Getty Images/Elsa

Jonathan Sanchez hands the ball to manager Bruce Bochy after being removed in the fifth inning.

ARLINGTON, Tex. _ The first two games of the World Series made it easy to paint a rosy picture of the Giants. Twenty runs in two wins. A dominant pitching performance in Game 2 from Matt Cain. When they left for Texas, the Giants were halfway to the Promised Land, a seemingly flawless team headed for a parade down Market Street.

But flawless the Giants are not.

After Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Rangers in Game 3 at Arlington, the Giants are still halfway there, and the way they went down Saturday revealed some troubling concerns. Unresolved, those issues could tilt the outcome of the Series toward Texas.

Start with Jonathan Sanchez. Mitch Moreland certainly did.

The Rangers’ rookie first baseman, batting ninth, stunned Sanchez with a three-run homer in the second inning, putting the Giants in a hole from which they never escaped.

With two outs and first base open, Sanchez semi-intentionally walked Bengie Molina, feeling confident about the lefty-on-lefty matchup that Moreland presented as the following hitter. He didn’t count on Moreland putting together the best at-bat of the night by either team.

Moreland fouled off five pitches, including the final four before his home run. Sanchez fed Moreland everything in his repertoire—a fastball, two sliders and two changeups, both inside and outside.

The fateful pitch was a fastball in, following two changeups away.

“I made a good pitch,” Sanchez said. “He just went out and got it.”

Which is part of the problem. It was a good pitch, right where Buster Posey called for it. Sanchez mixed up his pitches, giving Moreland a variety of looks—just like he was supposed to.

Getty Images/Doug Pensinger

Pat Burrell's problems in Game 3 weren't limited to the plate. This ball shot out of his glove as he hit the ground, resulting in a first-inning single for Michael Young.

And Moreland still belted it out. The ball traveled on a line, slamming into the right-field seats as if propelled by a slingshot.  

The problem, it seems, is an unexplained drop in velocity on Sanchez’s fastball. Instead of the 92 or 93 miles per hour he hits regularly when things are going well, the left-hander topped out at 89 in the three fastballs he threw during Moreland’s at-bat. He didn’t exceed 90 after the first inning, and in the fifth, when he was removed, he was throwing 87.

Sanchez denied that was the source of his problems. “My velocity was no trouble,” he said afterward. “There’s nothing wrong with my stuff. I just got hit. I feel pretty good. I feel healthy.”

Although Buster Posey would never disagree publicly, what he didn’t say about Sanchez was informative. Asked in several ways about Sanchez’s stuff, Posey answered each time with a variation on the same theme. “Jonathan battled out there,” he said again and again. “That’s all you can ask.”

Not exactly a vote of confidence.

Just as troubling is Pat Burrell. The left fielder was a huge presence in the middle of the Giants’ lineup this season, providing much-needed power on a team that scored 697 runs, ninth highest in the National League. During the World Series, however—and during the playoffs overall —Burrell has virtually disappeared.

Burrell struck out swinging in all four of his at-bats Saturday, making him 0-for-9 in the Series with eight strikeouts. (He’s also walked twice.)

Factor in the NLCS against Philadelphia, and Burrell is 4-for-28, with 15 strikeouts. Add the NLDS against Atlanta to those numbers and he’s 6-for-38 (.162) with 19 strikeouts

That’s right: He’s struck out in precisely half his at-bats.

“I wasn’t good,” he said. “It’s a bad time to struggle; there’s no way around it. I’m chasing some balls off the plate. My timing’s off. I have to be accountable for what I do, and I didn’t get the job done tonight. Not even close.”

Given Burrell’s potential, manager Bruce Bochy will be hard-pressed to remove him from the lineup, and didn’t discuss the option during his press conference.

Burrell, though, has considered the possibility.

“I’d be disappointed, but who could blame him?” he said. “I’m not exactly swinging the bat well, and this is an important time for our team. . . . It’s as much mental as anything else. You have to feel comfortable, and I’m not feeling comfortable at the plate.”

If he’s replaced in the lineup, Aaron Rowand would likely take over in center field, with Andres Torres moving to left or right field.

Sanchez offers a different type of dilemma. His next scheduled start would be in Game 7, if it comes down to that, and Bochy has to be aware of the effort exerted by the pitcher this season, as well as the resulting fatigue.

Sanchez has now thrown 213 1/3 innings, after throwing 163 1/3 last year, which was then a career high.

“These guys have logged some work, some innings, and whether that’s caught up with them or not, I can’t answer that . . .” said Bochy. “I’m sure they’re all a little tired now. It’s been a long year.”

Short of starting 21-year-old rookie Madison Bumgarner—who has thrown the most innings of his short career—on short rest, or Tim Lincecum on very short rest, Sanchez is Bochy’s only real option for Game 7. At the very least, the manager knows that he can go to his bullpen early, if necessary, and have a decent shot at holding down Texas’ offense.

Sanchez kept his composure when quietly answering questions from the scrum of media surrounding his locker after the game. But 15 minutes later, when faced with only a trio of reporters from the Bay Area, he seemed taken aback when asked if he thought he would be given the ball if there’s a Game 7.

“You gotta ask Bochy,” he said quietly.

He looked as if he was about to cry.