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When you live in Europe, you know that you will have to sacrifice some sleep if you want to follow the World Series live.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\nWhen you live in Europe, you know that you will have to sacrifice some sleep if you want to follow the World Series live.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not always easy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or possible, in some cases \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no hardship at all when it allows you to watch two games like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen so far in this Fall Classic.<\/p>\n
Game One was a tense opener and Game Two was even closer.\u00c2\u00a0 The Texas Rangers landed a big \u00e2\u20ac\u201c potentially pivotal \u00e2\u20ac\u201c blow with a stunning comeback to win 2-1.<\/p>\n
At the end of the seventh inning, with the Cardinals having just gained a 1-0, I commented on Twitter that the next two innings could be incredibly significant in the context of the series.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the Cardinals could hold on to their lead, they would be in a very strong position needing only two wins from the remaining five games to win their eleventh championship.\u00c2\u00a0 If the Rangers could make a comeback, that would change everything.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only is there a big difference between 1-1 and 0-2 in a best-of-seven series, but levelling the contest with a late rally would shift all the momentum back the Rangers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 way as the series headed to Texas for the next three games.<\/p>\n
The Rangers rose to the challenge and in doing so have given themselves a great chance to avenge their World Series defeat of\u00c2\u00a0one year ago.<\/p>\n
It didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look likely when Allen Craig gave the Cardinals the lead with a pinch-hit off Alexi Ogando for the second straight night.\u00c2\u00a0 It was \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcde ja vu all over again\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, as Yogi Berra would say, and the St. Louis crowd celebrated as if they thought they had seen the decisive moment of the game.\u00c2\u00a0 The storylines were already being written of Tony La Russa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s move once again coming out on top over Ron Washington\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pitching change.\u00c2\u00a0 However, La Russa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bullpen button pushing didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t turn out to be quite as successful second time around.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
In fairness, we can perhaps make too much of the moves made by the managers.\u00c2\u00a0 They have an impact of course, but ultimately it is the players on the field that determine the game by coming through at the crucial moments.<\/p>\n
This time, it was the Rangers who eventually grabbed hold of the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Ian Kinsler got on board in the ninth and knew he needed to get into scoring position.\u00c2\u00a0 His steal of second wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite of Dave Roberts proportions, but it did shift the momentum and appeared to give Texas the belief that they could rescue the game.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elvis Andrus then followed Kinsler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lead with a smart piece of baserunning to take advantage of some slopping fielding by the Cardinals.\u00c2\u00a0 Two sacrifice flies later and the game had swung from 1-0 Cardinals to 2-1 Rangers.\u00c2\u00a0 It all looks so straightforward when you look at the play-by-play record.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the context of the game and the series, it was anything but.<\/p>\n
Two teams battling injuries as well as each other<\/strong><\/p>\n The two teams have a day off to recover from the first two games before reconvening in Arlington for Game Three on Saturday (01.05 a.m. on Sunday for us in the UK).\u00c2\u00a0 Everything suggests that the series will remain close throughout, not least because these are two teams that are having to battle with injuries.<\/p>\n Josh Hamilton is clearly struggling with a painful injury that leaves him unable to use his lower half when he swings. Yadier Molina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thumb injury, picked up behind the plate in Game One, makes him and everyone watching grimace each time he takes a swing.\u00c2\u00a0 Albert Pujols has a swolen ankle and Adrian Beltre doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look right either.<\/p>\n No one is making excuses though.\u00c2\u00a0 The World Series is the culmination of a long, hard season and no player is 100 per cent healthy in October.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of what makes coming out on top in the Fall Classic such a rewarding achievement.<\/p>\n