Sanchez: I just swung at the first good pitch

SAN FRANCISCO - The Giants' Freddy Sanchez, a former batting champion, was nervous entering his first postseason.

It showed in the Division Series but certainly hasn't since.

He made an impressive World Series debut in Game 1 with four hits, becoming the first player in World Series history to have three doubles in his first three Series at-bats.

"At the beginning of the postseason, I was feeling real anxious and not relaxed at the plate," Sanchez, who hit .344 for the Pirates to win the 2006 NL batting title, said after the Giants' 11-7 victory over the Rangers in Game 1 Wednesday night. "As the postseason went on, I started to get more comfortable and started to find my swing a little bit. So definitely I think as the postseason got on, I think I've felt more comfortable and relaxed at the plate."

After going 2-for-16 (.125) in the Division Series against the Braves, Sanchez went 9-for-25 (.360) in the NLCS against the Phillies, then 4-for-5 with three RBIs in Game 1, with three doubles off Cliff Lee.

"I mean, you never know going in against a pitcher like that," said Sanchez, 0-for-5 in Game 2. "You never think you're going to have success against a pitcher like that. I just tried to attack early, swing at the first [good] pitch. After that, I just tried to see it and put the ball in play, and fortunately, was able to find some hits."

He would know

Rangers president and part-owner Nolan Ryan said his team reminds him of the first World Series team he was part of, the 1969 Mets.

"The Mets were where the Rangers are this year. They'd never been there before, never experienced it," Ryan said before Game 2. "So this has been a magical year for us with a lot of ups and downs. So there's some similarities there."

The Mets lost at least 100 games in five of their first six seasons before going 73-89 in 1968 - and 100-62 in 1969.

Extra bases

The Giants' Buster Posey became the second rookie catcher in World Series history to bat third, joining Yogi Berra, who did it for the Yankees in 1947 . . . Boston's Tim Wakefield was presented the 2010 Roberto Clemente Award. Derek Jeter won it last year . . . In its pregame notes, MLB recognized Bill Shannon, the longtime Mets and Yankees official scorer and New York sports historian, who died in a house fire Monday morning.