CASPER
New member
ARLINGTON, Texas – A couple of Giants coaches rolled balls down the chalk lines, checking if the dirt tilted fair or foul. A few San Francisco hitters squinted into the sun glinting off glass windows in left field, seeing how it might affect them in the batter's box.
It's been quite a while since the Giants last visited Rangers Ballpark — Tim Lincecum was a teenager then, back in 2001.
The Giants would like to make this a rather short stay.
Up 2-0 on the Texas Rangers in the World Series, the Giants are halfway to clinching their first championship since moving to San Francisco more than a half-century ago.
"There's baseball left," manager Bruce Bochy said before Friday's workout. "Two wins doesn't get you anything."
Colby Lewis is set to start Game 3 Saturday night against Giants lefty Jonathan Sanchez. It will be the first Series game in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
"I think you're going to see a different Ranger team tomorrow, for sure," Giants reliever Javier Lopez said.
"It's their home opener. They've been waiting for this one just as long as San Fran has. They're going to be excited, they're going to be fired up. The crowd's definitely going to be amped up here. It's going to get loud in here. We've just got to try to match that intensity."
Signs around Rangers Ballpark proclaimed, "It's Time!" Outfielder Jeff Francoeur and his teammates hope so.
"I think it's important for us to come out, play well early, get guys on and put pressure on them. Make them feel uncomfortable," Francoeur said. "They did a good job of making us seem uncomfortable in their park. Hopefully we can turn around and do the same to them."
So far, the Texas hitters are slumping, the bullpen is a wreck and the manager is being criticized. A team that did so well in the AL playoffs got battered 11-7 in the opener, then embarrassed 9-0.