Did you ever think things couldn't get any worse than Game 1 of the ALCS, when the Rangers blew a great C.J. Wilson start and let the Yankees blow up in the eighth inning en route to blowing a 5-1 lead and losing the game?
Never say never, folks.
I still haven't been able to keep any food down since watching Thursday night's complete meltdown that turned a 2-0 game going into the ninth into a 9-0 laugher in which all the high Giants fans in the outfield bleachers could've come into the game and closed things out.
And ... I just vomited again.
Let's flashback to the bottom of the eighth inning, which Darren O'Day started after giving up a massive home run to Juan Uribe in Game 1 that changed that game's tide for the worst.
O'Day responded by promptly striking out the Giants' Nos. 1 and 2 hitters Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez. Two quick outs. 2-0 deficit.
Then, Ron Washington exits the dugout. No!!!
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The Giants' hitter, Nate Schierholtz is a left-handed batter. O'Day throws righty. But Schierholtz's career average against righties is 30 points lower than against lefties. Washington brings in the young lefty Derek Holland, who was fantastic in the Yankees series.
And now, Holland might never be the same again.
He went on to throw eight straight balls, then four more over the next five pitches to walk three straight guys, and walk in one run. Then Mark Lowe comes in, and walks in another run. You know the rest of the story. The game went from being manageable to a blowout, all with two outs in a 37-minute half-inning. Game over.
Why on Earth would Washington leave Holland in after he threw eight straight balls to load the bases with two outs? You need one out there. People have been yelling that Neftali Feliz should've been in the ball game at that point. I'm not sure about that. Not saying it would've been a bad call, but I would've liked to have seen Alexi Ogando at that point after he mercilessly slammed the door shut on the Giants for two innings in Game 1. One out is all you need, then you go to the top of the ninth with two runs to get and Vladimir Guerrero still on the bench.
Speaking of Vlad, my opinion of whether he or David Murphy started Game 2 was well documented, but if you're going to have Big Bad Vlad on your bench, why not bring him in to start the eighth inning instead of Julio Borbon? If Vlad gets on base, you can pinch run Borbon for him. But who do you have more faith in to get a base hit? And you're not going to be bunting Borbon with a 2-run deficit.
So sure, the Rangers are getting their tails whipped by the Giants through two games, but they sure aren't catching any breaks either, and that's part of winning games.
Oh, how things could've been different had Ian Kinsler's blast hit the top of the wall, and logically continued its forward momentum out of the park instead of bouncing back in? The Rangers lead 1-0 and C.J. Wilson is on a roll. Who knows? That brings me to C.J. What a start for him. He was matching Cain pitch for pitch until his finger "ruptured", as he put it in the beginning of the seventh inning, rendering everything but his breaking pitches ineffective.
Oh, and before you say it, if you don't know anything about baseball, don't question Wilson's toughness for leaving the game with a blister.
None of that matters though, the Rangers are 0-2 and are headed back to Arlington with some desperation. See you on Saturday.
