No Yankees, no Phillies, no Red Sox. Still, there was plenty of interesting strategy to digest in the World Series opener between Texas and St. Louis, which stayed close until the end. Tell that to TV viewers.
Ratings for Game 1 were down slightly from last year ? when the average number matched a record low.
The Cardinals' 3-2 win Wednesday night on Fox earned an 8.7 rating and 14 share. That was down 2 percent from the 8.9/15 for Game 1 in 2010 between the Rangers and the Giants, with San Francisco a bigger market than St. Louis.
Local viewership was strong. Fox said the rating in St. Louis was a 47.3/66, the highest for a local market for Game 1 since Boston in 2007. Dallas averaged a 34.2/51, up slightly from last year.
St. Louis' victory was the 11th one-run game in the postseason this year, one shy of the record set in 1995, 1997 and 2003.
Game 2 has Colby Lewis on the mound for Texas against Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia.
One of the reasons Garcia got this start is because he has been better at home than on the road this season. But the Texas lineup could be a tough matchup for him, with all those right-handed sluggers.
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What was the buzz after Game 1?
Tony La Russa outmanaged Ron Washington, that's what.
The Cardinals' skipper used the perfect mix of relievers to keep the Texas Rangers off the scoreboard for the final three innings of Wednesday night's World Series opener. And he lifted ace Chris Carpenter at just the right time, getting a pinch-hit single from Allen Craig that put St. Louis ahead for good, 3-2.
When Washington needed a big hit off the bench, he turned to Esteban German rather than Yorvit Torrealba. German, who hadn't batted in 22 days, struck out to end the seventh inning, and the Texas offense was never heard from again.
Well, Washington tinkered a bit for Game 2. He changed his starting lineup, and that could put him in a better position to counter La Russa late in the game.
Rangers speedster Craig Gentry gets the start in center field tonight, batting eighth against Garcia. An ailing Josh Hamilton shifts from center field to left, putting David Murphy on the bench.
Murphy is a quality left-handed hitter with plenty of experience in a part-time role. He has tough at-bats with runners on base and would be a good option as a pinch-hitter, especially against those right-handers in the St. Louis bullpen who have been so effective: Octavio Dotel, Fernando Salas, Lance Lynn and Jason Motte.
"I don't think I can win a chess game against Tony," Washington said before Game 2. "National League is a different type of game. There's all kinds of moving parts, and once again, it just comes down to the players (executing) in whatever position you put them in, and last night, Craig executed and we didn't.
"I don't have the experienced pinch hitters that a National League team has because they do it so often. I've got nine guys that are healthy, that have gotten us to this point, and if those nine guys are healthy, usually during the course of our season, our extra guys get work when we want to give them rest. So they don't get a whole lot of pinch-hitting opportunity. But I do trust them, and I do believe in some situations certain guys can deliver for you. Last night ours didn't deliver. We move on," he said.
Washington threw batting practice himself to Hamilton, who hasn't homered in the postseason. Last year's AL MVP went 0 for 4 in Game 1 and said his lingering groin injury is getting a bit worse.
If this were the regular season, he says he would probably be on the disabled list right now.
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