Sam Spangler can’t lose in this year’s NLCS.

He’s a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan. But he’s also an ardent supporter of his former University of Hawaii baseball teammate, St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong.

So the KHON sportscaster was smiling when Wong blasted the walk-off homer to win Game 2 on Sunday. And he was smiling again Tuesday when the Giants won Game 3 and took a 2-1 lead in the series.

What if the Cards come back to win it?

He will be overjoyed for Wong.

"Two World Series (since 2010) have made me pretty content with the Giants for now," Spangler said.

For many Giants fans with Hawaii ties, Tuesday’s game was the best of both worlds: Their team won, but their guy played well. Wong picked up in San Francisco where he left off in St. Louis — in his first two plate appearances he ripped a double, and then a two-run triple, cutting the Cards’ 4-run deficit in half. Wong hit the ball hard his two other times up, but into Giants gloves.

He’s hitting .300 with a .900 slugging percentage in the NLCS, after belting a big homer in the NLDS against Los Angeles. That was a similar situation for Dodgers fans from Hawaii … if you have to lose to someone, let it be Kolten.

UH baseball coach Mike Trapasso has no such split allegiance. He grew up in the St. Louis area and is a lifelong Cardinals fan. He even pitched in their organization.

"I have fun watching him," Trapasso said. "The day Kolten was drafted and I saw it was the Cardinals, it was, ‘Wow, how cool is this?’" 

Wong’s walk-off blast Sunday is right up there with Glenn Braggs’ home-run-robbing catch that propelled the Reds into the 1990 World Series as greatest single moment for any former Rainbows baseball player — some say for any former UH athlete, period.

At the very least, it has helped fans forget about Wong getting picked off to end Game 4 of last year’s World Series, which the Cards lost to the Red Sox.

He had been in the majors for just a month and a half before the 2013 postseason. Now, after a full rookie season interrupted only by a brief visit to Triple-A, Wong has shown he can contribute as an everyday player.

"It’s day and night, just being able to play that whole season, the confidence I have now," he said.

Spangler never doubted him.

"When I was in the minors there were four guys we played that were special: Mike Trout, Jean Segura, Oscar Taveras and Kolten," said Spangler, a lefty who pitched for Beloit (Wisc.) in the Midwest League in 2010, when Wong turned pro and played for Quad Cities.

Spangler recalls facing his former teammate and getting him to an 0-2 count.

"I knocked him down with a high and tight one. Next pitch I put a curveball low and away from the plate. He went out and got it and pulled it into right field (for a hit). Not many left-handed hitters ever did that against me, especially after I knocked him down."

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.