Rusty pinch hitters hurting Rangers in Series

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The starting pitchers looked real sharp early in Game 2.

Garcia broke two or three bats through the first two innings and retired his first nine batters. He sawed off Josh Hamilton badly in the first.

Hamilton appears pretty uncomfortable with that groin injury. He’s really having a hard time finding his swing.

The 25-year-old Garcia shows no fear, attacking Texas’ right-handed sluggers on both sides of the plate.

One of the reasons Garcia got this start is because he has been better at home than on the road this season. He sure looks poised at Busch Stadium so far in his first World Series start. But sometimes when he starts to fade, it happens quickly.

Lewis also is in control, with the exception of a second-inning walk to Matt Holliday and a two-out double by Furcal in the third.

Lewis is not a big name, but he’s been awfully effective for Texas in the postseason the past two years, going 4-1 with a 2.37 ERA in six starts.

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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.

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