It was an unlikely band of Giants who made an unlikely run through the postseason and straight to the World Series title.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum held the Rangers' offense to just one run on three hits to win the game and the World Series.
With ace pitcher Tim Lincecum effectively shutting down the Texas Rangers’ offense, San Francisco took the lead and the championship off a three-run home run from Edgar Renteria.
The title is the first for the Giants since 1954, while the team was still based in New York. Since relocating to the Bay Area, the Giants hadn’t been able to come up with crucial postseason wins.
This time, it was a different story.
San Francisco took the lead in the series from game one and despite losing game three, they never gave the Rangers much of a chance for a comeback.
With the exception of the seventh inning, game five was a ferocious pitchers’ duel between Lincecum and the Rangers’ Cliff Lee. Both struggled in their matchup in game one, but both bounced back to turn in sharp performances that led to six scoreless innings.
Lincecum threw just 101 pitches in eight innings of work, 71 of them for strikes, giving up three hits and striking out ten. Lee worked just seven innings, with eight hits and six strikeouts.
Before this Series, Lee was undefeated in the postseason, but after pitching in San Francisco last week and in game five at home, he added two losses to the tally. He was knocked out of game one with under five innings pitched, but he came back strong tonight.
Lee faced just three or four batters in each of the first six innings, throwing three 1-2-3 innings and three innings in which he gave up one single. The game went by quickly as the two aces faced and retired batters in quick succession.
In the top of the seventh inning, Lee ran into problems, surrendering two consecutive base hits Cody Ross and Juan Uribe. Aubrey Huff, responsible for a home run in game four, sacrificed to move the runners into scoring position. Pat Burrell, in the DH spot, of course struck out for the Giants (the veteran was 0-for-13 in the series, with 11 strikeouts), but with two outs and runners on second and third, Renteria homered in dramatic fashion to put three runs on the board for the Giants.
When it was the Rangers’ turn at the plate, Nelson Cruz cut the Giants’ lead to 3-1 with a solo home run. Cruz’s score didn’t spark the offense though, as Lincecum struck out the next two batters he faced to end the inning.
The Giants’ pitching throughout the Series was excellent, preventing the Texas hitters from getting many meaningful swings. Since returning to Arlington over the weekend, the Rangers scored all five of their runs off homers. Mostly, though, the Giants’ pitching rendered Texas’ bats useless and kept them off the base paths.
Slugger Josh Hamilton went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and was just 2 for 20 in the World Series, with a home run in game three, the Rangers’ only win. His batting average for the Series was a meager .100, and he was called out on strikes in the bottom of the ninth.
The rest of the Rangers shared Hamilton’s offensive struggles, so it only took one well-timed home run from Renteria, the World Series MVP, and a well-pitched game from Lincecum to clinch the win.
The San Francisco Giants celebrate winning their first World Series in 54 years.
The win was the culmination of the hard work and determination of a self-proclaimed ragtag team.
The Giants’ World Series run was fueled by dominant pitching, from two-time Cy Young award winner Lincecum, to eccentric closer Brian Wilson, to 21-year-old rookie Madison Bumgarner; powerful hitting from Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff and Renteria; base hits and perfect throws from rookie catcher Buster Posey; and the passion and frustration from all the times before when they’d come up short.
This time, though, they took it all the way the to the title.
