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The Detroit Tigers entered Game 1 of the World Series will plenty of rest and had the luxury of putting ace pitcher Justin Verlander on the mound, but somehow the San Francisco Giants shelled Verlander while they also enjoyed terrific performances from beleaguered pitchers Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum. Oh yeah, and Pablo Sandoval went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs on his way to an absurd 1.000/1.000/3.250 batting line. Giants fans had plenty of things to celebrate on Wednesday night after the 8-3 win.
Over at Giants blog, McCovery Chronicles, Grant Brisbee captured the tone for the night in his game recap:
It was the best pitcher alive going against the pitcher Giants fans have muttered as an epithet for six seasons. It was the guy who played his way out of the last World Series having an all-time, historic monster of a game. It was the best pitcher alive giving up an RBI single to a pitcher who holds a bat like it's covered in millipedes. It was Gregor Blanco diving and diving again, and it was Delmon Young looking like Vladimir Guerrero with a hernia. It was Tim Lincecum, perfect in relief.
Everything about that game was fantastically silly.
Brisbee notes that if you had predicted a game like this beforehand, "[t]he hostess at T.G.I. Friday's would probably ask you to leave." Game 1 produced that many unexpected moments. The Tigers came out on the wrong end of nearly every amazing event, and now they've got to try and re-group for Game 2.
Doug Fister will start for Detroit on Thursday night, opposite Giants starter Madison Bumgarner. The game is set for 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on FOX.