Needless to say, this wasn't exactly how the Rangers thought things would go.
Cliff Lee came into Game 1 of the World Series having made three playoff starts, allowing two runs over 24 innings with one walk and 34 strikeouts. He'd pitched as well as anybody had ever pitched before in the postseason, and he'd pitched that well against American League opponents. To put him in San Francisco, starting against the Giants - Lee seemed like a sure bet to be his dominant self once again.
But he wasn't, and he wasn't particularly close. He was fine for the first couple innings, but he allowed his first run in the third, when Freddy Sanchez doubled home Edgar Renteria. Buster Posey followed that with a base hit that scored another run and allowed the Giants to catch the Rangers at 2-2.
Lee rebounded in the fourth, but then everything came apart in a disaster of a fifth. Lee faced seven batters in the frame. One of them walked, two of them singled, and two of them doubled. Lee would stand in to watch the Giants score three, and after he was pulled by Ron Washington with two outs, he walked to the dugout and looked on as he was charged with two more runs when Juan Uribe took Darren O'Day deep for a three-run homer.
Lee struck out seven while walking only one, but his command was off and the Giants hit him hard. He wound up with seven runs allowed in 4.2 innings, which is the worst start he's had since June 30, 2009.
The Rangers knew they'd have a challenge, given that Lee was going up against Tim Lincecum. They didn't anticipate that Lee would be as hittable as he was. Seven runs should've been able to win them this game, and now they'll go forward with shaken confidence.
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