Baseball

When the Texas Rangers returned home from New York, having taken two out of three games at Yankee Stadium, the airport was packed with Ranger fans ready to cheer on their team, ready to see them wrap up the ALCS at the Ballpark at Arlington.

Fake bearded towel waving Giants fans watched as Matt Cain was able to deliver a crushing defeat to the heavy hitting Texas Rangers, and for many fans, the idea of capturing their first World Series since 1954 is but a stone’s throw away.

Cain kept his 0.00 postseason ERA intact going nearly eight as he dazzled and confounded the Rangers’ hitters, while postseason veteran Edgar Renteria did the rest, going 2-4 with a key home-run in the fifth inning that got things going.

Game 2 of the 2010 World Series belonged to Edgar Renteria, Matt Cain and the San Francisco Giants from start to finishing Thursday.

Cain tossed a scoreless gem in 7 2/3 innings of work to vault himself into some historic company, extending his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 21 1/3 innings.

But it was the 35 year-old shortstop from Columbia who absolutely stole the show.

Much has been made of the Giants' Tim Lincecum and the Rangers Cliff Lee, and with good reason.

But after that matchup failed to produce the pitching duel that was expected, the Giants Matt Cain ended up being more than able to fill the ace role for San Fran as they took a two games to none lead in the World Series, winning 9-0.

Look, it's about time we recognized Cain for the stud pitcher he is. After finishing the 2010 season with a 3.14 ERA and 177 K's with 61 walks in over 223 innings, this Giants number two starter has been number one in the postseason.

It has already been an interesting off-season for the Toronto Blue Jays, as they have hired a new manager and some intriguing rumors have emerged.

John Farrell, the former pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox, was hired to replace the outgoing Cito Gaston.  Farrell doesn't have any experience managing at the big league level, but his diverse expertise gave him the edge in landing the job with the Blue Jays.  

It's been a little over two weeks since the Pittsburgh Pirates last interviewed a candidate for the open managerial position.  They've yet to name a manager and many believe that the Pirates were waiting for the New York Yankees to get eliminated from the playoffs.

Could they be waiting for another guy and another team to get eliminated from the playoffs?  Maybe Texas Rangers hitting coach Clint Hurdle?

It makes sense.

The rumors seem to be piling up on a day-to-day basis nowadays.

Yes, the Brewers are currently looking for a new manager, and Bobby Valentine seems to be the sure-fire candidate to succeed Ken Macha.

Doug Melvin has reportedly denied the reports, writes MLB.com correspondent Adam McClavy.

Asked by the newspaper whether he had been at least offered the job, Valentine said, "We have met but there is nothing ongoing and no follow-up meeting is scheduled."

Last night's game was not the total shock many people think. I figured the San Francisco Giants would score a couple runs early against Lee, but was surprised the way they knocked him around.

The Giants pitchers also neutralized Mickey Mantle Jr, I mean, Josh Hamilton.

The Giants game plan with those two players were the key to winning Game 1. 

1) Cliff Lee vs. Giants Hitters

Cliff Lee was thought to be invincible, and his postseason record proved that he just might be. He had never lost in the postseason, that is until Game 1 of the World Series.

Game 1 was a disaster for the Rangers. They allowed 14 hits and 11 runs, with Cliff Lee allowing a postseason-high of six. They made four errors, which was uncharacteristic for a normally solid Rangers team. Cliff Lee was pounded around for 4 2/3 innings.