Texas gave it all they had but, in the end, San Francisco is simply the better team. Tim Lincecum (above holding World Series trophy) dominated Texas for eight innings to lead the Giants to victory. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)With one pitch in the seventh inning, the San Francisco Giants changed the complexion of what was a 0-0 pitchers duel through 7 1-3 innings.
World Series MVP Edgar Renteria belted a 2-0 pitch right down the middle of the plate from Texas Rangers' starter Cliff Lee that gave the Giants a 3-0; just enough for the game five win and their first World Series title since moving to San Francisco in 1958.
"It was a classic pitchers' duel down to that home run. Nobody in this room is more disappointed than I am," Lee said.
One of Lee's only mistakes of the night brought in three runs with two outs in the seventh inning. Renteria got the pitch he wanted and hit it just long enough (literally a foot or two away from hitting the wall) to put his team on top.
"It was a tough year for me," Renteria said. "I told myself to keep working hard and keep in shape because something is going to be good this year."
That's why these Giants are World Champions: they have the ability to take advantage of even the best pitcher's mistakes and turn them into something. They did it to Tim Hudson, Roy Halladay, and Roy Oswalt in two series before this. Now they've done it to Lee and these Rangers on the game's biggest stage.
Combine that gritty lineup with an excellent, home grown starting rotation, and your looking at the World Series Champs, simple as that. The Giants' makeshift bullpen, led by excellent closer Brian Wilson - who didn't allow a run all postseason and got the final three straight outs against the heart of the Rangers' order - were needed for only 10 innings in six postseason games.
The Giants' staff held the best hitting team in baseball to a .190 batting average in the World Series, Josh Hamilton to 2 for 20 and Vladimir Guerrero to one hit in 14 at-bats - along with five strikeouts. Texas managed only 12 runs in the five-game series and were the first team since 1966 to be shut out twice in the World Series.
"They beat us soundly," manager Ron Washington said. "They deserve it."
The Giants' game five starter, two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, proved to be up to the challenge of putting away Texas at home. Lincecum went eight innings, striking out 10 batters, and allowing one run on three hits. His only blemish on the night was a high fastball that Nelson Cruz crushed deep to left in the seventh.
"This doesn't make sense. You don't realize it. It's something that's surreal. But that's what we are, World Series champs," Giants' starter Matt Cain said.
Even with the World Series defeat, what an outstanding season for these Texas Rangers. The best team in the American League fell short in the World Series, but this is a young, up-and-coming ball club that will go into next season as one of the favorites to not only make it to the playoffs, but make it back to the Series.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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