As a great baseball man, Yogi Berra once said, last night’s game 3 was just a case of “déjà vu, all over again”. San Francisco take a lead, Detroit miss their chance and get shutout. Same story, different venue for the Tigers.
Even home cooking could not ignite the Tigers bats as once again the much vaunted offense of the Tigers came up small in the face of San Francisco pitching. The Tigers big chance came in the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases against San Francisco’s Ryan Vogelsong. Miguel Cabrera the team best hitter came to the plate with a chance to break open the game but, instead of igniting his team the Tigers’ slugging third baseman softly lifted the ball into the air for an easy out.
Cabrera slammed his helmet into the ground afterwards, the last bit of fight the Tigers showed all night. The San Francisco lineup, minus Pablo Sandoval’s historic performance in Game 1, has hardly set the world on fire with its offensive performance either to be fair. However, they have managed to find a way to get key hits when they have needed them unlike the Tigers.
San Francisco’s 2-0 victory sets up a potential World Series clinching game tonight. To stop what seems at this point an inevitable coronation the Tigers must become the first team in the history of the World Series to overcome a 3-0 series deficit. To do so would take a truly historic turn around for Detroit. The San Francisco Giants have not trailed Detroit in 54 innings and tonight they send out a pitcher in Matt Cain who tossed a perfect game earlier in the season. Cain, has also pitched the Giants to victory in the series clinching games of the NLDS and NLCS.
It is imperative that the Tigers take an early lead into tonight’s game and cash in on their opportunities. Otherwise they will have to endure the sight of the Giants celebrating a World Series victory on Detroit’s home patch.
