For the first time ever their will be a World Series game played in the Metroplex. The entire area has been stricken with Ranger fever, and it is great to finally witness. I see the claw and antler shirts in the halls at school and at Walmart shopping and when I go to eat at McDonalds and everywhere else. Temporary shops have popped up on street corners under tents selling shirts, towels, blankets, and car flags bearing the Rangers logos. My professor gave score updates on the board during class, and excused anybody who wished to watch the game from class with no penalty. The DFW area has waited a long, long time for this baseball team to step up and take the city by storm and it has finally happened. I have never seen the stadium with as much energy as Game 1 of the ALCS. I simply cannot imagine the electricity that will be in the stadium tonight. It's going to be one incredible party at the Ballpark tonight.
There is one small downside to the Rangers coming back to the ballpark tonight, and that is the 0-2 series hole the Rangers find themselves in. This is an obvious reason for concern. No team since 1996 has come back down 2 in the Series and won. That being said, it has happened 11 times overall. The Rangers are far from done, and I fully expect them to not go down without a fight.
A lot of things went wrong in San Francisco this week. The defense (4 errors), pitching (12.5 ERA), and offense (3.5 RPG) were all surprisingly sub-par. They did not play the way we have come to expect. They were uncharacteristically sloppy, and looked to be slightly rattled by the atmosphere inside AT&T Park. The Rangers did not look like a championship team out in California.
Thankfully the Rangers now return home for the next 3 games where they were 51-30 during the regular season. The Rangers have been as resilient a team as I have ever seen, and have always been able to bounce back from adversity. With the next 3 at home I could make the argument that the Rangers were in just a precarious situation after 2 games in the ALCS. We were tied 1-1, but the next 3 were in the Bronx where we knew it would be very difficult to win a single game. If the Rangers can overcome the adversity in the Bronx, then they can surely overcome it in their home ballpark.
Tonight the Rangers send Banzai Colby Lewis to the mound in what is a must-win game. Colby Lewis was tremendous in his Game 6 ALCS clinching win against the Yankees. He had masterful command of all of his pitches, and had the Yankee hitters guessing all night. The words "Wow Colby" must have come out of my mouth no less than a dozen times that night at his ability to put pitches where he wanted them. If Colby can come close to replicating that against a weaker Giants lineup (yes, I did watch the first 2 games), then the Rangers will be in a great position to win Game 3.
The Giants will counter Colbyashi with tough lefty Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez has great stuff, but is incredibly wild. Sanchez had 205 K's with a 3.07 ERA this year, but also led the NL with 96 walks! He is very comparable to CJ, but is even more erratic with his command. If the Rangers can be patient with Sanchez they should be in a position to score runs and knock Sanchez out early. It will be up to the big bats in the middle of the order to get the runs in, but guys like Andrus, Moreland, and Kinsler will be instrumental tonight in getting to Sanchez with their patient approaches.
I expect a completely different Rangers team to show up on the field the next 3 games than we saw in San Francisco. I could go on for hours about the problems I saw in games 1 and 2. Why was Vladdy in the field ever? Why, o why was Feliz not used in the 8th inning of Game 2 when we had to keep it close to give us a chance? Where is Alexi Ogando when its obvious we need somebody who can throw over 87? How did a team who was 17th in the league in runs just score 20 runs in 2 games against a good pitching team? I could go on and on, but I would much prefer to look ahead. Whats done is done. Now the Rangers have to figure out a way to get the next 3 at home. I've always said that in the playoffs you need to take care of business at home and steal one on the road. I still believe that is the case here.
There is obvious reason for concern, but it is not time to panic. Obviously this Ranger team is extremely dangerous and fully capable of swinging this series to their favor very quickly. The next 3 pitching match-ups are, at worst, even, and the Rangers posses the more potent offense. This is still a series, and I believe it is far from over. The Rangers are not a team that will give in easily. I believe this weekend will be an extremely exciting team for Ranger fans. As the first World Series game prepares to take place in the DFW Metroplex tonight, it is time for the Rangers to take care of business.
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