Johnathan Sanchez struggled yet again for the Giants, lasting only 4 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs with three walks and managing only three strikeouts. His mistake pitch to Mitch Moreland in the bottom of the second that led to a three-run homerun was awful. There was no reason to come inside because Moreland had been ahead of every pitch in that at-bat. Simply put, it was bad pitching. His performance had me missing Barry Zito.
The Rangers' hitters took complete advantage of Sanchez with Moreland's big hit providing the boost they needed. From that point on, the Rangers had their swag back (Especially Josh Hamilton, who finally homered in the fifth inning after missing pitches all series long).
No disrespect to Colby Lewis who pitched stellar (7 2/3 innings, two earned runs with six strikeouts), but the Giants batters made him look a lot better than he was. I'll give him credit for pounding the strikezone early on, but a lot of his pitches were catching more of the plate and Giants hitters were simply missing (Pat Burrell was abysmal tonight with four strikeouts). But Lewis had to deal with base runners in six of his 7 2/3 innings. The Giants just couldn't put the hits together.
There were two bright spots for the Giants: Cody Ross continuing his postseason tear and the bullpen throwing shutout innings that allowed for a late surge for the Giants that ultimately fell short.
Bright spot for the Rangers (other than the win): Neftali Feliz. He looked like a veteran out there, when in reality he is a 22-year-old rookie who just made his first World Series save. The Giants hope to not see him again this series.
Looking ahead to Game Four: Tommy Hunter for the Rangers vs. Madison Bumgarner for the Giants. We have a series now people...
I know you're a Giants fan, but the World Series is always more fun for the fans when it's close. It's gotta go at least six games for non-commited, casual baseball fans to take interest, so maybe a Ranger's surge could save the Fall Classic's TV ratings.
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