Rangers stun Cardinals in ninth to even World Series

The Texas Rangers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in Game 2 of the World Series tonight. The series is tied at a game apiece. It was very well-pitched game. The Rangers scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th to grab the lead and the win. It's a very uplifting win for the Rangers and a very demoralizing loss for the Cardinals.

The Rangers played smart in the top of the 9th to score twice. Ian Kinsler made a gutty play and just stole 2nd ahead of a great throw from Yadier Molina. Then Elvis Andrus singled and took second when Albert Pujols didn't cut off a throw from right field. It was a play Pujols should have made; the throw was there to be cut off and Pujols just missed it. The play ended up being the difference between the Rangers winning and the game still being tied. Andrus deserves credit for taking 2nd on the play, as it was a close play and required guts to attempt.

It really is fundamentals that helped determine the outcome. Pujols cutting off the ball is a fundamental play. Andrus taking the extra base may not be purely fundamental, but it was a good, aggressive play that helped his team win.

Also, good situational hitting from Josh Hamilton and Michael Young to get sacrifice flies when each had a runner on third and less than two outs. It's good hitting to get the ball in the air there when the pitchers clearly had to be going for strikeouts. I kind of have to agree with the analysts who say Tony La Russa should have stayed with Jason Motte against Hamilton, even though bringing in Arthur Rhodes brought up a left-on-left match-up. Even though Motte hasn't been the "official" closer, he's been the closer. He hadn't blown the save yet and this could be a blow to his confidence.

I understand where La Russa was coming from as he likes to go with situational match-ups, but I disagree with him on this one. Motte probably would have coughed up the save at that point anyway since the Cards only held a one run lead and there were runners on second and third with nobody out. However, he would benefit in the future from knowing he's the guy, it seems like La Russa showed some doubt in him there. We'll see what happens with Motte the rest of the series.

Finally, if I were La Russa and the Cardinals, I would start Chris Carpenter on short rest for Game 4 on Sunday. Carpenter is the Cards' best pitcher and gives them the best chance to win. If he goes in Game 4, he could come back again on short rest for a potential Game 7 and therefore pitch three times in the series instead of two. Also, Carpenter only threw 87 pitches in Game 1 and should have more in the tank to come back on short rest.

That's all for now, stay tuned to the blog for World Series updates analysis. I will try to get in some blogging about Utah football soon as well. Also, follow me on Twitter as well for World Series and Utes in-game updates and analysis as well other thoughts on sports.

Giants take Game 1 of NLCS

At left: Cody Ross celebrates after one of his two home runs Saturday night in Philadelphia.

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Saturday night in Game 1 of the NLCS from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Cody Ross was the big star, clubbing two home runs off Phillies ace Roy Halladay, who had thrown a no-hitter in his previous start. Tim Lincecum went 7 solid innings, yielding 3 earned runs. Javier Lopez retired two hitters in the 8th and Brian Wilson earned a four out save. Halladay allowed 4 earned runs in his outing. Pat Burrell had an RBI double and Juan Uribe an RBI single in the top of the 6th to push the Giants' lead to 4-1. The Phillies countered with a two run homer from Jayson Werth to trim the lead to 4-3 but would get no closer.

The big thing about the first Ross home run was that Halladay had not allowed a hit to that point and the game was in the third inning. I think that hit and that run that gave the Giants the 1-0 lead really helped loosen everyone up. Ross has been huge lately and it's pretty to cool to see from a guy whose acquisition seemed to be almost an afterthought in the minds of Giants fans. Even when Carlos Ruiz tied the game up on a homer, the Giants did not lose their cool and recaptured the lead behind Ross' second long ball. It was interesting to see on the replays on Baseball Tonight that Ross' stroke looked pretty much exactly the same on both of his homers on pitches that were in almost the exact location. That's some good consistency.

The Giants showed resiliency tonight and did not fold in front of a rabid, sell-out crowd and the two-time defending National League Champions. I thought the bullpen did a tremendous job. Brian Wilson has been great, but so has Javier Lopez ever since the Giants acquired him from the Pirates. Lopez has been extremely tough on left-handed hitters and that trend continued tonight when he retired Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in succession in the top of the 8th.

It's nice to take the opener in Philadelphia and have the lead now not to mention having the assurance of going back to the bay area with no worse than a split. A win tomorrow night, however, would be pretty sweet.

In the ALCS today, the Texas Rangers bounced back in a big way from last night in defeating the New York Yankees 7-2 to even that series at 1-1. The Rangers' bats were once again hot and they were able to jump out to a big lead. The difference today was that the bullpen was able to hold the lead, throwing 3 1/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball. The win was the first home win in Texas Rangers playoff history so it's good to get that out of the way. One cool play in the game came in the first inning when Elvis Andrus stole home on a double steal play to put the Rangers up 1-0 and help give them some momentum. Cliff Lee pitches for the Rangers in Game 3 on Monday night in the Bronx in a very pivotal game in the series.

Here's the stuff for the game tomorrow night:

Game 2 -- San Francisco Giants (Sanchez) at Philadelphia Phillies (Oswalt), 6:19 p.m. MT (FOX, Giants lead series 1-0)