The Rangers starting pitcher, Colby Lewis shut down a Giants offense that had scored 20 runs in two games. Lewis went 7 2/3 innings while giving up only two runs and striking out 6. The two runs came of solo homeruns from NLCS MVP Cody Ross and Giants leadoff hitter Andres Torres.
In the eigth inning, the Giants had a chance to tie the game after Aubrey Huff was hit by Colby Lewis and Buster Posey was up to bat with two outs. Posey grounded out to shortstop Elvis Andrus and that ended the threat. That was the last offensive threat by the Giants because in the ninth innings Ron Washington brought in Neftali Perez to save the game and he did so in an emphatic way. He struck out both Pat Burrell and Juan Uribe and got Cody Ross to fly out to deep right field.
Speaking of Pat Burrell, who is slowly becoming this World Series' version of Reggie Sanders. I'm sure we all remember Sanders in the 2002 postseason when he hit a whopping .182 with 18 strikeouts. Well Burrell is hitting .176 in this postseason with 15 strikeouts. Like I said, well on his way. Look, its hard to forget what Burrell has been to this team this year and no doubt the Giants would not still be here without him but he cannot continue to kill rally's like he is doing. Today, he was 0 for 4 with four strikeouts and two of the four at-bats he was in an RBI situation and could not even make contact with the ball. He is swinging at balls out of the strike zone and making it easy for the pitchers to get out of jams.
I don't expect to see Bruce Bochy sit him tomorrow but I do expect him to be moved down in the lineup. It wouldn't be the worse thing to move up Cody Ross to the fifth spot and put Burrell in the sixth hole.
Bruce Bochy's full post-game transcript is after the jump:
Q. As a career National Leaguer, is it jarring to see a No. 9 guy come up who can juice the ball like that?
BRUCE BOCHY: No, I mean, it's a different league, and that's the American League, and their guy got a big hit. Sanchez was a pitch away from having a pretty good outing there, but he was getting out of that jam and just made a mistake. Settled in after that and was throwing the ball better, but that's what you deal with with a DH.
Q. What's going on with Burrell? And do you think you might give him a rest tomorrow?
BRUCE BOCHY: I don't know. I'll talk about it once I get back. Their guy threw well. He threw a nice game for them, and we had a few guys that were off tonight a little bit. But you give their pitcher credit; he pitched a nice ballgame.
Q. Is this the kind of game or the final score more like you were expecting, this low-scoring affair, not a ton of offense going on?
BRUCE BOCHY: I'd say, yeah. I mean, both teams have good pitching staffs, and really second game was a tight ballgame, but it just got out of hand there late.
They have good pitching over there, and we think our pitching is good, too, and this was a good ballgame. Pen did a nice job of keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to get back in it, but we just didn't mount many rallies because they pitched well.
Q. Just getting back to Burrell a second, their guy did throw a good game tonight, but he has 19 strikeouts now in 38 at-bats this post-season. Are you seeing a slow bat? What are you seeing?
BRUCE BOCHY: You know, his timing is off probably a little bit, which happens. You know, he's a big reason why we're here, with the huge hits he's gotten. Sure, you hope he comes out of it, and it was a tough night for him. But he can handle it. The one thing about Pat, sometimes he doesn't get a big hit, but he's getting big walks, things like that, to find a way to get on base. But he's a little bit off with his timing.
Q. What were your thoughts on Feliz?
BRUCE BOCHY: He had great stuff. I mean, he hadn't pitched in a while, and he had good command, too. It was an impressive outing for him. You've got a guy out there throwing 98, 99 with command, the kid did a great job. He's had a great year, and we know how good his stuff is, and he showed it tonight.
Q. As you said, Jonathan was just one pitch away from having a really good game, but he has thrown a lot more innings this year than last. Is there any concern that maybe it's starting to take its toll at this point?
BRUCE BOCHY: You know, that's hard to answer. He's had some time off between starts, plenty of rest. But you know, these guys have logged some work, some innings, and whether that's caught up with them or not, I can't answer that. But we'll say I thought he battled well. After the home run he regrouped and he kept them there to the one mistake to Hamilton. But I'm sure they're all a little tired now. It's been a long year, and I thought the middle innings there he had better command of all his pitches.
Q. The continued exploits of Ross and Torres getting on the board tonight with a home run.
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, that was big by both of them because we weren't doing much offensively. Those home runs got us back in the game, and that's what you're hoping, keep it close and hopefully get a rally going. But Ross has done a great job for us, as Torres has. You're looking for someone to kind of ignite the offense, and they certainly were trying. We just couldn't get some runners on before those home runs.
Q. And Cody Ross?
BRUCE BOCHY: He's played great ball. Defensively, offensively, and it's nice to acquire a guy like this who really has carried us at times.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the O'Day-Posey at-bat. Was that just a pitcher executing his pitch there on 3-2?
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, he made a pretty good pitch. We had a good hitter up there, it was a good battle. Went to a full count and he got him out. Last time Buster got a base hit up the middle. But that's a good match-up.
It was a good game, exciting game. But their guys made pitches when they had to.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about tomorrow's game, the fact that they could pull even here at home.
BRUCE BOCHY: They could what?
Q. Pull even tomorrow.
BRUCE BOCHY: Well, we'll go out there and give it our best. We'll go out there and play the game hard for nine innings. We'll see what happens. You know, it's nice to be in our position right now, but we said we have a lot of work ahead of us. We're playing a very good club, and we didn't think this would be easy. They played very well tonight, and tomorrow hopefully we'll get back on track here with the bats.
Q. What are your thoughts on the DH going forward the next two games?
BRUCE BOCHY: I'll get back and think about it, and I'll talk to the staff and see which way we go tomorrow. I've mentioned my options, so I'll put some thought in this and sleep on it, and we'll see which way we go tomorrow.
Q. Specifically on Lewis, what did he do that made him so effective against your lineup tonight?
BRUCE BOCHY: He pitched well, hit his spots, mixed it up. He's a pitcher, and he's had a good year. He's pitched very well in this post-season, and he took it out there tonight and did a good job for them.
BRUCE BOCHY: No, I mean, it's a different league, and that's the American League, and their guy got a big hit. Sanchez was a pitch away from having a pretty good outing there, but he was getting out of that jam and just made a mistake. Settled in after that and was throwing the ball better, but that's what you deal with with a DH.
Q. What's going on with Burrell? And do you think you might give him a rest tomorrow?
BRUCE BOCHY: I don't know. I'll talk about it once I get back. Their guy threw well. He threw a nice game for them, and we had a few guys that were off tonight a little bit. But you give their pitcher credit; he pitched a nice ballgame.
Q. Is this the kind of game or the final score more like you were expecting, this low-scoring affair, not a ton of offense going on?
BRUCE BOCHY: I'd say, yeah. I mean, both teams have good pitching staffs, and really second game was a tight ballgame, but it just got out of hand there late.
They have good pitching over there, and we think our pitching is good, too, and this was a good ballgame. Pen did a nice job of keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to get back in it, but we just didn't mount many rallies because they pitched well.
Q. Just getting back to Burrell a second, their guy did throw a good game tonight, but he has 19 strikeouts now in 38 at-bats this post-season. Are you seeing a slow bat? What are you seeing?
BRUCE BOCHY: You know, his timing is off probably a little bit, which happens. You know, he's a big reason why we're here, with the huge hits he's gotten. Sure, you hope he comes out of it, and it was a tough night for him. But he can handle it. The one thing about Pat, sometimes he doesn't get a big hit, but he's getting big walks, things like that, to find a way to get on base. But he's a little bit off with his timing.
Q. What were your thoughts on Feliz?
BRUCE BOCHY: He had great stuff. I mean, he hadn't pitched in a while, and he had good command, too. It was an impressive outing for him. You've got a guy out there throwing 98, 99 with command, the kid did a great job. He's had a great year, and we know how good his stuff is, and he showed it tonight.
Q. As you said, Jonathan was just one pitch away from having a really good game, but he has thrown a lot more innings this year than last. Is there any concern that maybe it's starting to take its toll at this point?
BRUCE BOCHY: You know, that's hard to answer. He's had some time off between starts, plenty of rest. But you know, these guys have logged some work, some innings, and whether that's caught up with them or not, I can't answer that. But we'll say I thought he battled well. After the home run he regrouped and he kept them there to the one mistake to Hamilton. But I'm sure they're all a little tired now. It's been a long year, and I thought the middle innings there he had better command of all his pitches.
Q. The continued exploits of Ross and Torres getting on the board tonight with a home run.
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, that was big by both of them because we weren't doing much offensively. Those home runs got us back in the game, and that's what you're hoping, keep it close and hopefully get a rally going. But Ross has done a great job for us, as Torres has. You're looking for someone to kind of ignite the offense, and they certainly were trying. We just couldn't get some runners on before those home runs.
Q. And Cody Ross?
BRUCE BOCHY: He's played great ball. Defensively, offensively, and it's nice to acquire a guy like this who really has carried us at times.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the O'Day-Posey at-bat. Was that just a pitcher executing his pitch there on 3-2?
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, he made a pretty good pitch. We had a good hitter up there, it was a good battle. Went to a full count and he got him out. Last time Buster got a base hit up the middle. But that's a good match-up.
It was a good game, exciting game. But their guys made pitches when they had to.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about tomorrow's game, the fact that they could pull even here at home.
BRUCE BOCHY: They could what?
Q. Pull even tomorrow.
BRUCE BOCHY: Well, we'll go out there and give it our best. We'll go out there and play the game hard for nine innings. We'll see what happens. You know, it's nice to be in our position right now, but we said we have a lot of work ahead of us. We're playing a very good club, and we didn't think this would be easy. They played very well tonight, and tomorrow hopefully we'll get back on track here with the bats.
Q. What are your thoughts on the DH going forward the next two games?
BRUCE BOCHY: I'll get back and think about it, and I'll talk to the staff and see which way we go tomorrow. I've mentioned my options, so I'll put some thought in this and sleep on it, and we'll see which way we go tomorrow.
Q. Specifically on Lewis, what did he do that made him so effective against your lineup tonight?
BRUCE BOCHY: He pitched well, hit his spots, mixed it up. He's a pitcher, and he's had a good year. He's pitched very well in this post-season, and he took it out there tonight and did a good job for them.
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