ESPN

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark shares some fun facts about October baseball as a holiday treat this week. Obviously, he references the Rangers throughout the piece. Some of those are listed here:

* Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland hit no big league home runs against a left-handed pitcher all season. So who hit the Rangers' first home run of the World Series? Mitch Moreland -- off a left-hander (Jonathan Sanchez).

* Not one American League pitcher all season had an outing in which he threw at least 13 pitches and had only one of them called a strike. But the Rangers' Derek Holland unfurled that terrifying line in Game 2 of the World Series: 13 pitches, 1 strike. Oof.

* Josh Hamilton walked four times in the second game of the ALCS. How many four-walk games has he had in his regular-season career? Yup. Zero in 468 games.

* In the four ALCS games in which the Rangers beat the Yankees, they won every one of those games by at least five runs. So when was the last time the Rangers' margin of victory in four consecutive regular-season games was at least five runs? Would you believe September 2006 -- 664 games ago?

Anyway, it's an interesting look back at the playoffs. Just thought I'd pass it along. Check it out here.

Rangers bench coach Jackie Moore, who turns 72 early in spring training, walked around the Rangers' clubhouse prior to the rally on Wednesday night with a big smile on his face. Of course, Moore usually has a pleasant demeanor. But the glow of a successful 2010 season was certainly still evident on a man who has been involved as a player, coach or manager for 53 years now.

"It was very special," Moore said. "It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in this business, but the opportunity to come back and watch these young players and how they applied themselves, how they went about their business was a joy. They were so much fun to watch. I realize we’re all a little disappointed, but now we know the path. We know the direction back to the World Seires. It was a great year."

Moore said he's enjoyed working for manager Ron Washington the past two seasons and is pleased the manager has a new contract.

"I’m a big fan of Ron Washington and I'm happy that he’s starting to get the respect he deserves, the results he deserves," Moore said. "Wash and I have formed a good relationship and I get the opportunity to sit there next to him and we share ideas and I’m another set of eyes and ears for him with the understanding that he makes the final decision, which he does a great job of.

"The biggest compliment a manager can get in baseball is that his team played hard for him every game. We have a long schedule and this club really took on his personality and played hard for him and left it all on the field."

I can tell you this coaching staff did a nice job of keeping this team focused and ready. Moore was a big part of that.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- After Game 5 of the World Series, once the media departed and the Rangers were left to themselves after a successful season with a disappointing ending, Ian Kinsler turned to Nelson Cruz.

"Do you know what you just did?," Kinsler asked. "You broke a record that's been around for a while."

Cruz had no idea. His 13 extra base hits in a postseason broke the previous mark of 11 set seven times in Major League history. The most recent addition to that list was Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees in the 2009 postseason. Sure, there are more playoff games now than in the past, but to easily break a mark like that is impressive.

"My dad knew, but he didn't want to tell me," Cruz said. "It's really neat. But I didn't really know or think about how many homers or doubles I was hitting. I was just playing."

Cruz's story still amazes me. He could have been claimed for $20,000 by any team, ends up in the minors, and his major league career looks over. Then he opens up his stance (thanks to Scott Servais' suggestion) and he starts pounding the ball again.

I remember former Ranger Bill White telling me that Cruz had a confidence about him that year in the minors that he hadn't seen before and that when he returned, he wouldn't see the minor leagues again. And White was right.

It was a great year for Cruz. And maybe it was better he didn't know about his record until the whole playoff run was over.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A few thousand fans celebrated the 2010 season, the best in franchise history, by cheering on Rangers players and management at a Rangers rally shown live on FSSW.

A dozen players attended the event, sitting on a stage outside Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Josh Hamilton was greeted to chants of "MVP, MVP" as he was introduced. Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Nelson Cruz also received large cheers, as did managing general partner Chuck Greenberg, general manager Jon Daniels and, of course, president Nolan Ryan. All of them thanked the fans for their support this season. (Other players attending: Elvis Andrus, Matt Treanor, Derek Holland, Alexi Ogando, David Murphy and Chris Davis).

A few thoughts on the event:

* Kinsler looked over in the direction of Cowboys Stadium and said: "I can't even see that stadium over there. Baseball is what it's about."

* Young said the ballpark in the ALCS and World Series was the loudest he'd ever heard a stadium. And he added that he can't wait for 2011. "We're going to be even better," Young said. "You're going to have a lot more to look foward to."

* Daniels joked that he should pass a boot "for a save Cliff Lee fund." Then noted that Greenberg was really the one holding the boot. Daniels has said the club wants Lee back and they hope he'll want to return after testing the free agent market.

* Darren Oliver, one of the elder statesman on the team at 40, said he was old enough that he could be the father of a few of the players in the bullpen. "I have to take care of Feliz down there," Oliver said.

* Pat Green sang "Take me out to the ballgame," and added this phrase when it was over: "Nolan Ryan for president."

* Liam Roybal, the 7-year-old from Keller who became an Internet sensation for dressing up as Ron Washington for Halloween, came out when Chuck Morgan introduced the Rangers manager. Morgan: Do you have anything to say? Roybal: That's the way baseball go. That, naturally, received huge applause. Washington laughed harder than anybody.

Anyway, it was a great event and a nice group of fans showed up. It was a good way to end a fantastic Rangers season.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Rangers are hosting a free rally for fans tonight at 6 p.m. outside Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg, president Nolan Ryan, GM Jon Daniels, manager Ron Washington and a number of players from the American League champions are scheduled to attend.

Large video screens will be showing highlights of the 2010 season, and other features are also planned.

The rally will be held on Lot J on the west side of Rangers Ballpark. Free parking is available in lots A, B, C, M and N and also in Cowboys Stadium Lot 4 beginning at 2 p.m.

One thing about playing in the World Series: The offseason gets shorter.

In the last decade, the Rangers have finished the season in late September or very early October, giving the players more time to rest and get going on their offseason program and management more time to put a plan together for the offseason.

PODCAST
Rob Neyer discusses the free agent market for Cliff Lee and his expectations for Texas and San Francisco in 2011. Listen

That's shortened now, thanks to a trip to the World Series that lasted until the calendar flipped to November. It shouldn't impact the players very much. They'll take some time off like they normally do, but just won't get quite as many weeks as in season's past. No big deal there.

For the front office, it just means a different schedule.

"It's new for us, this schedule," general manager Jon Daniels said. "I'd welcome having the challenge of a month shorter offseason any time. A lot of the meetings we would have had at this time in previous years we still have to have, so we'll squeeze it into a shorter time period. It's an additional challenege with the new timing of free agency, but we'll figure it out."

Daniels said after Game 5 that his group was planning on meeting the next day (Tuesday) to continue to put a plan together for the offseason.

He said his first mission is to get manager Ron Washington signed up for the long-term and then go about addressing the club's own free agents. He included Cliff Lee, Vladimir Guerrero, Bengie Molina, Frank Francisco, Matt Treanor, Jorge Cantu among others.

As for the offseason schedule for pitchers, the club is discussing whether to just push everything back a month or if the pitchers should get extra time off because of the additional innings.

"I know Tampa Bay did that a couple of years back where they gave them a little later start into spring training, pushed back the offseason program a little bit," Daniels said. "We'll definitely do something along those lines. It's still in pencil."

Daniels said the club hasn't mapped it out, but that he expects most will just push back and get more of a breather heading into next season.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Matt Treanor doesn't want to be a free agent for long and he certianly doesn't want to change addresses.

The journeyman catcher came to the Texas Rangers a couple weeks before opening day in an under-the-radar trade with Milwaukee. He started the season in the minors, but when Jarrod Saltalamacchia was injured out of the gate and Taylor Teagarden didn't pan out, Treanor came up and eased tensions about the wayward position.

He quickly won over his teammates and fell in love with the organization. Before the club acquired Bengie Molina on July 1, Treanor was the Rangers' No. 1 catcher. he posted career highs for games (82), at bats (237), runs (22), hits (50), homers (five), RBIs (27) and walks (22).

"I would love to come back. It's been a great year," Treanor said. "I know J.D. [Rangers general manager Jon Daniels] has a long list of things to do, but I will definitely be waiting for a phone call."

Once Molina arrived, Treanor mainly became C.J. Wilson's personal catcher all the way through the World Series. Molina is considering retirement and said after Monday' Game 5 end to the Series that he is leaning in that direction. Clearly, the Rangers have a need at catcher, and the 34-year-old Treanor who played in the minors from 1994-2004 and received praise from Daniels and teammates for his steady work behind the plate, could earn him another round with the Rangers.

"He played hard, played hurt, was a leader, a great clubhouse guy and just played extremely well," Michael Young said. "He’s a guy that we’re all really proud to call our teammate."

On Daniels' offseason to-do list, re-signing manager Ron Washington is tops on his list, followed by dealing with the club's own free agents.

"We've got a few notable free agents on our club - Cliff [Lee], Vlad [Guerrero], Bengie, Frankie [Francisco], a few other guys, Matt and [Jorge] Cantu," Daniels said. "So we've got to sit down and address those guys."

Before the World Series (or any other MLB series for that matter) is played, several hundred T-shirts and hats with "World Champions" are preprinted for both teams so that it's readily available for on-field celebrations with family members after the series.

So there were boxes of Rangers hats and T-shirts in case they won the World Series. What happens to that stuff now?

It goes to World Vision, a charity organization, which donates it to needy folks around the world. Jeff Fields, corporate relations senior director for the organization, is always pulling for a 7-game series.

"Stores pre-order merchandise once their team gets to three wins," Fields said. "So we have more merchandise if a series goes seven games."

Fields figures his organization will get around 300 hats and T-shirts with Rangers "World Champions" stuff on them. Those are likely headed to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Romania and maybe a few countries in Africa. Wherever there's the most need.

"It’s a brand new shirt or hat and in many acaes, they’ve never received something brand new," Fields said.

Several other sports leagues do the same thing to be sure the clothing is wasted and is put to good use.

The folks over at ESPN Stats & Information passed along some interesting tidbits about the Rangers and the World Series, including some perspective on the rough offensive numbers. Here goes:

* Josh Hamilton had the second-lowest batting average by a batting champ in the World Series, hitting just .100. Bernie Williams of the Yankees was actually worse at .063 in 1998. The list:

Bernie Williams: .063 (1998)
Josh Hamilton: .100 (2010)
Bobby Avila: .133 (1954)
Chick Hafey: .167 (1931)
Jackie Robinson: .188 (1949)

* Texas, which led the major leagues with a .276 team batting average during the regular season, batted only .190 during the World Series. Among the 31 teams to play in the World Series after leading the majors in batting average that season, the only others that batted under .200 in the Fall Classic were the 1948 Indians (.199) and the 1995 Indians (.179). (Elias Sports Bureau)

* The Rangers had an 18-inning scoreless streak spanning Game Three to Game Five, after their longest such drought during the regular season was 15 innings. From 1969 through 1972 three teams had longer scoring droughts in the World Series than they had during that entire regular season: the 1969 Orioles, 1971 Orioles and 1972 Athletics. But since 1973 the only other team to do that was the 2001 Yankees. (Elias Sports Bureau)

* The Giants won both of the Tim Lincecum vs. Cliff Lee matchups in the 2010 World Series, taking Game One in San Francisco and Game Five in Arlington. The last nine times that the same starting pitchers opposed each other for a second time in a World Series, the team that won the first meeting also won the second.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- ESPN Stats & Information provided some interesting numbers on how Tim Lincecum beat the Rangers and how the Giants did just enough against Cliff Lee in Game 5. Take a look:

* Since changing the grip on his slider in early September, the pitch has been Lincecum's new best friend. He's been relying on it more frequently with increased success and Game 5 was no different. He threw 26 sliders, second-most this season to only his Game 1 start, when he threw 35. Eighteen of the 26 sliders (12 for strikes) came early in the count, as Lincecum paired it with his fastball to get ahead. Overall, the Rangers swung at the pitch 14 times, missing on an incredible nine of those swings (64 pct, season avg 31 pct).

* For his out pitch, Lincecum went to his bread and butter: the changeup. Hitters were 0-for-10 against his change with two strikes, including eight of his 10 strikeouts, which tied a season high. He had outstanding command of the pitch as he got Rangers hitters to expand their strike zone all night. Seven of his eight strikeouts on the change came on pitches out of the zone, with six of those seven coming down in the zone.

* Lincecum's devastating off-speed stuff was so effective, thanks to, at least in part, an improved fastball he showed in Game 5. His fastball averaged 92 mph, only the third time since July 15 he's averaged 92 or higher. Of the 46 fastballs he threw, 29 were in the strike zone (63 pct), his best since September 18. Since his dominant start in Game 1 of the NLDS, opponents were hitting .440 against Lincecum's fastball. On Monday, showing improved velocity and command, hitters were just 1-for-8.

How the Giants beat Cliff Lee:

* Lee had better command than during his Game 1 start, throwing 65 percent of his pitches in the strike zone compared to 53 percent in Game 1. However, for all the quality strikes Lee’s flashed this season, the pitch that cost him Game 5 was just the opposite of that – a 2-0 cutter that was supposed to be on the outside corner that came back right over the heart of the plate. Edgar Renteria made him pay for it, sending the pitch over the left-center field fence. It was only the third homer all year by a right-handed hitter off Lee’s cutter – the first of which that was left over the middle of the plate.

* In the seventh, the inning in which the Giants broke through for three hits and three runs, they had success by being aggressive. Lee threw 20 pitches that inning and the Giants swung at 14 of them (70 pct), the second highest percentage of any inning in Game 5. Cody Ross and Juan Uribe, who had the two hits to set up the homer, were particularly hungry, swinging at eight of the nine pitches they saw, fouling off five before getting a fastball to hit.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was asked about some offseason stuff and reiterated his top priority was extending manager Ron Washington's contract. Daniels has talked about Washington being the manager long-term in Texas a lot in the past few months.

"First things first, we'll address our own free agents as most clubs will, first priority being Wash," Daniels said prior to Game 5 of the World Series. "I don't think that'll be an issue whatsoever. I would imagine once it's all said and done, we will sit down and resolve that pretty quickly. There's no doubt in anybody's mind that he'll be the skipper here for some time to come."

Washington's teams have had more wins in each of his four years. Texas won 87 games in 2009 and then 90 in the regular season in 2010. He's the first manager to win a playoff series for the Rangers.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- About a week ago, Vladimir Guerrero was voted by his peers as the American League's Comeback Player of the Year, which sums up the kind of season the 35-year-old slugger put together in his first season with the Texas Rangers.

The full-time designated hitter rebounded from a season of injuries that ultimately convinced the Los Angeles Angels to part with one of their heart-and-soul players and a longtime fan favorite. Guerrero agreed to join the Rangers on a one-year contract and see what happens.

He put together a huge offensive year, batting .300 with 29 home runs and a team-leading 115 RBIs, proving that while he might not be able to play the outfield on a regular basis anymore, he can be a valuable DH.

"I didn't have anything to prove. I only asked to be healthy," Guerrero said. "Last year I had problems, but this year I was healthy and I know what I can do, so I didn't have to prove anything to anybody."

Guerrero struggled through some prolonged slumps during the regular season, particularly after the All-Star break, yet he still managed to bat .300 for the 13th time in 14 seasons. His bat though turned stone-cold during the playoffs and particularly in the World Series when the cleanup hitter swooned to just .071 with two RBIs. He acknowledged that the 14-year wait to get to the World Series made him anxious at the plate, contributing to his disappointing lack of production.

Now, the Rangers must decide if Guerrero's postseason was an abberation or if the long season grinded him down. Do they still want him back? Are they comfortable with committing to a two-year contract if another AL team offers him the extra season? For Guerrero's part, he said he wants to return.

"Of course, I would like to be back. I like it here," Guerrero said. "We have good camaraderie with the whole team. This team has a lot of young talent, so this is a good future with this team."

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said the club will not dwell on Guerrero's postseason numbers, but rather on his track record.

"He's got a pretty big body of work that we can evaluate," Daniels said. "For me, he's clearly a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. He has had an outstanding career. There were some that doubted him coming off last year. I think he's proved some of those people wrong. And obviously, we'll look at it all in context, but we're not going to evaluate him on the two weeks of games when he's had, whatever it is, a 10, 15-year career of excellent performance."

One thing that happens to coaches that make the World Series is that others want their services. Rangers hitting coach Clint Hurdle, who helped the club finish the regular season with the highest batting average in the American League, is going to interview for the vacant managerial post in Pittsburgh.

Hurdle managed Colorado from May 2002 through May 2009.

Hurdle did an excellent job of stressing situational hitting. He's the type of coach that comes to work every day with a smile on his face, but a focus. He keeps players thinking and working and did a nice job of recognizing which buttons to push with each guy. Players and coaches periodically would find inspirational text messages on their phones from Hurdle, who was constantly communicating. He would be a tough loss, but it's not surprising that other teams would consider him for a mangerial job. Stay tuned.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The loss is still fresh in everyone's minds. I know that. And because of that, there's plenty of disappointment. The players felt that right after Game 5 in the clubhouse.

But consider what this team did this season. They hadn't won the AL West in 11 years and led the pack for most of the season, clinching with more than a week left in the season. They hadn't won a playoff series in the franchise's history and did so with a memorable Cliff Lee start in Game 5 in Tampa. They weren't supposed to be able to handle the Yankees in the ALCS, but dominated them, winning in six games. They gave fans a chance to see a World Series game in Arlington. And they gave everyone a reason to forget about the Cowboys for the first part of the NFL season.

For most teams, winning a championship takes time. You have to experience some failures before you get to the top. The Dallas Stars are a prime example. They made it to the Western Conference Finals and lost before eventually winning the ultimate prize in 1999. These Rangers will be stronger next season because the postseason won't be new to them.

Of course, you never know if this team will get another shot at the World Series. Nothing is guaranteed. But that should in no way diminish what this team accomplished in 2010. It's the best year in the history of the franchise. Just remember that.

A few random thoughts. I'll have more as the weeks go by and I get more time to think about it:

* I'll never forget the way that team supported its manager when the revelations of his failed drug test were made public. They didn't turn their backs or pass judgement. They rallied behind him and came closer together as a team. For the players in the clubhouse, that story was over in 48 hours. I honestly never heard any of them talk about it again after that.

* Looking back on it now, Jarrod Saltalamacchia's walk-off single set the tone for a wild and crazy season. To think he wasn't on the big league roster after that and eventually traded to Boston seems strange. But the way the Rangers came back showed their ability to play nine innings and never give up.

* I'm never been around a better clubhouse atmosphere. There were no small groups or guys that didn't like each other. It was one big team and they supported one another. They had fun every day, too. Jeff Francoeur couldn't believe that when he arrived to join the team in Kansas City. It was a group that welcomed him with open arms and he quickly became a part of the fabric of the team. But they stayed loose and calm and didn't let losing streaks or rough losses crush them.

* The Lee trade sure showed how serious the front office was about this season. Several of us (including MLB.com writer T.R. Sullivan) thought the Rangers had a chance when we heard the Yankees deal fell through. Daniels had worked hard to put together the top minor league system and he had the pieces to make the deal happen. And he did. There was a lot of excitement in the press box that night and the crowd was electric the following night when he made his debut.

* Interestingly, the thing I'll remember most about Lee's first outing wasn't Lee. It was the impromptu ovation Michael Young got when he came out to stretch before the game. The club was honoring him that night as the franchise's all-time hits leader. And while Lee generating the largest walkup crowd in the history of the park (14,500), the fans showed their appreciation for Young. It was a neat moment.

* The August game against the Yankees -- a 7-6 loss after the Rangers blew a six-run lead -- was the night I was convinced this team could win a playoff series. I went to the clubhouse and expected to see the end of the baseball world in there, but there was only a sense of resolve. I can't fully describe it, but there was a calm that surprised me. Michael Young said he wasn't worried about the loss crushing his team's spirits. After an off day, they staged a major comeback of their own in beating the Red Sox, 10-9 in 11 innings.

* It was surreal to have the Rangers auction end while the club was celebrating a much-needed win in Seattle in August. After all the months of court battles, Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan finally got the team. They made their final, winning bid about the same time that Michael Young hit a go-ahead grand slam in an 11-6 win.

* The players had a fun time celebrating in Oakland. The road trip didn't start well, but once they cut the magic number to two, they completely relaxed. The two weeks prior to clinching was the tightest I saw the team in 2010. But once they relaxed, those of us covering the team in Oakland knew they were going to get it done. They did and then erupted into pure joy. They stayed on that high throughout the final week of the season.

* Scoring early runs on David Price in Game 1 set the tone for the ALDS. Even when the Rangers lost the two games at home, they knew they could score on Price and that Lee would do his thing. It was a confident bunch during batting practice before Game 5 and they won easily.

* The fact that Lee didn't start until Game 3 turned out to be the best thing for this team in the ALCS. During the media day before the series, Lee dominated the talk. And he wasn't even taking the mound until the series shifted to New York. Lee was able to win the pivotal game of the series for Texas and provide a confidence boost. The fact that Texas had homefield advantage helped too, because they simply needed a split at home to have Lee give them a 2-1 lead.

* Think about the players that impacted this team that weren't even in their current roles when the season started: Neftali Feliz (from setup to closer), Bengie Molina (traded from San Francisco in June), Cliff Lee, Matt Treanor, Mitch Moreland, Jeff Francoeur (and some others I probably missed).

* Ron Washington has really grown as a manager. And the best thing about him is you can talk to him about the moves he makes and question them and he'll tell you why he did what he did and respect your opinion. He got this team to play hard every game. Few managers in the league can do that. The guy should be AL manager of the year.

* Now that it's all over, I do want to thank all of you for joining us here on the blog and in the in-game chats all season. It's been a memorable one. And spring training is just a few months away. We'll be breaking down the offseason decisions and covering things leading into the arrival of the club in Surprise in February.

ARLINGTON, Texas – As crazy as it sounded for an American League underdog and first-time World Series entrant, the Texas Rangers crashed the Fall Classic as the favorite to win it all.

With bats blazing after a demolition of the New York Yankees, the light-hitting San Francisco Giants from that mediocre other league figured to be a walk in Golden Gate Park.

Sure, the Giants had Tim Lincecum and the National League's most dominant staff across the board, but so what? The Rangers had Cliff Lee and eccentric C.J. Wilson and steady Colby Lewis. If they could hold their own on the mound, the team that carried the majors' best batting average into the postseason and had cranked nearly twice as many postseason homers as anyone else would deliver the franchise its first-ever world championship.

And then something happened to the Rangers’ vaunted offense that poured 38 runs on the Bronx Bombers.

“Their pitching happened,” Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said of the Giants’ tremendous pitching in the World Series. “Obviously, we pride ourselves on beating anyone offensively, but in this series we couldn’t do it.”

The Giants, hitting .231 entering the World Series, did. Edgar Renteria's three-run homer off Cliff Lee in the seventh inning of a scoreless game stunned the sellout crowd at Rangers Ballpark and all but ended Texas' hopes of taking the series back to the Bay. San Francisco went on to a 3-1 victory Monday night, taking the World Series, 4-1.

Michael Young’s .250 batting average in the five-game seriers tells the story. Not because it represents anything in particular, but because it serves as an eye-popping divider. Mitch Moreland, the nine-hole hitter who hit a team-best .462, is the lone Ranger to finish north of Young’s average.

Everybody else finished well south. In fact, only Nelson Cruz hit .200, and he hit exactly that. Just get a glimpse of these averages: Elvis Andrus, .176; Vladimir Guerrero, .071; Josh Hamilton, .100; Kinsler, .188; Bengie Molina, .182; David Murphy, .143. It all adds up to .190 as a team, the third-lowest batting average in World Series history. In Games 4 and 5, the Rangers scratched out just three hits in each.

"I caught those guys. I know what they're capable doing. I just thought we could hit them," said Rangers catcher Bengie Molina, a San Francisco Giant the past 3 1/2 years until traded to Texas on July1. "I just thought that this group is a great group of guys that can hit and I thought they could hit them. But, like they say, pitching beats hitting, right?"

Consider this: Those light-hitting Giants matched the Rangers' 29 hits in the series with 29 runs.

“It’s tough you know?” Cruz said. “They got great pitching and when you got pitching the offense shuts down. It’s simple.”

Simple, yet still utterly confounding. The Rangers blew an opportunity in Game 1 to open a four- or five-run lead on Lincecum, but settled for a 2-0 lead after two innings. Lee couldn’t hold it and by the time the fifth inning was over, the Giants led, 8-2.

In Games 2 through 5, the Rangers’ offense managed five runs. They were shut out twice, once by Matt Cain, which is not a terrible crime since he finished the postseason without allowing a run. But insult came against 21-year-old lefty Madison Bumgarner and his poised Game 4 shutout.

Cruz’s solo home run in the seventh inning of Monday’s finale ended an 18-inning scoreless skid that went all the way back to the sixth inning of Game 3.

“We feel that we can hit anybody at any time,” Hamilton said. “Their pitchers threw well, I’ll give them credit, even though I don’t like to. They threw well, but we just weren’t swinging the bats well. But they beat us, fair and square.”

Hamilton had come off a poor ALDS to win the ALCS MVP a monster performance that led the Yankees to intentionally walk him three times in the Game 6 clincher. Later this month, he could very likely take home the AL MVP. But, in the World Series, he vanished, save for a solo shot in the Game 3 victory.

In Game 5, he didn’t get the ball out of the infield. Hamilton, who hit .359 in the regular season, tapped one to first in the first. After Young reached to lead off the fourth, Hamilton struck out swinging. He ended a 1-2-3 sixth inning with a dribbler to second and started the 1-2-3 silent ninth looking at Brian Wilson’s 95 mph fastball.

“I felt great. It would be different if I felt terrible, felt lost, didn’t know what I was doing up there. I felt good,” Hamilton said. “That’s just the way baseball works. Sometimes you feel good and you just don’t get hits. You hate for it to happen in the World Series, but it did. I’m not going to be disappointed or be upset about it because I didn’t have bad at-bats.”

Guerrero, the cleanup hitter who a week ago was voted the AL Comeback Player of the Year by his peers, produced almost nothing during the playoffs. Manager Ron Washington stuck by his prized free-agent pickup and refused to move him out of the four-hole in favor of Cruz, who swung perhaps the hottest bat of the playoffs, up until the World Series.

Guerrero produced one hit against the Giants and two RBIs. He struck out three times in Game 4, the first time he’d done that all season and the first time ever in his playoff career. In Game 5, he reached once on a fielder’s chance and was quietly retired three other times.

For one of the game’s great free swingers, the first World Series of his Hall of Fame-caliber career did not go as planned.

“I feel happy because in 14 years I haven’t been able to get to the World Series. But, of course, being my first World Series and waiting so long I was a little anxious when I was at the plate,” Guerrero said through a translator. “I think that is the reason why I couldn’t produce like I usually do during my career.”

In the end, great pitching beat good hitting. Good might be too complimentary to describe the Rangers’ plate performance.

“I can’t put my finger on one particular thing. Fact is we didn’t play how the Rangers play,” Hamilton said. “They’re pretty good, but baseball is baseball. Even the best pitcher can have a bad day or a pitcher that’s not so hot can I have great day. Say they had the best staff in the league, they still can be beat.

“I give them credit, they threw the ball well,” Hamilton continued. “I just don’t like giving pitchers a lot of credit. I just don’t.”

After these five games, the Rangers have little choice.