Can Cliff Lee help lead the Rangers to their first World Series title?
For those of you who are disappointed that there won’t be a rematch of last year’s World Series, or that you won’t get a chance to see Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee face off in a matchup that would’ve made Phillies fans salivate at the thought of what it’d have been like for the two to be in the same rotation for even a year, well, too bad.Even without the Phillies and Yankees, or even Halladay’s Phillies, we’re in store for a World Series that should be anything but boring.
On one side, you have the National League champion San Francisco Giants, who boast not only the two-time defending NL Cy Young winner but several talented arms throughout their rotation and bullpen, have a couple of rookies who, along the way, have forgotten that they’re rookies, and the opportunity to win their first World Series since they were still in New York and playing at the Polo Grounds.
On the other side, you have the Texas Rangers, who entered this postseason having not come remotely close to winning a playoff series in their nearly five decades of existence, with a 1-9 record in three prior postseason appearances.
Two teams looking to erase decades of history makes for a lot better viewing than two teams we’re used to seeing in this position, year after year.
And hey, the chance to see some pretty darn good pitching is exciting too.
The World Series commences tomorrow night, and while the Halladay-Lee matchup would have been hyped upon hyped upon hype, there should be no shortage of buzz about Lincecum-Lee.
After an 0-5 August all but eliminated him from serious contention for a third straight Cy Young, Lincecum has been on fire since the start of September. In September, he went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA, and in the postseason, he’s 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA. He did take the loss in Game 5 against the Phillies, but outside of a third inning in which he allowed three runs and three hits and hit a batter, he was fantastic in his seven-inning stint.
And then there’s Lee. What more can be said about Cliff Lee that hasn’t been said already? Thanks to the Rangers doing the smart thing and clinching the series in six on Friday night, Lee will pitch tomorrow night on full rest, not like he needs it. He might have been so-so in the regular season after joining the Rangers, but he’s been masterful in the postseason, going 3-0 with an 0.75 ERA. All the more in the Rangers’ favor is that all three starts have come on the road, so Ron Washington doesn’t have to worry about whether or not the hostile environment will bother his ace.
Game 2’s matchup is a must-see as well, with Matt Cain going for the Giants and C.J. Wilson going for the Rangers. Those two are more than capable of being aces on many teams around the majors, and in fact, Wilson was the Rangers’ #1 before they picked up Lee. Wilson was only 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in two starts against the Yankees, but he pitched a gem at Tampa Bay in the NLDS, allowing only two hits and two walks in 6.1 shutout innings in a Game 1 win, and before running out of gas in the 8th in Game 1 of the NLCS, he’d pitched seven terrific shutout innings.
Game 3 might be the most interesting matchup of the three, given that the two hurlers are very much feast or famine. Colby Lewis is 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in the postseason, and he was fantastic in the Game 6 clincher, allowing only one run and three hits in eight innings. However, just as well as his stuff can be electric one moment (196 strikeouts), it can be off the next, as shown by his 11 walks allowed in only 18.2 IP in the postseason, and he also is prone to the long ball, with 21 allowed in the regular season. His opposite number, Jonathan Sanchez, is a mirror image, with high strikeout numbers (205) offset by high walk numbers (96). He’ll need to pitch much better in Texas than he did in Philadelphia in Game 6, when he allowed two runs, three hits, two walks, and hit a batter in two-plus innings before being removed after beaning and then being involved in a heated confrontation with Chase Utley.
Of course, that might have been the best thing that could have happened to the Giants, because their mass of relievers blanked the Phillies from that point on the way to a series-clinching victory, but he can’t afford to get into the same kind of trouble against the Rangers and their potent lineup.
In Game 4, we’ve got two talented young pitchers on the hill in Texas’ Tommy Hunter and San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner. Remember both of those names, because they’ll both be pitching at a high level for years to come.
Of course, the Game 4 matchup could be considered tentative, because how the first three games transpire could determine whether or not one or both teams decide to bring back their aces for Game 4 instead of Game 5, but at the very least – short of a sweep, of course – we should see the mouth-watering Lincecum-Lee matchup twice.
So then, how do I think this series will play out? The pitching matchups are all tossups, to be honest, and both teams have shown thus far this postseason that they can take care of business on the road, with San Francisco going 2-0 in Atlanta in the NLDS and 2-1 in Philadelphia in the NLCS and Texas going 3-0 at Tampa Bay in the NLDS and 2-1 at Yankee Stadium in the NLCS.
I usually stay away from hard predictions, especially in matchups like these, but I’ll give it a shot.
Drumroll please…
The Giants may have the home-field advantage to start the series, but I look for the Rangers to notch at least one win in San Francisco and swing the balance in their favor heading back home for the middle three games.
The Giants, fantastic as they have been on the mound through September and so far in the postseason, will face a real test against the Rangers, who have scored at least five runs in all seven of their postseason wins to this point.
Those bats, plus some pretty good pitching on their part, will see the Rangers take the series in five and claim their first-ever World Series title, at home to boot. It may well be Lee’s final appearance with the Rangers before he signs with someone else in the offseason (Yankees, maybe? Probably?), but he’ll certainly leave a lasting impression, no matter what.
So, Giants to take it at home in six then?
Tags: 2010 World Series, Baseball, C.J. Wilson, Cliff Lee, Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain, MLB, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Tim Lincecum, World SeriesRelated posts on The Red Zone Report
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