CASPER
New member
ARLINGTON, Texas (AFP) – Pablo Sandoval, a hefty Venezuelan slugger nicknamed "Kung Fu Panda", will serve as the designated hitter for the San Francisco Giants in Saturday's third game of the 106th World Series.
The Giants defeated Texas twice at home to seize a 2-0 lead in Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final, but will play under American League rules when the showdown resumes Saturday at the Rangers ballpark.
That means pitchers will not bat as they did in games at San Francisco, instead being replaced by designated hitters.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy elected Friday to stay with a batting lineup that has worked well so far, pounding the Rangers for a total of 20 runs in the first two games, and add Sandoval's power in place of a pitcher.
Sandoval has hit .268 with 13 home runs and batted home 63 runs. He has made five appearances in this year's playoffs and enables the Giants to minimize any disadvantage from not using a designated hitter regularly during the season.
"In our situation it's not really any disadvantage," Bochy said. "We have a couple good options there and we have a couple guys who have experience DHing so I don't see that being the case in this series."
Southpaw pitcher Johnathan Sanchez, a 27-year-old Puerto Rican, will try to lift the Giants to the brink of their first World Series title in 56 years when he goes against Rangers starter Cody Lewis on Saturday.
"It's just another game. You have to go out and pitch," Sanchez said. "It doesn't matter if we're winning 2-0 or losing 2-0. I've got to give everything I have."
