Game 3 on tap: Tigers, Giants get ready to chill out
- Temperatures are expected in the 40s for Game 3
DETROIT -- Should the NHL lockout ever end, the Winter Classic will be played about 45 miles west of here at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
Baseball's Fall Classic resumes tonight with Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. It will have a decidedly Winter Classic feel as the Giants try to expand their 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The temperature is expected to be in the 45-degree range at the 8:07 p.m. ET game time and could dip below 40 by the later innings. While neither team is looking forward to playing in the cold, they also realize it is part of the deal of playing in late October in a northern city.
"It's the World Series. You can't be worried about how cold it is," said right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, who will start for the Giants against Tigers righty Anibal Sanchez.
"I threw a game in Chicago last year where it was 34 degrees and it was raining and sleeting. I threw the ball pretty well that night. I don't suspect the cold weather is going to be much of an issue. If I am thinking about how cold it is, it means I'm not thinking about that I'm doing on the mound."
Though it was just chilly during batting practice, both teams will be bundled up for the game and have heaters in their dugouts and bullpens.
It would seem the Tigers are better equipped to handle cold weather than the California-based Giants. Yet while the first two games of the World Series were played on gorgeous early autumn evenings in San Francisco, there is usually a nip in the air at night at waterfront AT&T Park.
What's more, of the nine players in Detroit's lineup, all except right fielder and Kansas native Andy Dirks hail from Sun Belt climes such as Florida, Texas, California, the Dominican Republic or Venezuela. The Giants? They will start four Venezuelans, two Texans and one player each frorm Puerto Rico, Georgia and California.
Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer, who will start Game 4 on Sunday night, said there are "tricks" to beating the cold. He should know as he pitched cold springtime games while growing up in the St. Louis area and starring at the University of Missouri.
"Wearing shorts underneath your pants, finding the right long sleeves, warming up extra long, anything you can do to keep your body warm," Scherzer said.
The Tigers need to beat more than just the cold. No team has ever fallen behind 3-0 and won the World Series and just 11 of 52 -- 21.2% -- have rallied from being down 2-0.
"We're two down with five to play and we're playing the team we've got to catch," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "That pretty much simplifies it."
The designated hitter rule is in effect with the series shifting to an American League city and Bochy has chosen backup catcher Hector Sanchez to be the Giants' DH. Bochy said he also considered veteran outfielder Aubrey Huff.
Sanchez hit .280 with three home runs in 74 regular-season games while Huff batted just. 192 with one homer in 52 games.
The Giants' lineup: center fielder Angel Pagan, second baseman Marco Scutaro, third baseman Pablo Sandoval, catcher Buster Posey, right fielder Hunter Pence, first baseman Brandon Belt, left fielder Gregor Blanco, Sanchez, shortstop Brandon Crawford.
Pagan is 6-for-23 (.261) against Sanchez. Sandoval is 1-for-6 (.167), Posey 1-for-8 (.125), Pence 6-for-18 (.333), Belt 2-for-6 (.333), Blanco 4-for-7 (.571) and Crawford 0-for-5.
The Tigers' lineup: center fielder Austin Jackson, left fielder Quintin Berry, third baseman Miguel Cabrera, first baseman Prince Fielder, designated hitter Delmon Young, right fielder Andy Dirks, shortstop Jhonny Peralta, catcher Alex Avila, second baseman Omar Infante.
Cabrera is 1-for-5 (.200) against Vogelsong. Fielder is 0-for-3, Young 1-for-3, Dirks 0-for-3, Peralta 1-for-2 (.500), Avila 0-for-1 and Infante 7-for-11 (.636)