The Biggest Game of his Career...

Buck Martinez with another observation during today's game:

This would be the biggest save of Soriano's career, to force a fifth game to this series.

Hmm, the biggest of his career? How can we be certain of that? How exactly do you qualify "big"-ness? Well, we have Soriano's entire career on file at baseball-reference.com, so let's take a look.

With a cursory glance it becomes obvious how Martinez could make such a judgment - the 2010 ALDS is his first time appearing in the post-season. Soriano's had a fairly decent 9-year career in the majors that I'm sure included some big moments - including nearly breaking out with the Mariners in 2003, only to have his career potentially derailed by injuries, only to rejuvenate himself in Atlanta, which led to his shot at becoming a closer with Tampa Bay. And he's now established himself as one of the most dominant closers in the game. And how he has a chance to strut his stuff on the third-biggest stage in the theater that is Major League Baseball.

Soriano did not disappoint - he shut down the Rangers, following the example from fellow Rays relievers Randy Choate, Grant Balfour, and Joaquin Benoit. This is why it's so important to follow even the middle relievers of a club. If you have solid ones - like the Rays or the Padres - those late innings between your starter and your closer become much less stressful. If you have a shaky or unproven one, bad things start to happen. Like what happened to the Rangers last night.

But sometimes completely different things happen: like what happened to the Giants two nights ago, when the Braves came back against one of the best closers in the league. Sometimes even if your middle relievers do the job, your big dog can falter.

Maybe that faltering had somewhat to do with bad defense. Maybe All-Star Brian Wilson had some jitters, it being his first ever postseason game, and thus likely the "biggest" of his career.

We'll see what happens in game 3 when Tim Hudson (a guy with plenty of playoff experience, most of it while wearing the uniform pictured right) squares off against Jonathan Sanchez and the Giants.