Due to the coronavirus outbreak suspending the 2020 MLB season, we’re rewatching the three San Francisco Giants postseason runs, game-by-game, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights at 6 p.m. PT, with a gamethread for each.
It’s time for Game 5 of the 2010 World Series. The San Francisco Giants lead the Texas Rangers 3-1. They’re one win away from their rendezvous with history, to borrow a phrase that Jon Miller would utter three and a half years later.
The Giants are obviously in a good spot, needing only to avoid three straight losses, with Games 6 and 7 scheduled in San Francisco. But there’s also a little sense of urgency, as this is the final start for Tim Lincecum. If the Rangers force the series back to San Francisco, the Giants will have already used their ace.
Lincecum wasn’t as good as in his Cy Young campaigns the two prior years, but he still finished the season 16-10, with a 3.43 ERA, a 3.15 FIP, and 231 strikeouts in 212.1 innings, marking his third straight season leading the league in strikeouts.
The Rangers are countering with a 2008 Cy Young winner of their own in Cliff Lee. Lee, who was traded midway through the seasons after starting the year with the Seattle Mariners, finished the season 12-9 with a 3.18 ERA, a 2.58 FIP, and 185 strikeouts in 212.1 innings.
We’re starting this rewatch at the same time as all of the rewatches: 6 p.m. PT. I’m embedding the video at the bottom of the article, which you can watch in your browser or cast from, or you can find it on YouTube by searching “2010 World Series Game 5” and clicking the first link.
For those who want to skip the pregame show, the actual game starts shortly a little more than 27 minutes in. So you can join at 6:27 p.m. PT, and use this link to go straight to the 27-minute mark.
Now, for the Rangers lineup:
- Elvis Andrus — SS
- Michael Young — 3B
- Josh Hamilton — CF
- Vladimir Guerrero — DH
- Nelson Cruz — RF
- Ian Kinsler — 2B
- David Murphy — LF
- Bengie Molina — C
- Mitch Moreland — 1B
Cliff Lee — P
And for the Giants:
- Andres Torres — LF
- Freddy Sanchez — 2B
- Buster Posey — C
- Cody Ross — RF
- Juan Uribe — 3B
- Aubrey Huff — 1B
- Pat Burrell — DH
- Edgar Renteria — SS
- Aaron Rowand — CF
Tim Lincecum — P