Thursday's Mound Matchup
C.J. Wilson, Texas Rangers vs. Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants
C.J. Wilson (15-8, 3.35 ERA)
It’s been a bit of an odd road that C.J. Wilson has taken on his way to making a Game 2 start in the World Series. After changing his workout routine to make the switch from closer to starter, he won a job in Texas’ rotation this season and never looked back.
"With his physical conditioning, the way he takes care of his body and his offseason preparation, he’s really set himself up to pitch 200 innings," said Matt Treanor, Wilson’s personal catcher. "He’s got the mental capacity to take in all the extra information — and the workload on his body, as well."
And that’s exactly what he did, striking out 170 batters over 204 innings for the Rangers in the regular season. He started off strong in his first taste of the playoffs too, allowing two hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 6-0 win over Tampa Bay and following that up with seven innings of three-run ball in taking a no-decision during Game 1’s 6-5 loss to the Yankees.
New York got to him in his second start of the series though, pounding Wilson for five runs and a pair of home runs over five innings. That was eight days ago, so he has had lots of time to work out what went wrong.
Matt Cain (13-11, 3.14 ERA)
Cain was hammered in his last outing of the regular season but has turned over a new leaf in the postseason. So far his career postseason ERA sits at 0.00.
He gave up one unearned run over 6 2/3 innings while striking out six against the Atlanta Braves in a no-decision and then blanked the Philadelphia Phillies over seven innings, giving up just two hits while striking out five.
The 26-year-old can crank his fast ball up to the mid-90s, but that isn’t the reason why he’s having so much success in his first go at the playoffs.
"He's a big-time control guy," catcher Buster Posey told reporters after Cain’s win over Philadelphia. "Even though he throws hard, he has great control. He controls four pitches very, very well. He's pretty special."
Cain knows how important he is to this series. Manager Bruce Bochy considered starting him in the first game of the series, but elected to go with Tim Lincecum to keep the rotation rolling along. Cain will likely be scheduled to take the hill in either Game 6 or Game 7 if the series lasts that long.
Giants and Rangers prep for Game 2
By: Adam Markowitz
The second game of World Series betting action goes off on Thursday night, and here at Don Best we have the first look at what could be one of the more interesting games in this entire series.
The bats for both teams are probably going to be relieved to not see LHP Cliff Lee or RHP Tim Lincecum any longer, as this is the lowest total ever posted in an MLB betting affair in Game 1 at a flat 5 ½.
However, before any of the bats start to take their licks in Game 2, Mother Nature might have her say. There is the potential for rain in the weather forecast for Thursday afternoon in the Bay area, and if there is a washout on Thursday, this game will be pushed back to Friday and make travel plans difficult on both squads.
Manager Ron Washington had an easy time slotting Lee into his rotation for Game 1 of the Fall Classic, but beyond that he had some real decisions to make. Instead of going with the up-and-down RHP Colby Lewis, Washington has kept to his guns and is handing the ball to LHP CJ Wilson.
The move to use Wilson here on the road is a risky one, especially after he was lit up against the New York Yankees in the Bronx for six runs, five of which were earned in Game 5 of the ALCS. However, it was Wilson and not Lewis that was called upon for Game 1 of that series, and the two will remain in this order.
Part of the reason for using the southpaw here is because he had a stellar 2.91 ERA on the road in the regular season despite just a 4-5 record. Washington also knows that Wilson had the best stuff on his staff late in games until Lee came over from the Seattle Mariners. This left-hander has just a 0.47 ERA when he is throwing pitches No. 91 through 105 this season, and he has only allowed one earned run all season in that situation.
This will be Wilson's first appearance against the Giants in his career.
Manager Bruce Bochy had a similar situation that he had to face as Washington. Bochy knew that he had to give the baseball over to his former Cy Young Award winner on Wednesday night, but Game 2 was a more interesting predicament. In the ALDS against the Atlanta Braves, he used Cain over LHP Jonathan Sanchez, but he flip flopped the two in the ALCS against the Philadelphia Phillies, perhaps because of all of the lefty hitters in the Philly lineup.
It's Cain that will get the call on Thursday, and for fantastic reason. Cain has yet to give up a run in these playoffs, pitching 13 2/3 spotless innings of ball. Opposing hitters are only batting .170 against him, and he has 11 Ks against five walks in the playoffs. Cain is coming off of a start in which he outdueled LHP Cole Hamels. He allowed just two hits in seven scoreless frames in Game 3 of the NLCS, earning his first win of the playoffs.
Cain has only faced the Rangers once, holding them to three hits and one earned run in eight innings. He struck out eight and only walked three.
Since the formation of interleague play in baseball, the Giants have absolutely dominated this series, going 11-4 overall and winning all nine games played here at Candlestick Park. Three of those wins came last season in a sweep at home in which San Fran outscored the Rangers 11-7.
In regards to the total, the 'under' has gone 10-5 in the 15 outings. It cashed in two of the three in the regular season meeting last year.