World Series Recap: Game 3

Yesterday’s game in Arlington pitted Jonathan Sanchez against Colby Lewis. Sanchez has had problems with his consistency, although after attending his no-hitter last season, I can tell you that when he’s on, he’s really on. Lewis was a nobody with the Rangers, Tigers, and A’s from 2002-07 before plying his trade in Japan for three seasons. His performance in Japan ignited a bidding war for his services when he decided to come back stateside in 2010, and he’s been worth every penny so far.

Sanchez was pretty wild this game, as he didn’t have an inning without a baserunner all night. In the second, he got burned as Nelson Cruz led off with a double. After advancing to third on a groundout and being forced to stay put on another, Cruz was joined on the bags by Bengie Molina after a two-out walk. That should be surprising. Molina’s a very tough guy to walk, although he has been a big more patient this year (5.8% BB rate in the regular season, more than double his 2.5% in 2009). Mitch Moreland, hitting in the nine spot, made Sanchez pay for the walk, drilling a 3-run shot to right on the ninth pitch of his at-bat.

The Rangers would tack on in the fifth, as Josh Hamilton hammered a ball into the second deck in right-center to make it a four-run lead. After a four-pitch walk to Vladimir Guerrero, Sanchez’s day was over, as Guillermo Mota came in for the final out of the inning. Guerrero tried to steal, but Buster Posey gunned him out at second to end the 5^th. 

The Giants would mount a comeback, with Cody Ross bombing a solo shot off of Lewis with one out in the 7^th, and Andres Torres following him with another solo shot with one gone in the 8^th. After hitting Aubrey Huff, Lewis’ day was over with two down in the 8^th, and the Rangers’ bullpen finished this game off, with Neftali Feliz striking out two in the ninth for the save.

Let’s see it by the numbers.

Giants vs. Rangers

WPA Leader: Colby Lewis (.266)

Lewis’ 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball came on five hits and two walks, and he was able to rack up six strikeouts. Mitch Moreland gets the honorable mention, as his home run put his total WPA at .220, making him the offensive star of this contest.

Biggest Plays

Not surprisingly, Moreland’s 3-run jack was the biggest swing in this game, with a .238 WPA for Texas. Hamilton, Ross, and Torres’ solo shots, as well as Nelson Cruz’s leadoff double in the 2^nd, all hovered around the .05 WPA range.

The Goat

Sanchez’s poor outing resulted in a -.165 WPA. He could only muster 4 2/3 frames of 4-run ball. He allowed six hits, including two that left the yard, as well as three walks. He was clearly overmatched against the Rangers’ hard-hitting and righty-heavy lineup, and playing in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball didn’t help his cause.

My World Series Experience

My Travels

Getting to the City by the Bay for the game became something of a production. I was originally scheduled to fly Delta home on Tuesday night before flying back to Ann Arbor on Friday morning. However, my father mistakenly made reservations for me on flights for Tuesday and Friday of next week, which I only realized when printing out my tickets on Tuesday afternoon. I was switched to a flight on Wednesday morning, but both my alarm clock and my phone decided that would be a great day to not wake me up. I rushed to the airport to attempt to find another flight, but Delta’s flights were booked. I freaked out for a few minutes, trying every possible angle, before the nice woman behind the counter found a US Airways flight for me. I literally jumped over the counter and gave the (quite startled) woman a huge hug before running off to catch my flight to Phoenix. My arrival gate in Phoenix was switched, so while I expected to walk two gates down to reach my departure gate to San Francisco, my Phoenix experience turned out to be a two-terminal sprint to make my connection. I cut by old women in wheelchairs and burst through holes between families of six. Barry Sanders would have been proud. I made my flight and met my father at the airport in SF. We headed directly to the stadium, ready for game 1. Giants baseball is synonymous with torture, so my travel plans needed to involve just a little bit. 

The Festivities

The Giants’ organization really went all out for this series. For both games, the National Anthem was accompanied by dozens of Giants fans unfurling a huge flag covering most of the outfield, fireworks from the centerfield scoreboard, and a flyover by four jets. Each singer for the Anthem or God Bless America was better than the last, with John Legend performing the Anthem for game 1 and the legendary Tony Bennett (“I Left My Heart In San Francisco”) performing his San Franciscan anthem as well as God Bless America. Various Bay Area celebrities were shown onscreen, with Joe Montana and Lars Ulrich (Metallica’s drummer) receiving impassioned standing ovations from the crowd. Steve Perry (lead singer of Journey) got some roaring applause as well as the stadium speakers pumped Journey’s “Lights.” Perry sang and danced along, as did many of my fellow fans in the leftfield bleachers. 

The Atmosphere

The only way to describe it is that there’s Orange Fever in San Francisco’s water. Never have I seen my city so galvanized, so excited, so absolutely insane, as I did when going home for these three days. Everywhere you go, people are decked out in Orange and Black. A Giants cap is a temporary part of the uniform at many restaurants and other establishments throughout the city, and the amount of businessmen in black suits and orange ties was simply amazing. There was a guy in a chicken suit, a Santa, a man in a huge orange-and-black ghillie suit, and predictably a large panda in my section alone. San Francisco is going nuts, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. 

The Celebration

In game 1, the crowd got a little quiet after Tim Lincecum looked shaky early. However, as the team staged a comeback, the buzz began to grow, and when the Giants tied the game and took the lead the crowd went wild. However, that didn’t even come close to comparing to what happened next. Juan Uribe’s three-run jack left the yard, and nearly every fan in the stadium simultaneously screamed and jumped for joy. The rest of game 1 was filled with revelry and basically just a lot of yelling. 

Game 1, however, couldn’t hold a candle to game 2. Edgar Renteria’s home run seemed to set fire to the crowd, and the entire stadium erupted as Renteria rounded the bags. As the Giants tacked on run after run, calls from the bleachers came to stick the knife in and twist it, putting this game out of reach. When Guillermo Mota recorded the final out of the game, the park went into a frenzy. Many, including myself, stood on the bleachers to sing the Giants’ traditional victory songs, Blur’s Song 2 followed by Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Walking out into Willie Mays Plaza, fans crowded around CSN Bay Area’s desk, chanting and screaming. When I got home, I told my dad my hand hurt from high-fiving random people outside the park. I was only half kidding.

So there you go. My first playoff experience, games 1 and 2 of the 2010 World Series, was simply amazing. Not much more I can say, except that it certainly helped that the Giants won both games. The remaining five games of this series should be great, and I can’t wait to see what happens tonight.

World Series Recap: Game 2

Yesterday’s World Series game 2, which took place under the lights of San Francisco’s AT&T Park,  pitted the Giants’ Matt Cain against the Rangers’ CJ Wilson. With the Giants up 1-0 after their game 1 win, Cain was looking to give his team a commanding two-game lead in the series while Wilson looked to even it up going back to Arlington for game 3. 

For much of the beginning of this game, we saw the pitcher’s duel many (including myself) predicted for game 1. Through 4 innings, Wilson had allowed only a Cody Ross double, a Matt Cain single, and a Pat Burrell walk, while Cain allowed just a Mitch Moreland single, and the game remained scoreless. 

Texas nearly opened the scoring in the 5^th, as Ian Kinsler led off by blasting a ball to deep centerfield. Andres Torres looked up and watched as the ball flew over his head and improbably bounced off of the very top of the wall and back into play. I’ve never seen a play like that before, live or otherwise. Your San Francisco Giants: Torture. Torres played the ball off the wall and held Kinsler to a double. Cain got two quick outs and walked Mitch Moreland to face Wilson, against whom Cain induced a groundout to strand Kinsler at second. 

The game would not remain scoreless for long, as in the bottom of the inning, Edgar Renteria curled a ball just around the leftfield foul pole for a solo home run. This one wasn’t coming back, and the Giants took a 1-0 lead. 

Cain kept cruising, and the Giants would double their lead in the 7^th. Cody Ross walked against CJ Wilson to lead off the inning. Wilson then had a quick consultation on the mound with Ron Washington before making the long walk back to the dugout, forced out by a blister. Darren Oliver got Huff to ground out, but Ross advanced to second on the play. Juan Uribe followed with a single to score Ross and make this a 2-0 game, but despite advancing to second on the play, Uribe was stranded by consecutive strikeouts from Renteria and Cain. 

Cain would get two outs in the 8^th before Bruce Bochy decided to play matchups and use lefty-killer Javier Lopez against Josh Hamilton with Elvis Andrus on second after a walk and stolen base. The switch worked, as Lopez got Hamilton to fly out to keep Cain’s shutout intact.

In the bottom of the 8^th, things really got interesting. Darren O’Day got two strikeouts from Torres and Sanchez to lead off the inning. O’Day allowed a single to Buster Posey and was pulled in favor of Derek Holland. Holland is an extremely talented young pitcher, and I have no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him, but something got into him last night. He got an acute case of the jitters in his first World Series appearance, throwing 11 straight balls and walking Nate Schierholtz and Cody Ross on four pitches each. He then went to 3-0 on Aubrey Huff before throwing a strike, but he couldn’t repeat the feat, walking Huff to score Posey. Holland left after throwing 12 balls and only a single strike. Mark Lowe relieved him, and Juan Uribe worked a full count and took another walk to walk in a second straight run. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s 5 straight walks from the Rangers’ bullpen and 2 runs in. Lowe then allowed an Edgar Renteria single into left, scoring two. Mike Kirkman came in to face pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand, who welcomed him with a line drive into triples alley. The hit scored both runners and was true to the name of right-centerfield, as Rowand ended up on third. Andres Torres doubled to score Rowand and make the score 9-0 before Kirkman mercifully ended the inning by striking out Freddy Sanchez, Sanchez’s second K of the inning. Guillermo Mota came in and allowed no more than a two-out walk, ending the game and giving the Giants the victory. 

Let’s break it down.

Giants vs. Rangers:

WPA Leader: Matt Cain (.468)

The man they call “Shotgun” certainly blew a hole in the Rangers’ lineup last night, going 7 and two-thirds innings and allowing only 4 hits to earn the win. Though for the second straight night a Giants’ ace was not able to accrue the gaudy strikeout totals Giants fans have come to expect (Cain only recorded 2 K’s, both of Nelson Cruz), Cain was dominant in giving the Giants the 2-0 lead in the series. With 21 1/3,  he's now the owner of the longest playoff scoreless innings streak in Giants history since Walter Hoyt had 27 in 1921. Renteria was the outstanding offensive player, with a .131 WPA on his home run to open the scoring and two-run single in the 8^th. No, this doesn’t change how I feel about him, but congratulations to Renteria on as big an offensive day as he can ever expect to have.

Biggest Plays:

Renteria’s home run pulled a .162 WPA, opening the scoring in the 5^th. Uribe’s single to score the second run of the game went for a .090 WPA.

The Goat:

Nelson Cruz put up a -.165 on an 0 for 4 day with two strikeouts. However, his biggest negative play came in the 6^th, with the game still 1-0. With runners on second and third and only one out, the Rangers had a golden opportunity to tie the game with a productive out or take the lead with a base hit. Instead, Cruz fouled out to Aubrey Huff for a -.129 WPA, and Cain would preserve the shutout. My father has issues with the fact that Derek Holland and his three consecutive walks don’t make him the goat for this game, but his outing wasn’t as bad, as the Rangers’ win expectancy was already down to 6.1% by the time Holland entered the game, so there was only so much damage Holland could do. 

Check back tomorrow, when I’ll tell you about my experience at the first two games of this series.

World Series Recap: Game 1

Wow. What a game. I had to switch my flights from Detroit to San Francisco 3 times yesterday. I sprinted between terminals at the airport in Phoenix. I flew for 7-8 hours and then went straight to the ballpark from San Francisco International. It was all worth it to watch a game like that.

Much like Lincecum-Halladay in game 5 of the NLCS, Lincecum-Lee pt. 1 didn’t produce the expected pitcher’s duel. With both starters working on extra rest and looking a little rusty, and the gloves not exactly up to game speed after the long wait between series, this game was sloppy and a completely unexpected slugfest, but it was a fantastic game to watch nonetheless.

This is gonna be a pretty quick recap, because I’m taking MUNI down to the game as soon as this thing goes up. PUMPED for Matt Cain and game 2.

Lincecum looked shaky early, allowing 2 runs in the first two innings on 4 hits and a walk. He also made a pretty big mental mistake, catching Michael Young in a rundown between third and home and then allowing him to run back to third without a throw with only one down in the first. However, a grounder to Juan Uribe erased the mistake, as Uribe stepped on third and threw to first for the double play. In the second, Lincecum allowed Cliff Lee to double on a butcher boy, putting the whole stadium in a state of shock. Lee’s double moved Bengie Molina to get to third, and he scored on a sac fly the next play.

The Giants would get it back in the 3^rd. After a Young error allowed Renteria to reach base to lead off the inning, Lincecum failed miserably in his sac bunt attempt. Andres Torres took one for the team, and Freddy Sanchez followed with his second double of the game to score one run. Buster Posey singled to score Torres and tie it at two, but two strikeouts looking from Pat Burrell and Cody Ross later, Sanchez was stranded at third.

In the 5^th, the Giants cracked it open in a big way. Lincecum led off by grounding out, but Torres doubled behind him. Buster Posey struck out looking for the second out, and then the rally really got going. Pat Burrell walked. Cody Ross singled to score Torres. Aubrey Huff singled to score Burrell and end Cliff Lee’s day. Juan Uribe welcomed Darren O’Day into the World Series with a line-drive 3-run blast to left center. Edgar Renteria was hit by a pitch, and Lincecum reached on an error by Elvis Andrus. First time I’ve seen someone ground out to short twice in the same inning. Torres would end the inning by striking out swinging, but after the Giants’ batted around and put up a 6-run frame, the score was 8-2 for the home side.

The Rangers would fight back with two in the top of the 6^th, chasing Lincecum with two down. Lincecum struck out the first two batters of the inning, but walked Kinsler. Molina doubled to score Kinsler, and after back-to-back singles from Mitch Moreland and David Murphy, Molina scored and Santiago Casilla came in to retire Andrus and end the threat.

The Giants would reopen the gap in the 8^th. Edgar Renteria hit a liner into right. Vlad let it go by him, which is why you don’t play your DH in right. Travis Ishikawa doubled to score Renteria. After a Torres foulout, Sanchez hit a ball down the line, which Vlad bobbled to allow Sanchez to get to second. It was initially ruled a double, which would be Freddy’s fourth and tie him for the most in any World Series game. However, the scorer soon changed the hit to a single and an error. Regardless, Ishikawa scored, and Sanchez later scored on a single by Schierholtz to “turn it up to 11.”

The Rangers would put up 3 in the 9^th on a single, two walks, a sac fly, and a Nelson Cruz double, but the game would end 11-7 to give San Francisco the 1-0 series lead.

Let’s take a quick look inside the numbers.

Giants vs. Rangers:

WPA Leader: Freddy Sanchez (.364)

Sanchez ended the game with 3 doubles and a single in 5 ABs. The Giants will need production from the top of their lineup to be successful in this series, and Sanchez set the tone as the only real outstanding player in this game (Torres .076 was second).

Biggest Plays:

Sanchez’s doubles to score the Giants’ first run and take the lead were the two biggest plays, at .178 and .145 WPA respectively.

The Goat: Cliff Lee’s -.364, allowing 7 runs (6 earned) on 8 hits and a walk in only 4.2 innings made him the least valuable player of game 1. Lee earned his first postseason lost, and didn’t look good doing it.

World Series Predictions

I’m going to be a little bold and call this one. Now that we’ve looked at each on-field aspect of both teams, we have the information we need to compare them. Home-field advantage is going to be huge, as each team is built to play in the league they compete in, so having to deal with the DH rule will hurt San Francisco when the series goes to Texas, while the Rangers will have some trouble without the DH at AT&T Park. The Giants don’t really have a clear DH candidate, and while Pat Burrell and Pablo Sandoval both provide potentially effective options, there are problems with every way the Giants could play this. It’s really a situation where they have to minimize the advantage Texas gets by having a more settled DH situation. Likewise, Ron Washington will face an interesting decision. On one hand, Vladimir Guerrero has been a great bat in the middle of the lineup, DHing and providing some serious pop behind Josh Hamilton. On the other hand, he’s a defensive liability. Washington has decided to split the difference by starting Vlad in one of the first two San Francisco games and David Murphy in the other. Many in the blogosphere believe they might be better off playing Murphy in both and keeping Vlad as a pinch-hitter and DH in the games in Texas.

On offense, I think the Rangers are clearly the better team. Josh Hamilton is one of the best hitters in baseball, and he’s surrounded by a lot of strong bats. The Giants’ ragtag group of misfits relies on timely hitting, and timely hitting is nice, but it’s not something you can count on consistently.

On defense, the Giants clearly are the better team. Andres Torres will be the best defensive player in this series, and despite having a few guys with somewhat limited range, they’ve been strong this year behind their pitchers. The Rangers won’t blow up defensively like the Braves did, but they are prone to making some defensive mistakes.

The pitching is an interesting issue. Lincecum and Lee are both world-class aces, but with apologies to the mop-haired hero I’d have to say that Lee’s been a better pitcher this season. That said, either has the potential to pitch their team to a win, and I’d be surprised if tonight’s game is anything other than a low-scoring affair. However, that’s what I said about Lincecum-Halladay pt. 2, and we all know how that turned out. I’d take Cain over Wilson, especially in San Francisco’s home park, which isn’t a great place for a guy like Wilson but is absolutely built for right-handed flyball pitchers like Cain. Colby Lewis has the advantage over Jonathan Sanchez in game 3, and I’m partial to Madison Bumgarner in his game 4 matchup against Tommy Hunter. The Giants have the better bullpen, with Brian Wilson leading the way and Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez both looking extremely strong this postseason. The Rangers’ bullpen is good, but they’re not on the same level as the Giants’ relievers. I’m going to say that overall, the Giants have the superior pitching.

In game 1, Tim Lincecum will oppose Cliff Lee at AT&T Park. My mouth is watering as I write. I had as much trouble as a person can possibly have with flights today, and after switching to what is by my count my 4^th flight of the morning, I’m now on track to fly to Phoenix and connect to the City by the Bay in time to get to the ballpark by first pitch.* It’s my first ever playoff game, and it’s Timmy and Cliff Lee in the World Series. Can’t beat that. I think either way the Vlad situation will screw with the Rangers. If he’s in the field, it just seems like a relative certainty that a hard-hit ball will find him. If he’s not, missing his bat in the lineup will be an issue for the Rangers, and cut down on the offensive advantage they enjoy. I’m taking the Giants in this game, with Lincecum and Lee both going 7+. At least.

I’m also going to take the Giants in game 2. As I said before, AT&T Park fits Matt Cain like a glove. It fits CJ Wilson like an ugly Christmas sweater his grandma knitted for him when he was twelve. Guessing 7 or so runs are scored, with the Giants taking the majority of them to go to Texas up 2-0.

I’m gonna say Lewis gets the better of the Giants in the first game in Texas. Sanchez hasn’t developed the consistency under pressure for me to trust him to put up 6 or more quality innings against an offense as good at Texas’. Lewis won’t shut the Giants down, but he’ll be good enough to take the win.

I don’t like the Hunter decision. If I’m Ron Washington, I give the ball to Derek Holland without thinking twice. He’s simply been better than Hunter has this postseason, cleaning up Hunter’s mess in game 4 to get the W. Unlike the Who’s rock opera, this Tommy isn’t blind, deaf, and dumb, but he isn’t a shutdown starter either. Holland will once again come in for mop-up duty, but I’m gonna say Madison Bumgarner has another strong start and Holland’s relief work is not enough to keep the Giants from a win.

Game 5 will feature Lincecum-Lee, pt.2. Pitching in his home park, I think Lee gets the better of Big Time Timmy Jim in another close game, meaning the aces split their two starts with a win each. 

That’d bring the series back to San Francisco for game 6, with Cain facing Wilson once again. Cain’s home-field advantage will prove too much, the Giants will get at least a couple runs off Wilson pretty early in the game, and the Giants celebrate their first World Series in San Francisco. Bias is once again readily apparent. But who says I can’t make picks with my heart? Either way, this should be a close series, and Texas is an extremely strong ballclub. However, pitching and defense will trump good hitting, allowing the Giants to take the series with Cain going 7+ in the final game.

* I’m writing this from the airport, but I can’t get an internet connection until I get home after the game. So when I get home after game 1 and post a completely wrong prediction for a game that’s already happened, you’ll know why.