uspw_5639354In a postseason so far dominated by offensive performances, pitching and defense have come to the forefront through the first two games of the World Series.

Not a problem for the Texas Rangers. They can rely heavily on their offense, and they can pitch and catch the baseball, too. The latter was on full display in their critical 2-1 series-tying victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2.

Starters Colby Lewis and Jaime Garcia did a great job setting the tone early for their respective teams, making us wait 18 batters before Rafael Furcal delivered the game's first hit — a ringing double into right field. The pitching excellence continued on from there, with limited scoring opportunities occurring for both sides.

[Related: Ian Kinsler steals bag and Game 2 for Rangers]

But it was Lewis who would require a little more help from his glove men along the way, and he received it from shortstop Elvis Andrus and second baseman Ian Kinsler. The Rangers' dazzling double-play duo would team

pujols1020ST. LOUIS — Those of us in the media had been gathered in an anticipatory half-circle for about 10 minutes. Boom mikes had been lofted, cameras had been shouldered and pens had been tested for their utility on blank notebook pages. Everyone awaited the arrival of Albert Pujols.

[Video: Albert Pujols' error proves costly]

Instead, we got Rafael Furcal, making his way through the crowd to the locker located next to the biggest star in the St. Louis Cardinals galaxy.

"Albert is gone," said the shortstop.

The mob stared back, careful not to look too concerned in case Furcal was just joking.

Really?

"Seriously."

Everyone peered into Pujols' locker at Busch Stadium and really looked for the first time. A pair of empty No. 5 cleats. A hung-up uniform. Then, the tell-tale sign: Not a single shred of street clothing. In the 10-minute cooling off period before the doors opened to the media, Pujols — along with Lance Berkman, Yadier Molina and Matt Holliday — had disappeared faster than the

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Score and situation: Down a run with three outs to go, the Texas Rangers rallied in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen for a 2-1 victory on Thursday night to even the World Series at one game apiece. Not since Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, when the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees, had a team trailing in its last at-bat come back to win.

Leading lads: The keystone combination of Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus were having a great game on defense for the Rangers, but they set the table for a comeback on offense in the ninth. Both hit singles and ran the bases aggressively to increase Texas' leverage, putting Josh Hamilton and Michael Young in position to drive them in.

[Related: Rangers' brash ninth-inning rally foils Cards]

The game's starting pitchers — Colby Lewis for the Rangers and Jaime Garcia for the Cardinals — combined to allow a run, seven hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings.

Head hangers: {YSP:MORE} Alexi Ogando got another

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Back on Sept. 12, when the St. Louis Cardinals trailed the National League wild card by 4 1/2 games with 15 to play in the season, some slaphappy fan at the MGM sports book in Las Vegas put down $500 of faith in his team.

What were the odds that the Cardinals were going to come back from the brink and make something of themselves and make this dude some cash? Well, not only can we tell you the odds, but we can also tell you what the payoff is.

[Related: Ian Kinsler steals a bag and Game 2 for the Rangers]

The sap true believer, Deadspin reports, wagered $250 at 500-to-1 odds that Team Fredbird would take the NL pennant, along with another $250 — at 999-to-1 odds — that the Cardinals would win the World Series.

Well, the fella (a St. Louisan, Deadspin says) is already $125,000 richer after the Cards upset the Phillies and Brewers in the NL playoffs, and he's three more St. Louis victories away from winning $250,000. Sounds great, doesn't it, cashing in on the old hometown team? But

hamiltonST. LOUIS — It's no secret that Josh Hamilton has not been 100 percent healthy for quite some time. The Texas Rangers star admitted as much near the end of ALCS against the Tigers, saying that he was trying his best to play through a painful groin strain he suffered the last month of the regular season.

Hamilton also said the same thing before Thursday's Game 2, stating he'd be healing on the disabled list if this were the regular season.

Yet despite his hampered state and a shift to left field for this second contest — Craig Gentry will start in center — Hamilton is again slotted for the third spot in the lineup.

Should he be?

If you watched Hamilton go 0-for-4 during Game 1 or read Dave Cameron's piece over at Fangraphs earlier today, I'm guessing your answer is a resounding no. Hamilton is clearly not comfortable using his legs to generate any power for his swing; anything he has to offer is coming from the upper half of his body. With the Rangers rolling such a deep lineup this

fielderpappy

ST. LOUIS — The walls of Pappy's Smokehouse are papered with barbecue menus signed by the celebrities who have devoured the ribs and downed the beans there.

Man vs. Food's Adam Richman. Meat-loving rocker Ted Nugent. Former St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin. Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder.

Wait a minute: Prince Fielder? The same Prince Fielder who declared himself a vegetarian back in 2008 and swapped vegetarian recipes with BLS that spring.

Yes, the one and the same, confirms Pappy's ZZ Top-bearded owner, Mike Emerson. {YSP:MORE}

pappysOK, so the free agent-to-be has been on the premises before. But let's not to jump to conclusions. Perhaps he was just fooled by the name and thought it was a place to refresh his stash of chewing tobacco.

Once there, he must have enjoyed one of the vegetarian side dishes like the deep-fried corn on the cob or the sweet potato fries, both of which are excellent.

Right, Mike?

"He had a rack of ribs," Emerson says.

Well, then.

As our

lackey_0919With recent reports of drinking beer in the clubhouse and dugout during games this past season, the Boston Red Sox trio of Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and John Lackey is badly stained going into next year. Perhaps irrevocably so. The red "B" on their baseball caps may as well be a scarlet letter.

At least one of these guys has to go. Getting rid of all three is highly unlikely. Lester and Beckett are the staff's top pitchers. Not only would trading them leave the starting rotation severely short-handed, but the Red Sox will never get full value in return.

But it looks like Boston may be able to break up this gang. Best of all, they may be able to get rid of the pitcher who's given them the worst performance.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Diego Padres have discussed the possibility of taking Lackey off the Red Sox's hands. But as you might expect with the thrifty Padres, Boston would have to eat most of Lackey's contract to make a trade happen. {YSP:MORE}

Lackey, 32, is

theojedIt appears as if Friday's off-day at the World Series will be a busy "official" news day in other baseball hamlets.

As David Kaplan of Chicago's WGN 720 first reported on Thursday night, the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox have finally agreed to a deal that would install Theo Epstein (left) as the North Side's main man. No one has yet reported on the compensation that the Red Sox would receive, but Kaplan said it is not expected to include any current major leaguers like Matt Garza or elite prospects like Brett Jackson.

With the Fall Classic dark before Saturday's Game 3, Bud Selig is expected to give the Cubs his blessing to usher Epstein into town on a wave of hype and hope. The Red Sox, meanwhile, would be able to officially name Epstein lieutenant Ben Cherington as the team's new general manager.

Once Epstein is in place, Chris DeLuca of the Chicago Sun-Times says it is expected he'll be able to officially reach out to San Diego Padres GM Jed Hoyer (above, right)  so they can