Well, here we are.
Game 3 tonight. This is about as close to a must-win as you can have in a non-elimination game.
Win tonight, and the Rangers are in a decent position. Lose, and the series, and season, is for all intents and purposes over.
I, of course, will be on a flight for much of the game...fortunately, Continental offers Direct TV in-flight, so I'll at least be able to watch the game in the air.
Evan Grant invokes the 1996 Yankees, who lost their first two games of the World Series at home in embarrassing fashion to the Atlanta Braves before coming back to win the next four, in looking at how the Rangers can bounce back from the 2-0 deficit.
Anthony Andro writes that the Rangers are once again looking to Colby Lewis to come in and pick them up after a playoff loss, after Lewis did that twice against New York in the ALCS.
Jeff Wilson writes that, while history says that the Rangers are big trouble, down 2-0, the players aren't concerning themselves with history.
T.R. Sullivan writes that the Rangers think they can get things going at home.
Gerry Fraley says returning home and playing by the A.L. rules should help the Rangers.
Brent Shirley has a story about the offense needing to get going, with Nelson Cruz saying that he was lost at the plate on Thursday.
The S-T's notes talk about Derek Holland's meltdown and C.J. Wilson's blister, along with the possibility of Cliff Lee pitching Game 4 on short rest.
The problem with Lee going on short rest, of course, is that, unless you want to use C.J. Wilson (who is dealing with his blister problem) on short rest, you are just bumping Tommy Hunter's start back one game. And you'd end up pitching Hunter against Tim Lincecum, rather than Madison Bumgarner.
The end result is that you take a World Series start away from Colby Lewis so you can use Lee twice on short rest, which doesn't seem to be a real positive trade-off.
Jeff Wilson has a story about Josh Hamilton, what he's overcome to get here, and his embracing being a team player.
Jennifer Floyd Engel has a column about the Rangers' resiliency all year, which includes the news that Derek Holland apparently got some hateful texts on Thursday night (which makes me wonder who he's been giving his cell phone number to), while dropping a Colbyashi. It pleases me to see the Colbyashi nickname becoming so widespread...
Jean-Jacques Taylor writes that Colby Lewis taking the mound tonight is a good thing, because he's shown he can handle the pressure.