The third time proved to be the charm for the Texas Rangers, who got the first World Series win in franchise history with a 4-2 victory in game 3.
After falling two games behind the San Francisco Giants in the Series, the Rangers hoped returning to Arlington and their hitter-friendly park would spark the bats that had been silent in San Francisco. It worked.
The Rangers' C.J. Wilson got the win in game three.
In the bottom of the second, Nelson Cruz hit the first pitch off the center field fence for a double. A few plays later, after Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez walked Bengie Molina with two outs, Mitch Moreland hit a three-run shot to bring the Rangers a 3-0 lead.
Texas was back in business.
Starting pitcher Colby Lewis, undefeated at home during the postseason, had 7 2/3 innings of work before exiting the game. He struck out six, walked two and held the Giants’, who’d put up 20 runs in the first two games, to just two runs off five hits. He also dominated the count, throwing first-pitch strikes to 26 of the 30 batters he faced.
In San Francisco, it had been the Rangers’ offense that stalled but back in Texas, it was the other way around. The Rangers came out swinging to take an early lead they refused to relinquish. Josh Hamilton, one of Texas’ best bats, finally got a home run in the series, with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to pad the lead.
The Giants fought to regain command of the game with seventh and eighth inning solo home runs by Cody Ross and Andrew Torres. After surrendering the home run to Torres and hitting Aubrey Huff with a pitch later in the inning, Darren O’Day came on in relief.
In the last game, the Rangers’ bullpen had been unreliable and even, at times, downright bad. That wasn’t the case this week, as O’Day retired Buster Posey to end the eighth and set the stage for young closer Neftali Feliz.
Feliz, who had not pitched since early in the ALDS, delivered a strikeout to Juan Uribe to end a 1-2-3 9th inning, becoming the second-youngest (22) pitcher to earn a save in a World Series, and helping to keep his team’s hopes alive.
The Giants still have a 2-1 advantage in the Series, but that lead looks more precarious now that the Rangers are back in Arlington. Texas will try to even the Series at 2-2 in a prime-time Sunday night game.
