The Rangers and Giants take the field for game two of the World Series just a bit before 8 PM EDT Thursday night. There is some rain in the forecast as C.J. Wilson battles Matt Cain. Wilson pitched two strong starts and a poor one in the playoffs so far. The difference was his control. He walked four in his first two starts covering 13 1/3 innings, then four in his five innings in his second start against the Yankees.

Wilson is devastating against left-handed batters, allowing .144/.224/.176 slash line during the regular season. Aubrey Huff should be the only one in the lineup against him. Wilson is still very good against righties with a .236/.333/.346 slash line. It’s tough to hit for power against him. He also might be a good pitcher to break the Texas ten game losing streak as his ERA dropped 0.8 runs away from Texas this season. Wilson likes to throw to the low-outside corner of the strike zone. Looking at the Rangers starting lineup, Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez are most likely to take advantage of pitches there.

Cain pitched very well against American League this season, holding Oakland and Toronto to four runs in 22 2/3 innings. Despite striking out just 11, he allowed just four walks and 19 hits, including one home run. Cain does a great job of inducing balls in the air that stay in the park. The Rangers as a team had the second lowest fly ball percentage in the AL, so this should be an interesting matchup.

Matt pitched great at home this year, with a higher strikeout rate and a lower walk rate. I suspect the dimensions of the park also helped him.

Matt allowed just one run in the playoffs so far, and it was unearned. A low post-season ERA didn’t help Cliff Lee last night so we’ll see if Can can continue his dominance.

Enjoy!