St. Louis Cardinals starter Edwin Jackson (L, 0-1) (5.1 IP, 3H, 3R) wasn’t bad in Game 4 of the World Series Sunday night, Texas Rangers left-hander Derek Holland was just that good.
St. Louis was poised to take a 3-1 stranglehold in the series after its 16-7 triumph in Game 3, but Holland held Albert Pujols and Co. scoreless through 8 1/3 innings, striking out seven batters, walking two and yielding two hits in Texas’ 4-0 win.
Texas took a 1-0 lead on Josh Hamilton’s RBI double in the first. In the sixth, Mike Napoli blasted a three-run home run off reliever Mitchell Boggs, providing Holland with ample run support.
The only player who managed to square Holland up was designated hitter Lance Berkman, who doubled and singled in the second and fifth innings, respectively. After giving up said double, Holland struck David Freese out looking with a 94 mph four-seam fastball and induced Yadier Molina to ground out to second. Holland retired the next 10 batters he faced, bringing his overall streak to 13.
Nick Punto snapped the streak in the sixth by working a one-out walk, after which Holland retired nine straight before walking Rafael Furcal with one out in the ninth. Closer Neftali Feliz replaced Holland, who left to a standing ovation, walked Allen Craig but got Pujols to fly out to center.
Matt Holliday then went down swinging and missing at a full-count, 99 mph fastball for the last out.
When you look at Holland, a 25th-round pick in the 2006 amateur draft, you wonder how someone like that could slip so far. You wonder what scouts missed when evaluating him, because the alternative to developing talent–for a big market team like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, at least–is signing players to massive contracts rarely lived up to.
While Philadelphia Phillies starter Cliff Lee enjoys his early vacation and Yankees ace CC Sabathia considers his options, Holland pitched the type of game Lee and Sabathia–who made $11 and $24 million in 2011, respectively–are paid to deliver.
Baseball is littered with wealthy players, and yet Holland, again, a 25-round pick, pitches the big-money game. The Rangers have new life in this Fall Classic, and all it cost them this season was $431,810.
Source for salaries: http://www.baseball-reference.com/