Bonded by failure, Barry Zito, Tim Lincecum give Giants right stuff in Game 1 of World Series - Yahoo! Sports

So many Hollywood story lines to choose from, you wish this could have been the season-ender rather than a lid-lifter. But what a start!!

Panda walks with legends.
Zito -- and to a lesser extent Lincecum -- get their groove back.
Scutaro and Pagan continue their excellence at the top of the order.
Posey showing signs of coming back by grinding through a 2-4 night.
Belt can  make an 0-3 night look productive. Solid AB's.
Only Pence and Blanco appear lost with the bats right now and Blanco adds in with the defensive gems.
Crawford flashes solid leather and occasionally pops with the bat.

Still only one game, but a BIG game indeed. Assist to the Tigers pitching coach for inexplicably breaking Verlander's rhythm with that eye-opening mound visit. Even Verlander appeared startled and it seemed to momentarily get in his head.

The rest is history.

I liked the Game 2 match-up better from the get-go, Bummer  is a gamer and he has been through this "kink in his delivery phase" before. I was hoping to just press Verlander hard and have Zito pitch well enough to keep it close -- the moral victory angle -- but the Giants exceed expectations once again.

Let's see if they play as well from ahead as they do from behind. A 2-game lead will give the Tigers a very tough mountain to climb. A split in SF had to be the Tigers goal coming in and they can still get it. They know they will have a Verlander seeking vindication in Game 4 or 5, but this may shut down any "three starts by your stud and sneak another victory from somebody else" strategy. Verlander seemed a little out of sync all night, without the high 90's top end velocity. He just didn't seem able to put hitters away ('cept Hunter and Blanco).

THREE MORE LIKE THIS GUYS!!!

from Yahoo Sports:
Bonded by failure, Barry Zito, Tim Lincecum give Giants right stuff in Game 1 of World Series - Yahoo! Sports:

And yet it was real, so obviously real because of their affinity for one another. Zito and Lincecum had endured so many low moments. Damned if they weren't going to appreciate one like this.

"It's great for us to be able to share that together," Lincecum said. " … We're just riding the good times and enjoying this."

It was a buddy movie with all of the necessary elements. There was the explosion (Justin Verlander: five earned runs), the sidekick (Pablo Sandoval: three home runs), the salty boss (Bruce Bochy: at his growling best) and the beauty (Gregor Blanco: two sliding catches). And then there were the stars, Zito and Lincecum, playing off one another harmoniously.

'via Blog this'