Colby Lewis was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Texas Rangers.
After the San Francisco Giants jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead in the 2010 World Series, Lewis held the Giants to two runs in seven-plus innings of work as the Rangers drew within one game by defeating the Giants on Saturday, 4-2.
In doing so, Lewis became the winning pitcher in all three home playoff victories in the history of the Texas Rangers franchise.
Before this year’s Fall Classic began, many believed that starting pitching would be a huge factor in the outcome, but up until Saturday night, it was the offense of the Giants that stole the show.
With momentum now on the side of the Rangers, and the matchup in favor of Tommy Hunter in Game 4, Texas has a legitimate chance of squaring up the Series on Sunday.
When looking at the dynamics of the Giants lineup, it’s not difficult to see why San Francisco was successful against Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson.
The Giants feature predominantly right-handed hitting in their batting order and have had much success against left-handed pitching throughout the entire 2010 postseason.
As Lewis was the right man for the job on Saturday, Hunter, also a righty, will be in a similar scenario Sunday night. Hunter brings in a 7-0 record in the regular season at Rangers Ballpark and will face Giants rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner in Game 4.
As Game 5 nears, the aces of each staff will be called upon once again, and if the Series is stretched into six or seven games, starting pitching could very well be a deciding factor as to which team will come away with the championship rings.
The following slides show each starter who has pitched thus far in the Series, rate and analyze each pitcher’s performance, as well as speculate how they will fare if utilized in the latter part of the Series.