit: espn.go.com |
Rich Garcés - Major League Pitcher, 1990-2002
"El Guapo"
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| Photo Credit: deadspin.com |
Jared Lorenzen - NFL Quarterback, 2004-2007
"The Hefty Lefty"
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| Photo Credit: bigbluebooyah.blogspot.com |
Pete Rose - Baseball's All Time Hits Leader, 1963-1986
"Charlie Hustle"
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| Photo Credit: theredzonereport.com |
Shaquille O'Neal - NBA Center, 1992-2011
"The Big Aristotle", "The Big Shamrock", "Superman", "The Shaqtus", etc.
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| Photo Credit: warriorsworld.net |
Mario Lemieux - NHL Center, 1984-2006
"Super Mario"
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| Photo Credit: nhlsnipers.com |
Allen Iverson - NBA Guard, 1996-2010
"The Answer"
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| Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com |
Apologies to The Truth, The Big Ticket, The Glide, The Glove, Big Country, The Snake, The Yankee Clipper, Flash Gordon, Big Country, Mr. October, The Custodian, The Mayor, Tractor Traylor, KGB, Matty Ice, Dr. J, Doc Gooden, The Big Hurt, Stevie Franchise, The Chief, Larry Legend, Air Jordan, King James, The Jet, Sir Charles and the Babe. There just wasn't enough room for all of you. I miss anyone else? Post in the comments section if you've got a good one.
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Monday, October 24, 2011
World Series Update - Game 5 Tonight!
Quite a series we've got going between the Cardinals and the Rangers. Each team has traded blows through the first four games alternating between victors. In case you haven't been paying attention, here's what you've missed:
Game 1: Cardinals 3 Rangers 2
Pinch-hitter Allen Craig delivered an rbi single off of Alexi Ogando with two outs in the bottom of the 6th putting St. Louis ahead 3-2. The Cardinal bullpen, anchored by Jason Motte, took care of the rest with 3 scoreless innings to give the Cardinals an early series lead.
Game 2: Rangers 2 Cardinals 1
Allen Craig once again delivered a pinch-hit rbi single off of Ogando, this time in the 7th inning, to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. But Ian Kinsler's gutsy steal of second base in the 9th inning coupled with Elvis Andrus's heads up baserunning set the table for back-to-back sacrifice flies as Texas got to Motte for a pair of 9th inning runs wrecking Jaime Garcia's brilliant effort.
Game 3: Cardinals 16 Rangers 7
After two low scoring affairs, both teams broke out the lumber in Game 3, but nobody broke it out more than Albert Pujols. 'The Machine' became just the third player in World Series history to hit 3 home runs in a game joining Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson in pretty elite company. Pujols finished 5 for 6 on the night, scored 4 times and drove in 6 runs.
Game 4: Rangers 4 Cardinals 0
25 year old Derek Holland pitched the game of his life allowing just 2 hits in 8 1/3 shutout innings while Mike Napoli supplied the offense breaking the game open with a 3-run homer in the 6th as Texas took Game 4 and evened up the series.
Game 5: Tonight in Texas, 8:05 PM Eastern
In a rematch of Game 1, Chris Carpenter (3-0, 3.52 ERA) takes on C.J. Wilson (0-3, 7.17 ERA). Carpenter is tied for the lead among active players with 8 career postseason wins, whereas Wilson is 0-5 with a 6.18 ERA in his last 7 playoff starts. The series goes back to St. Louis after tonight so this is essentially a must-win game for the Rangers as they do not want to go on the road down 3 games to 2.
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Game 1: Cardinals 3 Rangers 2
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
Game 2: Rangers 2 Cardinals 1
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
Game 3: Cardinals 16 Rangers 7
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
Game 4: Rangers 4 Cardinals 0
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
Game 5: Tonight in Texas, 8:05 PM Eastern
In a rematch of Game 1, Chris Carpenter (3-0, 3.52 ERA) takes on C.J. Wilson (0-3, 7.17 ERA). Carpenter is tied for the lead among active players with 8 career postseason wins, whereas Wilson is 0-5 with a 6.18 ERA in his last 7 playoff starts. The series goes back to St. Louis after tonight so this is essentially a must-win game for the Rangers as they do not want to go on the road down 3 games to 2.
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Saturday, October 22, 2011
Welcome to the Machine!
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| Photo Credit: espn.go.com |
6th inning off of Alexi Ogando - 431 feet
7th inning off of Mike Gonzalez - 424 feet
9th inning off of Darren Oliver - 420 feet
1255 feet of home runs. That's almost a quarter mile. Pujols becomes the second player this postseason to hit 3 home runs in a game and joins Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only players ever to accomplish the feat in the World Series. Not bad company to be in. Game 4 is tomorrow night and both teams are going to be looking for their starters to go deep into the ball game after neither starter made it out of the 4th tonight.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
World Series Game 2 Running Diary
Tonight the Rangers and Cardinals will face off in Game 2 of the 2011 World Series and we're going with another running diary to commemorate the occasion. Here we go!
6:39 PM - We're about a half hour from the first pitch of Game 2 so we've got a little time to talk about what happened yesterday in Game 1. Even though I've got the Rangers winning the series in six games, I had the Cardinals winning last night. Chris Carpenter is far and away the best big game pitcher in the series. He's tied for the lead among active players with 8 postseason wins in his career and he's now 3-0 in the playoffs this year. On the flip side, C.J. Wilson has not been good in the playoffs at all this year (0-3, 7.17 ERA). But any advantage St. Louis has in starting pitching ends with Carpenter in my opinion. Tonight they'll trot out Jaime Garcia who hasn't won yet in the postseason (0-2, 5.74) and I imagine he'll have a much tougher time trying to quiet this Rangers lineup than his predecessor Carpenter did.
6:49 PM - Let's take a look at tonight's starting lineups:
TEXAS
Ian Kinsler 2B - 13/44 (.295), 1 HR, 9 RBI, 2 SB
Elvis Andrus SS - 8/42 (.190), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Josh Hamilton LF - 12/45 (.267), 0 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB
Michael Young 1B - 9/47 (.191), 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB
Adrian Beltre 3B - 12/46 (.261), 3 HR, 6 RBI, 0 SB
Nelson Cruz RF - 10/40 (.250), 6 HR, 13 RBI, 0 SB
Mike Napoli C - 13/40 (.325), 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB
Craig Gentry CF - 4/11 (.364), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 SB
Colby Lewis P - 1-1, 2 GS, 11 2/3 IP, 12 K, 3.86 ERA
ST. LOUIS
Rafael Furcal SS - 10/51 (.196), 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Jon Jay CF - 8/40 (.200), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB
Albert Pujols 1B - 18/45 (.400), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB
Lance Berkman RF - 11/42 (.262), 1 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB
Matt Holliday LF - 13/36 (.361), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 0 SB
David Freese 3B - 18/42 (.429), 4 HR, 14 RBI, 0 SB
Yadier Molina C - 12/47 (.255), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB
Nick Punto 2B - 4/23 (.174), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB
Jaime Garcia P - 0-2, 3 GS, 15 2/3 IP, 11 K, 5.74 ERA
6:54 PM - Trace Adkins on point with the National Anthem tonight.In honor of the 3-time Grammy Award Winner, here's the video for his baseball themed song "Swing".
7:05 PM - The 25 year old Garcia takes the hill for the Cards as we get set for the first pitch from St. Louis. After going 7 strong innings in the NLDS against Philadelphia, Garcia failed to get through 5 innings in both of his NLCS starts against Milwaukee. And the first pitch is a strike to Kinsler and we are underway.
7:09 PM - Garcia saws Hamilton's bat off at the handle to end the top of the first. The high powered Texas offense fails to hit a ball out of the infield.
7:12 PM - Colby Lewis toes the rubber as the Rangers Game 2 starter. Lewis won just 12 games in 5 seasons before spending 2008 and 2009 pitching in Japan. Since his return, he's won 26 games for the Rangers during the regular season and gone 4-1 in the postseason helping lead the Rangers to back-to-back World Series. He's also gone over 200 innings in each of the past two seasons for the Rangers.
7:16 PM - Two quick outs and here's Albert Pujols. And once again, this could be the last game Pujols ever plays for the Cardinals in St. Louis as there's no guarantee the series comes back to Busch Stadium. Pujols skies one to center and the inning is over.
7:22 PM - Back-to-back strikeouts for Garcia to start the second. He sure doesn't look like the guy who didn't throw a pitch in the sixth inning of either of his last two starts. That'll bring up Nelson Cruz, the ALCS MVP.
7:24 PM - Cruz hammers one down the left field line just foul and then flies out weakly to second baseman Nick Punto. Six up, six down, and no balls hit out of the infield for Texas.
7:29 PM - I'm not a machine, I'm just Albert. There's no way he doesn't stay a Cardinal, is there? It'd just feel wrong.
7:31 PM - After a Berkman strikeout, Matt Holliday draws a walk to become the game's first baserunner. Lewis still looking pretty good overall though.
7:34 PM - Lewis gets Yadier Molina to chase one up and away and end the second inning. Four hitless innings combined between Garcia and Lewis with a walk and four strikeouts so far.
7:40 PM - Garcia a little shakier in the 3rd giving up a rocket off the bat of Napoli right at David Freese, then falling behind Craig Gentry 3-0 before coming back to get a groundout. Still, at the end of three, he's gone nine up, nine down and only needed to throw 35 pitches.
7:48 PM - We almost saw a World Series game go hitless through the first three innings for the first time since 1998, but apparently Rafael Furcal had other plans as he doubles down the rightfield line with two outs for the first hit of the game.
7:50 PM - The double goes to waste though as Jon Jay grounds out to first to end the inning. 0-0 through three as we look to be in the middle of another classic National League style showdown.
7:53 PM - Who's going to be the first Ranger to hit the ball out of the infield? Everyone's had a chance, and nobody has succeeded. Kinsler leads off the fourth now as the Rangers get their second licks at Jaime Garcia.
7:54 PM - No perfect game tonight as Kinsler leads off the top of the 4th with a walk. The Rangers like to run, but Molina already gunned down Kinsler trying to steal in the first inning of Game 1. Not to mention the fact that Garcia is apparently very difficult to run on.
7:56 PM - Andrus basically whiffs on a bunt attempt which begs the question: How can you be in the major leagues and not be able to get a bunt down?? Especially as a two-hitter! It's called a sacrifice bunt! Do your job!
7:59 PM - Josh Hamilton's injured groin is clearly affecting him at the plate. His swing is all arms right now and he's just getting nothing on it. At what point to you shake the lineup up and put someone else in the 3 hole? Or do you just ride the guy who got your here? I think if it's me, I may make a change. Especially should Texas fail to win this game.
8:01 PM - And Michael Young loops one that just drops ahead of Jon Jay in center and the Rangers have their first hit of the game. Runners on the corners and two outs for Adrian Beltre. Beltre's been quiet this postseason with the exception of his three-homer explosion in Game 4 of the ALDS against Tampa. And Beltre drills a one-hop foul ball off of his teammate Kinsler at third. Whoops. Kinsler's a gamer though, he'll be all right.
8:03 PM - Three balls, two strikes, two outs. The payoff pitch to Beltre... swing and a miss, he struck him out! 4 scoreless from Garcia and he's now fanned Beltre twice. Pujols, Berkman, and Holliday due up for St. Louis.
8:08 PM - Berkman rolls one up the middle and Kinsler can't handle it on the backhand side and Berkman is aboard. Tough play for the Rangers second baseman, but the official scorers rule it an error, Kinsler's first of the postseason.
8:11 PM - Ohhhhhhhhh, pretty. Andrus to Kinsler who barehands the toss and flips to Young for the 6-4-3 double play and we are through 4 innings without a run. Who blinks first here? Are we destined for another Nelson Cruz 11th inning home run? Probably getting a little ahead of myself.
8:16 PM - WOW. Nelson Cruz just swung and missed at a ball in the dirt and the bat slipped out of his hands and wound up in the dugout. It's almost never good when the bat goes farther than the ball. One away in the 5th and that's four strikeouts for Garcia.
8:19 PM - Garcia fans Gentry to end the 5th. Another 1-2-3 inning for the Rangers, their fourth one of the night. What a performance from Garcia through the first 5 innings. One hits, one walk, five strikeouts. And most important, ZERO runs for the Rangers.
8:25 PM - Lewis hangs an 0-2 breaking ball and Nick Punto rips it through the right side for just the third hit of the game. Total. That brings up Garcia with two outs though. Garcia is 0 for 8 in the postseason this year, but he did hit a home run off of Milwaukee's Shaun Marcum during the regular season despite hitting just .097 (6/62).
8:27 PM - And he walked him! Maybe Lewis didn't see the part where I said Garcia hit just .097 during the regular season. You cannot walk the pitcher with two outs. Now the lineup turns over and you've got Furcal at the plate with a runner in scoring position.
8:29 PM - Woooooooooooooooo! Furcal smokes one up the middle but Andrus lays out for the diving stop, and flips it with his glove hitting Kinsler in stride and they get the force at second to end the inning. Unbelievable play. You'll be seeing that on Sportscenter later for sure! That's two terrific plays by Andrus at short and we're scoreless through 5.
8:34 PM - Kinsler's on board with a single through the left side, but turnabout is fair play as Andrus rolls one to Furcal at short and now it's St. Louis's turn to go 6-4-3 for the double play to end the inning. Six scoreless innings from Garcia now.
8:39 PM - Every time Albert Pujols steps up to the plate, I think of this moment and how quickly he can turn a game around...
8:42 PM - Nothing doing here though. Lewis does a great job pitching to him and Pujols rolls a grounder to third. The machine is now 0 for 3 tonight. He was actually hitless in Game 1 as well going 0 for 2.
8:45 PM - Lewis fans Berkman and now we're through six and we're STILL scoreless. Hamilton, Young and Beltre due up for the Rangers in the 7th.
8:47 PM - Josh Hamilton continues to look miserable at the plate as Garcia strikes him out. That's 7 K's for the lefty tonight. All seven have been swinging.
8:49 PM - Beltre finally solves Garcia after fanning twice shooting one past a diving Furcal and the Rangers have a man on with two outs for Mr. Cruz. Lance Lynn up and throwing in the Cardinal pen.
8:52 PM - Cruz works the count to 3 and 1, but flies out harmlessly to right. 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts for Garcia. Time for the 7th inning stretch. Did anyone have this game being 0-0 through 6 and a half innings?
8:58 PM - Lewis throws an 89 mile per hour heater past Matt Holliday for the first out in the 7th. Pujols, Berkman and Holliday are a combined 0 for 8 against Lewis tonight with a walk and 3 strikeouts.
8:59 PM - Freese drops one in front of Gentry for a single and the Cardinal third baseman has now hit in 12 straight postseason games. The NLCS MVP went 0 for 3 in Game 1 of the NLDS against Roy Halladay and the Phillies, but has hit safely in every game since then.
9:01 PM - Last night's hero Allen Craig is in the on-deck circle, so if Nick Punto reaches, it looks like Jaime Garcia's night is done.
9:01 PM - Punto rips one off of Michael Young's glove and into right field, and we've got runners at the corners and two outs. And now we're in the same spot we were in last night. Ron Washington is going to the bullpen for Alexi Ogando and once again he'll face Allen Craig in a tie game. Has any pinch hitter ever driven in the winning runs of consecutive World Series games before? Will it happen now?
9:03 PM - Lewis leaves having thrown 6 2/3 innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks and striking out 4. Definitely nothing for him to be ashamed of there. Heck of a performance from Colby Lewis. We'll see if Ogando can pick him up here and get the Rangers out of this jam and back into the dugout.
9:05 PM - Ogando, an all star as a starter this year (9-3, 2.92 ERA at the all star break), has been lights out in the bullpen in the postseason. While he did give up Craig's rbi single last night, he has an ERA of 0.84 over 8 appearances in the postseason with a record of 2-0.
9:06 PM - And Craig does it again! Ogando goes low and away with a fastball and Craig drives it into right for an rbi single. That's two games in a row! 1-0 Cardinals and here's Furcal.
9:10 PM - Ogando gets Furcal to hit into a fielder's choice, but the damage is done. And now the game is in the hands of the Cardinal bullpen.
9:13 PM - Daniel Descalso comes into the game for Freese at third and your new pitcher in the 8th is Fernando Salas, the Cardinals closer for the majority of the season before losing his job in September to Jason Motte. Mike Napoli to lead things off for Texas.
9:14 PM - Napoli swings and misses at a knuckle-curve for strike three and there's one away here in the 8th.
9:15 PM - And that's all for Salas who did his job. David Murphy, the lefty, comes in to hit for Gentry and Larussa counters by bringing in Marc Rzcpeps... Rzcepskzsczc... Rzcpczpcpzcpzcpzski... hold on, I can do this... Marc Rzepczynski. "Scrabble" faced two batters in last night's game, both righties, with two runners on in the 7th and fanned both of them.
9:18 PM - And Murphy is erased as Washington counters the counter from Larussa by bringing in Yorvit Torrealba.
9:20 PM - Unimpressive three pitch at bat for Torrealba as "Scrabble" gets him to chase a slider in the dirt for the second out. And now we're going to see another pinch hitter. Esteban German, who hadn't gotten an at bat since September 25th before pinch hitting last night. And German hits the first pitch to Pujols for the third out. And just like that, St. Louis, who wasn't even supposed to make the playoffs, is just 3 outs away from taking a 2-0 lead in the World Series. And Texas, the team with "the most complete roster in baseball", finds themselves having scored just 2 runs in 17 innings after plating 15 in the ALCS clincher.
9:24 PM - Endy Chavez now becomes the 4th man to enter the 8 spot for the Rangers as he'll replace Torrealba who replaced Murphy who replaced Gentry as the new centerfielder. Meanwhile, Mike Adams - the former Padre - takes over on the mound.
9:25 PM - And inevitably the first ball hit goes to Chavez. One away, and here's Pujols again, still looking for his first hit of the World Series.
9:26 PM - Pujols hits one to the fence out in right that misses going out by like a foot, but Nelson Cruz is there to reel it in. Two away and that'll bring up Berkman. Meanwhile, Jason Motte getting loose in the Cardinal bullpen. Motte has set down 22 hitters in a row in the postseason.
9:30 PM - Berkman hits one past a diving Kinsler and that'll bring up Holliday with two away and a chance to extend the lead. Adams, acquired from San Diego at the trade deadline, finished the year with an ERA of 1.47 and has 4 holds for the Rangers in the postseason.
9:34 PM - The payoff pitch to Holliday... and it misses outside for ball four. And here comes the pitching coach Mike Maddux. For those of you who don't know, that's the older brother of all-time great Greg Maddux.
9:37 PM - Descalso grounds out to second and that ends the threat. Here comes Jason Motte to try and close things out. Fear the Beard! He'll see the top of the order for Texas as Kinsler, Andrus and Hamilton are due up in the 9th.
9:40 PM - Skip Schumaker into the game as a defensive replacement for Berkman in right. And here we go. Three outs away from a Cardinal win...
9:42 PM - And the streak is over. Kinsler dumps one in front of the no-doubles defense and the leadoff man is aboard here in the 9th. Kinsler has reached base three times tonight. Every other Ranger combined? Twice.
9:43 PM - WOW. GUTSY call right there as Kinsler steals second base. And when I say he was JUST in there. I mean he was JUST in there. So now the tying run is in scoring position with nobody out with Andrus at the plate. The bunt is off though with 2 strikes on him already. Andrus has done it with the glove tonight, let's see if he can have himself a good at bat right here.
9:46 PM - And Andrus delivers a line drive single in front of Jay sending Kinsler to third, and Jay's goes home allowing Andrus to move up to second base. Second and third, nobody out for Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and Adrian Beltre. Let's see what Jason Motte is REALLY made of. Rangers need a run here.
9:49 PM - Or not. Larussa's making another move to the bullpen where the ex-Ranger - as in he played for the Rangers this August - Arthur Rhodes is coming into the game to face Josh Hamilton. So no blown save for Motte even though he's put the winning run in scoring position.
9:52 PM - And we're all tied up. Hamilton hits the first pitch he sees for a sacrifice fly to right that not only scores Kinsler from third, but moves Andrus 90 feet away from home. And out comes Larussa again, and the 41 year old Rhodes's night is over after just one pitch. Enter reliever number 5 for St. Louis as rookie Lance Lynn enters the game to face the righty Michael Young.
9:55 PM - Lynn appeared in 5 of the 6 games in the NLCS against Milwaukee and didn't allow a run in 5 1/3 innings. He quickly falls behind Young 3-0 though.
9:57 PM - The sacrifice fly may not be one of the more exciting plays in baseball, but it sure gets the job done. Young hits a 3-2 offering from Lynn into centerfield, deep enough to easily score Andrus and the Rangers have their first lead of the series and it comes with two outs in the 9th inning of Game 2. Beltre grounds out and now it's the Cardinals who find themselves three outs away from a loss. Molina, Punto and Schumaker due up for the Cardinals and they'll be facing the Rangers closer Neftali Feliz. The 23 year old Dominican has 4 saves of his own to go along with a 1.17 ERA in 7 appearances this postseason.
10:01 PM - 100 miles per hour from Feliz on the first to Molina. Nowhere near the strike zone though... 99 miles per hour, another ball... 97 miles per hour, 3 and 0... There's a strike at 98... And a leadoff walk for Molina. Those leadoff walks will kill you. Molina will exit for a pinch runner. And it's Gerald Laird who's going to do the running. Only Ryan Theriot left on the St. Louis bench as far as position players are concerned.
10:03 PM - Back to back failed bunt attempts from Punto. FUNDAMENTALS!!!
10:05 PM - And now he strikes out on a 99 mile per hour fastball up and out of the zone. Awful at bat from Nick Punto right there. One away and that'll bring up Schumaker.
10:08 PM - Feliz blows away Schumaker with a 98 mile per hour fastball down and in, and now there are two away. Laird still standing on first base. Rafael Furcal stepping in as the last chance for St. Louis.
10:10 PM - And the Rangers win Game 2! Furcal hits a lazy flyball to right field for the final out and this series is all tied up at 1 as we had to Arlington for the next three games. Mike Adams is your winning pitcher, Jason Motte your loser, and Neftali Feliz gets his 5th save of the playoffs. Another really well played game from both sides. Hard to believe we've only seen 8 runs scored TOTAL in the first two games of this series. Can't say enough about the work by Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus up the middle for the Rangers. Great starting pitching from both sides. Just a really good game in what's shaping up to be a really good series. Game 3 is Saturday. More on this game to come! Thus concludes the running commentary for Game 2.
6:39 PM - We're about a half hour from the first pitch of Game 2 so we've got a little time to talk about what happened yesterday in Game 1. Even though I've got the Rangers winning the series in six games, I had the Cardinals winning last night. Chris Carpenter is far and away the best big game pitcher in the series. He's tied for the lead among active players with 8 postseason wins in his career and he's now 3-0 in the playoffs this year. On the flip side, C.J. Wilson has not been good in the playoffs at all this year (0-3, 7.17 ERA). But any advantage St. Louis has in starting pitching ends with Carpenter in my opinion. Tonight they'll trot out Jaime Garcia who hasn't won yet in the postseason (0-2, 5.74) and I imagine he'll have a much tougher time trying to quiet this Rangers lineup than his predecessor Carpenter did.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
6:49 PM - Let's take a look at tonight's starting lineups:
TEXAS
Ian Kinsler 2B - 13/44 (.295), 1 HR, 9 RBI, 2 SB
Elvis Andrus SS - 8/42 (.190), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Josh Hamilton LF - 12/45 (.267), 0 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB
Michael Young 1B - 9/47 (.191), 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB
Adrian Beltre 3B - 12/46 (.261), 3 HR, 6 RBI, 0 SB
Nelson Cruz RF - 10/40 (.250), 6 HR, 13 RBI, 0 SB
Mike Napoli C - 13/40 (.325), 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB
Craig Gentry CF - 4/11 (.364), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 SB
Colby Lewis P - 1-1, 2 GS, 11 2/3 IP, 12 K, 3.86 ERA
ST. LOUIS
Rafael Furcal SS - 10/51 (.196), 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Jon Jay CF - 8/40 (.200), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB
Albert Pujols 1B - 18/45 (.400), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB
Lance Berkman RF - 11/42 (.262), 1 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB
Matt Holliday LF - 13/36 (.361), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 0 SB
David Freese 3B - 18/42 (.429), 4 HR, 14 RBI, 0 SB
Yadier Molina C - 12/47 (.255), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB
Nick Punto 2B - 4/23 (.174), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB
Jaime Garcia P - 0-2, 3 GS, 15 2/3 IP, 11 K, 5.74 ERA
6:54 PM - Trace Adkins on point with the National Anthem tonight.In honor of the 3-time Grammy Award Winner, here's the video for his baseball themed song "Swing".
7:05 PM - The 25 year old Garcia takes the hill for the Cards as we get set for the first pitch from St. Louis. After going 7 strong innings in the NLDS against Philadelphia, Garcia failed to get through 5 innings in both of his NLCS starts against Milwaukee. And the first pitch is a strike to Kinsler and we are underway.
7:09 PM - Garcia saws Hamilton's bat off at the handle to end the top of the first. The high powered Texas offense fails to hit a ball out of the infield.
7:12 PM - Colby Lewis toes the rubber as the Rangers Game 2 starter. Lewis won just 12 games in 5 seasons before spending 2008 and 2009 pitching in Japan. Since his return, he's won 26 games for the Rangers during the regular season and gone 4-1 in the postseason helping lead the Rangers to back-to-back World Series. He's also gone over 200 innings in each of the past two seasons for the Rangers.
7:16 PM - Two quick outs and here's Albert Pujols. And once again, this could be the last game Pujols ever plays for the Cardinals in St. Louis as there's no guarantee the series comes back to Busch Stadium. Pujols skies one to center and the inning is over.
7:22 PM - Back-to-back strikeouts for Garcia to start the second. He sure doesn't look like the guy who didn't throw a pitch in the sixth inning of either of his last two starts. That'll bring up Nelson Cruz, the ALCS MVP.
7:24 PM - Cruz hammers one down the left field line just foul and then flies out weakly to second baseman Nick Punto. Six up, six down, and no balls hit out of the infield for Texas.
7:29 PM - I'm not a machine, I'm just Albert. There's no way he doesn't stay a Cardinal, is there? It'd just feel wrong.
7:31 PM - After a Berkman strikeout, Matt Holliday draws a walk to become the game's first baserunner. Lewis still looking pretty good overall though.
7:34 PM - Lewis gets Yadier Molina to chase one up and away and end the second inning. Four hitless innings combined between Garcia and Lewis with a walk and four strikeouts so far.
7:40 PM - Garcia a little shakier in the 3rd giving up a rocket off the bat of Napoli right at David Freese, then falling behind Craig Gentry 3-0 before coming back to get a groundout. Still, at the end of three, he's gone nine up, nine down and only needed to throw 35 pitches.
7:48 PM - We almost saw a World Series game go hitless through the first three innings for the first time since 1998, but apparently Rafael Furcal had other plans as he doubles down the rightfield line with two outs for the first hit of the game.
7:50 PM - The double goes to waste though as Jon Jay grounds out to first to end the inning. 0-0 through three as we look to be in the middle of another classic National League style showdown.
7:53 PM - Who's going to be the first Ranger to hit the ball out of the infield? Everyone's had a chance, and nobody has succeeded. Kinsler leads off the fourth now as the Rangers get their second licks at Jaime Garcia.
7:54 PM - No perfect game tonight as Kinsler leads off the top of the 4th with a walk. The Rangers like to run, but Molina already gunned down Kinsler trying to steal in the first inning of Game 1. Not to mention the fact that Garcia is apparently very difficult to run on.
7:56 PM - Andrus basically whiffs on a bunt attempt which begs the question: How can you be in the major leagues and not be able to get a bunt down?? Especially as a two-hitter! It's called a sacrifice bunt! Do your job!
7:59 PM - Josh Hamilton's injured groin is clearly affecting him at the plate. His swing is all arms right now and he's just getting nothing on it. At what point to you shake the lineup up and put someone else in the 3 hole? Or do you just ride the guy who got your here? I think if it's me, I may make a change. Especially should Texas fail to win this game.
8:01 PM - And Michael Young loops one that just drops ahead of Jon Jay in center and the Rangers have their first hit of the game. Runners on the corners and two outs for Adrian Beltre. Beltre's been quiet this postseason with the exception of his three-homer explosion in Game 4 of the ALDS against Tampa. And Beltre drills a one-hop foul ball off of his teammate Kinsler at third. Whoops. Kinsler's a gamer though, he'll be all right.
8:03 PM - Three balls, two strikes, two outs. The payoff pitch to Beltre... swing and a miss, he struck him out! 4 scoreless from Garcia and he's now fanned Beltre twice. Pujols, Berkman, and Holliday due up for St. Louis.
8:08 PM - Berkman rolls one up the middle and Kinsler can't handle it on the backhand side and Berkman is aboard. Tough play for the Rangers second baseman, but the official scorers rule it an error, Kinsler's first of the postseason.
8:11 PM - Ohhhhhhhhh, pretty. Andrus to Kinsler who barehands the toss and flips to Young for the 6-4-3 double play and we are through 4 innings without a run. Who blinks first here? Are we destined for another Nelson Cruz 11th inning home run? Probably getting a little ahead of myself.
8:16 PM - WOW. Nelson Cruz just swung and missed at a ball in the dirt and the bat slipped out of his hands and wound up in the dugout. It's almost never good when the bat goes farther than the ball. One away in the 5th and that's four strikeouts for Garcia.
8:19 PM - Garcia fans Gentry to end the 5th. Another 1-2-3 inning for the Rangers, their fourth one of the night. What a performance from Garcia through the first 5 innings. One hits, one walk, five strikeouts. And most important, ZERO runs for the Rangers.
8:25 PM - Lewis hangs an 0-2 breaking ball and Nick Punto rips it through the right side for just the third hit of the game. Total. That brings up Garcia with two outs though. Garcia is 0 for 8 in the postseason this year, but he did hit a home run off of Milwaukee's Shaun Marcum during the regular season despite hitting just .097 (6/62).
8:27 PM - And he walked him! Maybe Lewis didn't see the part where I said Garcia hit just .097 during the regular season. You cannot walk the pitcher with two outs. Now the lineup turns over and you've got Furcal at the plate with a runner in scoring position.
8:29 PM - Woooooooooooooooo! Furcal smokes one up the middle but Andrus lays out for the diving stop, and flips it with his glove hitting Kinsler in stride and they get the force at second to end the inning. Unbelievable play. You'll be seeing that on Sportscenter later for sure! That's two terrific plays by Andrus at short and we're scoreless through 5.
8:34 PM - Kinsler's on board with a single through the left side, but turnabout is fair play as Andrus rolls one to Furcal at short and now it's St. Louis's turn to go 6-4-3 for the double play to end the inning. Six scoreless innings from Garcia now.
8:39 PM - Every time Albert Pujols steps up to the plate, I think of this moment and how quickly he can turn a game around...
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| Photo Credit: sullybaseball.blogspot.com |
8:45 PM - Lewis fans Berkman and now we're through six and we're STILL scoreless. Hamilton, Young and Beltre due up for the Rangers in the 7th.
8:47 PM - Josh Hamilton continues to look miserable at the plate as Garcia strikes him out. That's 7 K's for the lefty tonight. All seven have been swinging.
8:49 PM - Beltre finally solves Garcia after fanning twice shooting one past a diving Furcal and the Rangers have a man on with two outs for Mr. Cruz. Lance Lynn up and throwing in the Cardinal pen.
8:52 PM - Cruz works the count to 3 and 1, but flies out harmlessly to right. 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts for Garcia. Time for the 7th inning stretch. Did anyone have this game being 0-0 through 6 and a half innings?
8:58 PM - Lewis throws an 89 mile per hour heater past Matt Holliday for the first out in the 7th. Pujols, Berkman and Holliday are a combined 0 for 8 against Lewis tonight with a walk and 3 strikeouts.
8:59 PM - Freese drops one in front of Gentry for a single and the Cardinal third baseman has now hit in 12 straight postseason games. The NLCS MVP went 0 for 3 in Game 1 of the NLDS against Roy Halladay and the Phillies, but has hit safely in every game since then.
9:01 PM - Last night's hero Allen Craig is in the on-deck circle, so if Nick Punto reaches, it looks like Jaime Garcia's night is done.
9:01 PM - Punto rips one off of Michael Young's glove and into right field, and we've got runners at the corners and two outs. And now we're in the same spot we were in last night. Ron Washington is going to the bullpen for Alexi Ogando and once again he'll face Allen Craig in a tie game. Has any pinch hitter ever driven in the winning runs of consecutive World Series games before? Will it happen now?
9:03 PM - Lewis leaves having thrown 6 2/3 innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks and striking out 4. Definitely nothing for him to be ashamed of there. Heck of a performance from Colby Lewis. We'll see if Ogando can pick him up here and get the Rangers out of this jam and back into the dugout.
9:05 PM - Ogando, an all star as a starter this year (9-3, 2.92 ERA at the all star break), has been lights out in the bullpen in the postseason. While he did give up Craig's rbi single last night, he has an ERA of 0.84 over 8 appearances in the postseason with a record of 2-0.
9:06 PM - And Craig does it again! Ogando goes low and away with a fastball and Craig drives it into right for an rbi single. That's two games in a row! 1-0 Cardinals and here's Furcal.
9:10 PM - Ogando gets Furcal to hit into a fielder's choice, but the damage is done. And now the game is in the hands of the Cardinal bullpen.
9:13 PM - Daniel Descalso comes into the game for Freese at third and your new pitcher in the 8th is Fernando Salas, the Cardinals closer for the majority of the season before losing his job in September to Jason Motte. Mike Napoli to lead things off for Texas.
9:14 PM - Napoli swings and misses at a knuckle-curve for strike three and there's one away here in the 8th.
9:15 PM - And that's all for Salas who did his job. David Murphy, the lefty, comes in to hit for Gentry and Larussa counters by bringing in Marc Rzcpeps... Rzcepskzsczc... Rzcpczpcpzcpzcpzski... hold on, I can do this... Marc Rzepczynski. "Scrabble" faced two batters in last night's game, both righties, with two runners on in the 7th and fanned both of them.
9:18 PM - And Murphy is erased as Washington counters the counter from Larussa by bringing in Yorvit Torrealba.
9:20 PM - Unimpressive three pitch at bat for Torrealba as "Scrabble" gets him to chase a slider in the dirt for the second out. And now we're going to see another pinch hitter. Esteban German, who hadn't gotten an at bat since September 25th before pinch hitting last night. And German hits the first pitch to Pujols for the third out. And just like that, St. Louis, who wasn't even supposed to make the playoffs, is just 3 outs away from taking a 2-0 lead in the World Series. And Texas, the team with "the most complete roster in baseball", finds themselves having scored just 2 runs in 17 innings after plating 15 in the ALCS clincher.
9:24 PM - Endy Chavez now becomes the 4th man to enter the 8 spot for the Rangers as he'll replace Torrealba who replaced Murphy who replaced Gentry as the new centerfielder. Meanwhile, Mike Adams - the former Padre - takes over on the mound.
9:25 PM - And inevitably the first ball hit goes to Chavez. One away, and here's Pujols again, still looking for his first hit of the World Series.
9:26 PM - Pujols hits one to the fence out in right that misses going out by like a foot, but Nelson Cruz is there to reel it in. Two away and that'll bring up Berkman. Meanwhile, Jason Motte getting loose in the Cardinal bullpen. Motte has set down 22 hitters in a row in the postseason.
9:30 PM - Berkman hits one past a diving Kinsler and that'll bring up Holliday with two away and a chance to extend the lead. Adams, acquired from San Diego at the trade deadline, finished the year with an ERA of 1.47 and has 4 holds for the Rangers in the postseason.
9:34 PM - The payoff pitch to Holliday... and it misses outside for ball four. And here comes the pitching coach Mike Maddux. For those of you who don't know, that's the older brother of all-time great Greg Maddux.
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| Photo Credit: sportsillustrated.cnn.com |
9:37 PM - Descalso grounds out to second and that ends the threat. Here comes Jason Motte to try and close things out. Fear the Beard! He'll see the top of the order for Texas as Kinsler, Andrus and Hamilton are due up in the 9th.
9:40 PM - Skip Schumaker into the game as a defensive replacement for Berkman in right. And here we go. Three outs away from a Cardinal win...
9:42 PM - And the streak is over. Kinsler dumps one in front of the no-doubles defense and the leadoff man is aboard here in the 9th. Kinsler has reached base three times tonight. Every other Ranger combined? Twice.
9:43 PM - WOW. GUTSY call right there as Kinsler steals second base. And when I say he was JUST in there. I mean he was JUST in there. So now the tying run is in scoring position with nobody out with Andrus at the plate. The bunt is off though with 2 strikes on him already. Andrus has done it with the glove tonight, let's see if he can have himself a good at bat right here.
9:46 PM - And Andrus delivers a line drive single in front of Jay sending Kinsler to third, and Jay's goes home allowing Andrus to move up to second base. Second and third, nobody out for Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and Adrian Beltre. Let's see what Jason Motte is REALLY made of. Rangers need a run here.
9:49 PM - Or not. Larussa's making another move to the bullpen where the ex-Ranger - as in he played for the Rangers this August - Arthur Rhodes is coming into the game to face Josh Hamilton. So no blown save for Motte even though he's put the winning run in scoring position.
9:52 PM - And we're all tied up. Hamilton hits the first pitch he sees for a sacrifice fly to right that not only scores Kinsler from third, but moves Andrus 90 feet away from home. And out comes Larussa again, and the 41 year old Rhodes's night is over after just one pitch. Enter reliever number 5 for St. Louis as rookie Lance Lynn enters the game to face the righty Michael Young.
9:55 PM - Lynn appeared in 5 of the 6 games in the NLCS against Milwaukee and didn't allow a run in 5 1/3 innings. He quickly falls behind Young 3-0 though.
9:57 PM - The sacrifice fly may not be one of the more exciting plays in baseball, but it sure gets the job done. Young hits a 3-2 offering from Lynn into centerfield, deep enough to easily score Andrus and the Rangers have their first lead of the series and it comes with two outs in the 9th inning of Game 2. Beltre grounds out and now it's the Cardinals who find themselves three outs away from a loss. Molina, Punto and Schumaker due up for the Cardinals and they'll be facing the Rangers closer Neftali Feliz. The 23 year old Dominican has 4 saves of his own to go along with a 1.17 ERA in 7 appearances this postseason.
10:01 PM - 100 miles per hour from Feliz on the first to Molina. Nowhere near the strike zone though... 99 miles per hour, another ball... 97 miles per hour, 3 and 0... There's a strike at 98... And a leadoff walk for Molina. Those leadoff walks will kill you. Molina will exit for a pinch runner. And it's Gerald Laird who's going to do the running. Only Ryan Theriot left on the St. Louis bench as far as position players are concerned.
10:03 PM - Back to back failed bunt attempts from Punto. FUNDAMENTALS!!!
10:05 PM - And now he strikes out on a 99 mile per hour fastball up and out of the zone. Awful at bat from Nick Punto right there. One away and that'll bring up Schumaker.
10:08 PM - Feliz blows away Schumaker with a 98 mile per hour fastball down and in, and now there are two away. Laird still standing on first base. Rafael Furcal stepping in as the last chance for St. Louis.
10:10 PM - And the Rangers win Game 2! Furcal hits a lazy flyball to right field for the final out and this series is all tied up at 1 as we had to Arlington for the next three games. Mike Adams is your winning pitcher, Jason Motte your loser, and Neftali Feliz gets his 5th save of the playoffs. Another really well played game from both sides. Hard to believe we've only seen 8 runs scored TOTAL in the first two games of this series. Can't say enough about the work by Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus up the middle for the Rangers. Great starting pitching from both sides. Just a really good game in what's shaping up to be a really good series. Game 3 is Saturday. More on this game to come! Thus concludes the running commentary for Game 2.
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