'The Invisible Bats': Texas writes own Halloween horror movie

Sunday night was Halloween, and the favorite costume among the Texas Rangers' big bats at Rangers Ballpark appeared to be The Invisible Man.

Coming into the World Series, the power of the Rangers' lineup was thought to be one of the team's biggest advantages.

But hitting for extra bases and driving in runs has been almost non-existent through the heart of the Texas batting order as the Rangers have already been shut out twice.

• Michael Young(notes)? No extra-base hits or RBIs in four games.

• Ian Kinsler(notes)? He has the one double that was oh-so-close to being a home run. But every line drive he hit on Sunday found its way into Cody Ross'(notes) glove. And he still has no RBIs in the World Series.

Madison Bumgarner's(notes) brilliant pitching didn't allow many chances to score, but the Rangers had their best opportunity in the seventh with two runners on and two outs. Kinsler swung at a high changeup, however, lining out softly to left field and ending the inning.

• Vladimir Guerrero(notes)? No extra base hits in three games. And in Game 4, he did his best Pat Burrell(notes) imitation, striking out in all three of his at-bats. He's hitting .100 (1-for-10), but at least that hit drove in two runs in Game 1.

• Josh Hamilton(notes)? One extra-base hit, the home run he hit in Game 3. That accounts for his only RBI. On Sunday night, he went 0-for-4, bringing his World Series average to .117 (2-for-17).

Perhaps the Rangers' ineptitude on offense (and the dominance from the Giants' pitching staff) was best demonstrated in the ninth inning against closer Brian Wilson(notes).

Young was called out on a check-swing strikeout. Hamilton also tried to hold back his final swing, but he went around, striking out on three straight pitches. Two of the Rangers' best hitters, left holding their bats in mid-swing, hoping for one more chance to stay alive.

The Rangers as a team find themselves in a similar circumstance going into Monday night's Game 5. They have one more chance to extend the series and head back to San Francisco with a shot to become the first team since the 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers to be shut out twice in the World Series and still win the title.

Will their big bats finally show up to keep their season alive?