Thursday, October 28, 2010

World Series Game 1 reaction: Unexpected outcome

Well, that wasn't what I expected.

The San Francisco Giants, after not scoring more than six runs in a single game all postseason, exploded for 11 runs on Wednesday night in a Game 1 victory over the Rangers.

Giants 11, Rangers 6.

Series status: Giants 1, Rangers 0.

What was so unexpected about it was it happened against Cliff Lee, one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of the postseason. Entering Wednesday night, Lee was 3-0 this postseason with an absurd 0.75 earned-run average. He had one walk in 24 innings. He was 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA for his postseason career.

What? The Giants did this to him, when he dominated the Yankees in New York? Tough to believe.

To me, Lee struggling wasn't even the most disappointing part of Game 1.

The Rangers committed an uncharacteristic four errors in the setback. You won't win many games that way. Two of the errors came from Vlad Guerrero in right field, a position he usually doesn't play. He did on Wednesday, though, so he could get into the lineup without a designated hitter in a National League park. It was a weird game.

One thing the Rangers have done this season, though, is respond after bad losses. The Yankees staged a comeback in Game 1 of the ALCS and the Rangers came back to dominate the series and win in six games.

That makes it all the more important for C.J. Wilson to limit the Giants' offense tonight. I think he's up for the challenge. And I expect the Rangers to play much cleaner baseball tonight.

Time to forget about Game 1 and even up this series.

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