ST. LOUIS — Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton would love to get a couple of weeks off to let his sore groin heal. Trouble is, there’s no time to rest during the World Series.
Stuck in a power slump, Hamilton went 0-for-3 in Thursday night’s Game 2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The reigning AL MVP, who has been nursing a strained left groin for about two months and admits the injury is getting worse, was able to come through with a game-tying sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
If this were the regular season, he said, “I’d probably be on the disabled list.”
Hamilton has not hit a home run in the postseason this year. He went 0-for-4 against Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals’ bullpen Wednesday night, and is hitting .250 with eight RBIs in the postseason.
Hamilton estimated he was at 75 percent to 80 percent strength. He grimaced during a check swing in Game 1 and said those half-swings were particularly painful.
Asked if the injury affected him in other ways, he said: “Running and throwing and whatever else. If I need to run a ball out, I run it out. Otherwise, I save my bullets for the outfield.”
TV ratings down for opener
NEW YORK — Television viewership for Game 1 was down slightly from last year, when the average rating matched a record low.
The Cardinals’ 3-2 victory Wednesday on Fox earned an 8.7 rating and 14 share. That’s down 2 percent from the 8. 9/15 for Game 1 in 2010 between the Rangers and the Giants, with San Francisco a bigger market than St. Louis.
The Associated Press
