ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rangers finally became the first team from Texas to win a World Series game.
Texas, in the franchise’s 50th season, beat San Francisco 4-2 on Saturday night and cutting the Giants’ edge in the World Series to 2-1.
Rookie Mitch Moreland hit an early three-run home run and Josh Hamilton later launched a 426-foot shot for the Rangers to back pitcher Colby Lewis.
“I was just really excited to come back home. I knew with these fans out here we had a definite advantage,” Lewis said. “It was just a thing of comfortability.”
Just in time, in fact, coming off two thumpings in San Francisco.
“This shifted,” Hamilton said.
Game 3 marked the first time the Series visited the Metroplex. On a college football weekend, the parking lots filled up early with footballs and fine barbecue smoke.
But Lewis and the Rangers showed there was still a place in the Lone Star State for baseball, too.
Former President George W. Bush toured the Texas clubhouse before the game - previously a Rangers part owner, he gave pep talks to individual players.
Then the Rangers’ current part-owner, Nolan Ryan, jazzed the largest crowd in the history of Rangers Ballpark by cranking up for the ceremonial first toss. Nolan brought his heater - at 68 mph, pretty swift for a 63-year-old guy wearing dress pants and a tie.
Lewis took over after that. He worked around home runs by Cody Ross - the fifth of the postseason for the National League Championship Series MVP - in the seventh inning and Andres Torres in the eighth. The Giants eventually brought the tying run to the plate, but reliever Darren O’Day retired Buster Posey to end the eighth.
Texas Manager Ron Washington finally brought in Neftali Feliz, and the hard-throwing closer pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the postseason. Washington was criticized in the first two games at San Francisco for leaving Feliz in the bullpen while the Giants broke away.
Feliz struck out two, cheered on by Ryan, Bush and their wives in the front row next to the Texas dugout. As fireworks exploded overhead and Texas swing music blared, Bush leaned over and kissed Ryan’s wife, Ruth.
The Rangers looked more like themselves with Vladimir Guerrero back in the designated hitter spot. The other Texas big bats chimed in, with Hamilton hitting his fifth home run of the postseason.
Moreland homered from the ninth spot in the lineup.
“It’s a different league, and that’s the American League,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “Their guy got a big hit.”
Lewis picked up where he left off in the AL Championship Series, where he finished off the defending champion New York Yankees in Game 6. He’s 3-0 this postseason, with all of his victories coming after a Texas loss.
Lewis allowed five hits in 72/3 innings and struck out six.
“We needed a well-pitched job,” Washington said.
Moreland, promoted to the majors in late July, won a tough at-bat against Jonathan Sanchez with a three-run home run in the second on the ninth pitch.
At a burly 6-4, Lewis is built something like a fullback. He sure scored big for the Lone Star State in this one.
Lewis is a below-.500 pitcher for his career, not including the two seasons he recently spent pitching for Hiroshima in the Japan league. Despite a shaky record, he’s known for this trait: He gets tougher in tight situations.
Lewis escaped a two-on jam in the first by getting Pat Burrell to fish for a breaking ball, and worked around a leadoff walk to Ross in the second.
The next time he got on the mound, he already had a nice cushion.
Nelson Cruz opened the Texas second with a double off the center-field wall and eighth-place hitter Bengie Molina drew a walk. It was trouble time for Sanchez - he owned the best hits-to-innings ratio in the NL this year, yet also led the league in walks and can unravel quickly.
Moreland hung in, fouling off four consecutive 2-2 pitches and barely getting a piece on a couple of them. He then took a smooth swing that sent a liner far into the right-field seats for his first career home run against a left-hander.
It was the big hit the Rangers needed to get back into the Series. The crowd roared and Ryan stood up, thrust his right arm in the air and hollered.
Hamilton gave his boss another thrill in the fifth. A bit jumpy at the plate early in the game, the probable AL MVP patiently waited for his pitch and launched a drive deep into the lower deck in right-center field.
Sanchez, who got just six outs against Philadelphia in his previous start, gave up 4 runs, 6 hits and 3 walks in 4 2/3 innings, raising his ERA to 4.05 in four postseason starts. He was replaced by Guillermo Mota, who had started warming up in the third.
Sports, Pages 27 on 10/31/2010