World Series Game 1: Run Prevention Gone Awry

Not quite the pitcher's duel we had expected, Game 1 of the World Series between the Rangers and Giants ended up very much the opposite. Neither Cliff Lee nor Tim Lincecum brought their A game to the mound and some sloppy glovework on both sides led to a rather messy slugfest between the two teams. The Giants got the better of the Rangers by 4 runs and ended up scoring 11 in all. It was almost comical, in that the Giants aren't a team that scores a lot of runs. They scored 19 over six games in the NLCS and their fans often refer to their games as "torture" because they're usually tight, one or two run affairs. So what do they do? They go out and put up 11 in Game 1 of the World Series! That's baseball for you.

Juan Uribe and Freddy Sanchez ended up being the biggest Giants bats of Game 1, with Uribe taking Darren O'Day yard for 3 runs in the 5th and Freddy Sanchez knocking 4 hits, 3 of them doubles. The Giants got to a surprisingly ineffective Cliff Lee for 7 runs in all and tacked on 4 more off the Rangers' pen--one off of O'Day and three off of Mark Lowe, who was not on the roster for the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Rangers' defense helped the Giants' cause, notching 4 errors, for which they paid dearly. Vlad Guerrero booted two balls in the outfield, calling into question his presence out there. Just how important is his bat to the lineup? Is it worth the liability in right field? Ron Washington seems to think so, as Guerrero is slated to play right again in tonight's Game 2.

The Giants' bullpen made the game closer than it looked like it was going to be going into the ninth. Red Sox fans watching last night no doubt recognized the Ramon Ramirez who started off the inning with two baserunners. Affeldt didn't fare much better and it took quirky closer Brian Wilson to finally put Game 1 to bed, but not before the 3 Giants relievers allowed the Rangers to score 3 runs in the ninth.

Tonight in Game 2, C.J. Wilson takes the hill for the Rangers and Matt Cain for the Giants. Wilson struggled in Game 5 of the ALCS, but Cain came up big in Game 3 of the NLCS. It will be interesting to see how the Rangers respond to their Game 1 beatdown and how the Giants try to build on their victory.