Not the start Rangers fans wanted or anticipated.
The Texas offense, so powerful in earlier postseason games, went silent for the most part in a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night in St. Louis.
Aside from a mammoth Mike Napoli opposite-field home run, the Rangers' offense was held in check. Elvis Andrus, Josh Hamilton and Michael Young, the Nos. 2-4 hitters, went a combined 0-for-11 with three strikeouts.
Our pitching staff was decent, but not spectacular. C.J. Wilson struggled with his command. I want to call the guy a true ace, but it's tough to assign him that title after he walked six guys in 5.2 innings. The line wasn't horrible, with four hits, three earned runs and four strikeouts, but C.J., as much as I love him, will not be a true ace with the control that he had tonight.
Credit the Cardinals for capitalizing on opportunities. Lance Berkman knocked in two runs with a single in the fourth inning, while Allen Craig produced the winning run with a single in the sixth. That's all they needed. Chris Carpenter pitched well, going six innings and giving up five hits, two earned runs, one walk and four strikeouts. St. Louis' bullpen tossed three scoreless innings to seal Game 1.
Texas must have a short memory, much like the Tampa Bay series, when the Rangers dropped Game 1 of the ALDS. In that series, however, the Rangers had their home park to come back to the following day. It's a bit nerve-racking to call tomorrow a must-win, especially with three consecutive games to follow in Arlington, but it almost feels that way.
Which brings me to Colby Lewis, tomorrow's starter who will oppose St. Louis lefty Jaime Garcia in Game 2. We relied on Lewis quite a bit in last year's magical postseason run. Lewis has pitched twice in the 2011 postseason, both on the road, and the Rangers have gone 1-1 in those starts. He pitched brilliantly against Tampa Bay, but struggled a bit against Detroit. Let's hope we get the good Colby Lewis because, as inconsistent as he's been this year, when he's on, he's lights out. If not, we could be digging ourselves in a deep 0-2 hole.
The offense needs to come around tomorrow night. Hopefully, the Rangers adopt a closer's mentality of having the short memory. Game 2 starts in fewer than 24 hours. Let's get that one before heading back to Arlington.
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