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San Francisco Giants have been one of the hottest teams in all of Major League baseball since the start of September. After a rough August that saw them play unimpressive baseball to the tune of a .464 winning percentage for the month, they have bounced back to be one of the best teams in baseball.

Players like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Buster Posey, Aubrey Huff, and Juan Uribe have all been key parts of this resurgence. 

September was a great month for the Giants, as they went 18-8 while taking control of the NL West. There are a number of factors that contributed to their September success, and these factors will carry them all the way to a World Series title this fall. 

First and foremost is their starting pitching. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez all sport sub-four ERAs and all have the ability to shut down any team on any given night.

In a short series, these three pitchers would scare a team of any quality, even the teams in the AL with prodigious offenses like the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lincecum went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA in September after a dismal August in which he won zero games. He has figured out mechanically what was wrong and is now back to being the dominant ace that won two Cy Young Awards before the age of 26.

He is the perfect top-of-the-line starting pitcher that any World Series winner needs anchoring their staff.

And when Lincecum comes out after eight innings, they have one of the most powerful closers in all of baseball to hand the ball to. His electrifying fastball has made Brian Wilson one of the best closers in baseball this year. He has converted 47 saves while posting a 1.83 ERA.

Being able to turn playoff games into eight-inning contests can make or break a postseason; the Yankees and Mariano Rivera can attest to that. 

Aside from great pitching, the San Francisco Giants have the veteran leadership needed to win a title. Players like Pat Burrell, Juan Uribe, Aaron Rowand, and Edgar Renteria have all played in World Series games and can let the younger players know what to expect in the Fall Classic. 

The veterans are not just there because of their experience either. These guys can really hit. Aubrey Huff, another veteran player, has experienced a rebirth in San Francisco, putting up numbers that are carrying the offense.

Though he wasn’t the first option for the Giants when looking to sign free agents this offseason, he has been a revelation at the plate. Huff leads the Giants in every major offensive category while playing great defense at first base, committing only three errors there all season.

Finally, it would be impossible to say that the Giants are going to win the World Series without mentioning Buster Posey.

Perhaps the most talented young player in the game today, all Posey has done since being called up in late May is put up a line of .313/17/66 with an OBP of .365. He has accomplished all of this while playing catcher, one of the most demanding positions in the field.

With Posey behind the plate and in the middle of this Giants lineup, they will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time. 

Expect the San Francisco Giants to put all of these components together to capture the 2010 World Series title. 

Mike Osterberg is a student at Penn State University and a writing intern at BleacherReport.com. Follow him on twitter @Mike_Osterberg.

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Mariano Rivera has been as consistent a player as any in professional sports. His prowess in the playoffs is simply unmatched by all challengers. While every year there seems to be a hot new closer that everyone is in love with, the New York Yankees’ not-so-secret weapon has been terrorizing opposing hitters for years.

In the past month, however, Rivera has looked decidedly mortal. He has blown three saves this month, as well as an ERA that is a very un-Rivera-like, 5.04, which nearly triple his career average. Despite these facts, it should not cause concern for Yankee fans anywhere.

The last time he blew three saves in a month was in August of 2004. He simply fails less than anyone else at his position, ever. That being said, he still isn’t perfect. He’s bound to blow saves and, once every six seasons or so, they come in bunches.

Along with rarely giving up many saves in a given time period, the man just might be made of steel. He has been to the disabled list only four times in his 16-year career, the most recent coming in 2003. He still throws 92-93 MPH and shows no signs of physically wearing down. 

His consistency physically is due to the lifestyle he leads. He’s never been back-page material for the New York Post and, by all accounts, leads a very quiet, sober lifestyle. Hard-partying may have been the bane of other closers in the past, but it’s of no concern for Rivera.

It hardly seems necessary to speculate if he is still possesses the same mental toughness. He is never rattled even in the most pressure-packed postseason situations. He has experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, with a blown World Series Game 7 to his record. His even temper will never waver.

His postseason numbers add up to over a season’s worth of dominance. In 88 games, he has rang up eight wins against only one loss, with 39 saves. Not to mention his minuscule 0.74 ERA. Rivera was built to pitch in the bright lights of New York in October.

To ensure that he continues his dominance, Joe Girardi must never use Rivera in the eighth inning. Despite the fact that Rivera has a record 14 career postseason, two inning saves, those days are behind him. He must be carefully guarded to ensure that when the ninth inning rolls around, the opponent will be all but doomed.

Rivera is a human superlative. Not enough could possibly be said about the scope of his dominance, especially in the postseason. That said, nobody should ever doubt River or think he is “finished”. With nine career postseason series clinching saves and 558 regular season saves to his record, he’s earned the benefit of the doubt. 

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