San Francisco @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 28, 2010 ) Texas 0, San Francisco 9

Everything that had to go right for the Texas Rangers to reach their first World Series has suddenly gone wrong.

And if the Rangers don't turn it around in a hurry, their Fall Classic experience will quickly fade.

Texas returns home to Rangers Ballpark at Arlington for Game 3 on Saturday night, desperately needing a win to slow the San Francisco Giants' march toward a title.

The Rangers' lineup, one of the best in the league during the regular season, has managed only five extra-base hits in the series - all doubles - and Texas' biggest hitters have gone cold. Josh Hamilton and Michael Young are 1-for-8, Nelson Cruz is 1-for-9 and Vladimir Guerrero sat out Thursday's Game 2 loss after making two errors in right field in Game 1.

But that's not even close to the worst of it.

The bullpen is in shambles, having allowed 11 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, and the rotation isn't much better off. Game 2 starter C.J. Wilson left in the seventh inning with a blister on his pitching hand, prompting discussion of how the Rangers would proceed if they can push the series past four games.

The possibilities aren't encouraging, especially against a San Francisco pitching staff that has carried its late-season success into the playoffs.

Right-hander Matt Cain was dominant in Game 2, throwing 7 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, and left-hander Jonathan Sanchez looks to pick up Saturday where Cain left off.

Sanchez is still looking for his first win of the playoffs. In three starts, he is 0-1 with a 2.93 ERA and has struck out 19 and walked six in 15 1/3 innings. He lasted only two-plus innings in his last outing in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series against Philadelphia, leaving after hitting Chase Utley with a pitch to clear both benches.

Sanchez will face a Rangers lineup hitting just .227 in the series, but Texas hit .288 at home during the regular season and it will have Guerrero back in the middle of the lineup as the designated hitter.

The Giants are in their first World Series since 2002, and they're looking for the franchise's first title since the New York Giants won it all in 1954.

They figured to ride their talented young pitching staff as far as it would take them, but the bats have awakened to do their part so far in the World Series. The Giants are hitting .314 in the series with 11 extra-base hits and have scored 20 runs through two games.

The unlikely offensive stars for San Francisco have been Juan Uribe, who has made his two hits count with a home run and five RBIs, and Edgar Renteria, who is 3-for-7 with a homer, three RBIs and four runs.

San Francisco will add another big bat to the lineup for the games in Texas, using Pablo Sandoval as its designated hitter.

Slowing down the red-hot Giants hitters will be the job of right-hander Colby Lewis in Game 3. Lewis closed out the New York Yankees with eight innings of one-run ball in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series. He is 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA in three playoff starts.