ghost of miles

Cool indeed, but I'm betting you won't be witnessing it. I think Lee will pitch a masterpiece.

Ugh, me neither. He won't consider expanded replay but he's all eager to expand the playoffs? On the Series, great performance by San Francisco's pitchers again--no room for error on Texas' part now. They're in a tough hole, even with Lee pitching Game 5, what with the last two potential games in San Francisco.

Just found out that Borders #115 here in Bloomington will be closing for good as of January 7.

Here's a great Prestige compilation of Red:

Well, there you go, Ranger fans--your bullpen held (I doubt SF will want to see Feliz much more if they can help it) and you bagged your must-win game. What happens if you even it up tomorrow? You'll have Cliff Lee going for game 5 (you know he'll be back on form) and a good shot at taking a 3-2 lead back to San Francisco.

Enter Feliz? I'm working down to the wire on a documentary show, but I'm trying to sneak in Internet/TV peeks as the game goes on.... Rangers batting now in the bottom the 8th.

Deep in the heart of Texas seems to be producing a better vibe for Ranger play so far tonight.

This is pretty cool: World Series Game 2 8th inning break singalong ...I'll confess that as a kid I really dug some of those early Journey sides like "Lights"... Q95 used to play them a lot in Indianapolis. Neat that Steve Perry was actually in the crowd and urging them on in the singalong; again, I'm really impressed by the character of the Giants team, their fans, and the spirit of the games at A T & T Park. Great to see a city having such a love affair with its ballclub.

I guess I'll be moving the Mosaics into the bunker...

One more time! :party:

Incredible that that all started with two outs and nobody on--is that some sort of Series record, scoring 7 runs in such circumstances? I cite the '96 Yankees in part because they were flat-out humiliated by the Braves in the first two games--and at Yankee Stadium to boot. At least Texas will be at home for the next three. The bullpen, whatever its perennial problems, looked rattled to me, maybe some WS nerves that might be more easily settled in a friendly environment. And you'll be able to put Guerrero in as DH. Rangers look outclassed so far, but the homestand could really turn things around. Game 3 obviously a must-win at this point, though.

Man, I think the Rangers can't get out of San Francisco fast enough. Just remember the '96 Yankees, guys.

Nice escape from a jam by Cain.

Quite the pitching duel tonight, so far.

Beautiful and vivid description of Jamal's playing, Mark--thanks for posting it.

A most excellent day indeed.

Is this going to be one of those vaunted "battle of the aces" matchups that ends up 10-8 or some such? Well, I called the sum of runs right--it ended 11-7. Jsngry, you've got to take some consolation from the Rangers' mettle in this game. Plus they forced SF to use Wilson in a blowout and then hit him hard, clearing the bases and scoring three runs before he could finally put them away. If they win tomorrow, they head back to Texas for three games all tied up. EDIT: I love it that the Giants use Blur's "Song #2" as their postgame victory music.

Apologies to Berigan, but the Braves beat the Yankees 12-1 in Game 1 of the '96 series. And that didn't end well for the Braves. Damn, beat me to it. They smacked the Yankees around pretty hard in Game 2 of that series as well. Not to mention that the series then headed back to Atlanta for three games. At that point I remember thinking, "Well, this season was a great ride, lots of incredible stories and character developments, good to finally make it back to the WS, blah blah blah..." I just wanted to see them avoid getting swept. Turned out a lot better than that, obviously, but their chances sure looked bleak after the first two games. BTW, they also had a highly-talented rookie shortstop (Derek Jeter), a gutty ace acquired via trade (David Cone), and a slugging outfielder trying to put a substance-abusing past behind him (Daryl Strawberry).

Yes--didn't somebody upstream point out that Guerrero might be problematic for the Rangers in the road games? Those two plays reminded me of watching Marcus Thames this year for the Yankees whenever he took the field...a development that never failed to make Pinstripe Alley posters break out in hives.

A three-run dinger would put 'em right back in it. There's a big psychic difference IMO between a four-run and a six-run lead. I thought the same thing, esp. after Lincecum struck out the first two batters that inning. A lot of teams would have been so devastated by their invincible ace getting knocked out of the game that they would have pretty much rolled over at that point and died for the rest of the night. Instead they kept it a contest.

Speaking of the bullpen, a profile of closer Brian Wilson: Fear the Beard What a great team of characters the Giants have!

I predict both starters out of the game before the end of 5 and a half!

Is this going to be one of those vaunted "battle of the aces" matchups that ends up 10-8 or some such?

Tweet from Jack Curry: Ouch! This was the kind of game the Yankees needed to have in Game 3 of the ACLS--and clearly didn't have in them. But hell, I wouldn't even write off Game 1 just yet. A couple of three-run shots would tie it...stranger things have happened in baseball. EDIT: whoa! Now 8-4. Yep, don't write this one off just yet...

Assuming the Giants hold on to win tonight, I think this will be a tougher loss to bounce back from than the 8th-inning collapse against the Yankees in the ALCS. In that game Texas outplayed NY; tonight their ace got blown off the mound. Plus they'll be coming back for Game 2 still on the road & not in the friendly confines of Rangers Ballpark. So yeah, it'll be a tougher test than the ALCS, but they're at the ultimate level now. I'd say pretty much what I said after they lost Game 1 of the ALCS--focus on winning Game 2 and nothing else, because then you'll be headed back to Texas for three games in a row, including another start from Mr. Lee that will surely go much, much better than tonight's did.