Earlier this evening, ESPN televised its World Series pre-game edition of Baseball Tonight presented by Chevrolet from just outside of the Willie Mays Gate at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Karl Ravech hosted the show with commentators Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, John Kruk, Curt Schilling, Orel Hershiser, Rick Sutcliffe, Dan Shulman, Jon Sciambi, Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian and special guest Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona. The Baseball Tonight team offered their insights for World Series Game 2. For more information on ESPN’s World Series coverage, visit ESPN Media Zone.
Schilling on Doug Fister’s height: Everything that he throws gravitates to the bottom of the zone. Everything he throws is heavy and the fastball is like a bowling ball. If you watch him play, he’s got swing-and-miss stuff. He doesn’t have to be on and perfect to win ball games.
Larkin on Tigers mindset: If you’re the Tigers, don’t panic and don’t try to overthink it. Don’t point the finger. We have to go out and win a ballgame; we have to split it (in San Francisco).
Kurkjian on Giants defense: The reason they beat the Cardinals in the NCLS is they didn’t make any mistakes defensively. They made plays all over the playoffs and the Cardinals did not. Last night they made plays again. This team is not going to beat itself. The difference between these two teams is the outfield defense and speed that the Giants have and the Tigers do not.
Kruk on Tigers approach against Madison Bumgarner: What the Detroit Tigers need to do is be patient and make him make mistakes. He has confidence. If he’s all over the place, you can’t give him outs. Be patient with him and get something in the zone and make him make mistakes, then take advantage of mistakes.
Sutcliffe on Bumgarner: Fatigue should not be a problem since he hasn’t pitched in 11 days. What he’ll be able to do is own the third base side of home plate with not only a fastball, but his slider. He reminds me of a young Andy Pettitte.
Schilling on whether Bumgarner should learn from Barry Zito’s Game 1: Absolutely not. This is a World Series. Just 72 hours ago his plan was mapped out – he was going through at-bats. He and Zito have nothing the same from a stuff perspective. They are completely different pitchers.
Larkin on the approach against Bumgarner: I would want to face Bumgarner instead of Zito. You don’t have to worry about the finesse, especially with the extended time off. You don’t need to worry about his rhythm.
Schilling on pitching to Pablo Sandoval: You can’t pitch around Sandoval. If you’re not going to pitch to him, you have to get Posey out. This could be a big problem for Tigers pitching.
Hershiser on pressure on the Tigers tonight: The armor they had – Justin Verlander – has been removed but I think they’ll be fine tonight.
