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Congratulations to the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, who beat the Texas Rangers four games to one to win the title.

Any World Series Championship team has to consist of talent players who like to play the game of baseball together, and this Giants team was exactly that. The Giants played with a lot of heart.

The Giants won on pitching, just as they did all season long, but they would not be where they are without the veteran hitters.

Aage and experience should not be brushed aside as too many fans and media do in baseball. Appreciate infielders like Audrey Huff (34), World Series MVP Edgar Renteria (35), Freddy Sanchez (33), Pat Burrell (34) and relief pitchers like Javier Lopez (33).

My hope for 2011 is that the Yankees can get back to being World Champions again, with all the great veterans in pinstripes. Maybe watching the Giants take what was still theirs up until a few hours ago will get the Yankees to start to believe in themselves again.

The Giants never stopped believing, just like the 2009 Yankees wouldn’t give up until they were on top.

New York’s championship crown has been passed to the new kings on the West Coast. The Yankees reign feels like forever ago again, But hopefully the fans and players will get back again in 2011.

But for tonight, it’s all about the city of San Francisco, and their mighty Giants. You have earned the right to be proud, because you are the best in the World.

The most sincere congratulations, from me, a Yankees fan.

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In the final game of the 1997 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Florida Marlins, Florida shortstop Edgar Renteria (who was just in his second season) drove in Craig Counsell on a walk-off single to win the championship. 13 years later, Renteria can credit himself with delivering yet another championship.

With a three-run home run in the top of the 7th, Edgar Renteria propelled the San Francisco Giants to their first World Series win since 1954. It is their first since moving to California, having reached the World Series four times, including coming up just short in 2002 against interstate rival Anaheim.

The Giants won the game by a score of 3-1 after an impressive pitching performance by Tim Lincecum, his second start of the series. He dueled against free agency-bound Cliff Lee, who went seven innings and allowed the big shot to Renteria. The Rangers fell into a deficit they could not dig themselves out of, even with a solo-shot by Nelson Crúz (his sixth of the postseason). Giants closer Brian Wilson, who had been rather lights-out all postseason long, sealed the deal by getting the aforementioned Crúz to strikeout swinging.

San Francisco entered the second-half of the season trailing division-rival San Diego, yet managed to power forward towards an NL West title after the latter played poorly down the stretch. They successfully knocked off the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, as Cody Ross (who had been claimed off of waivers earlier in the summer) slugged his way into playoff galore. After conquering the defending NL champion Phillies, San Francisco would go on to lose only once in Game 3 to Texas.

Even with poor ratings predicted (and eventually being sustained), the Giants managed to pull through. In a season filled with unlikelihood, the San Francisco Giants proved that just about anything can happen.

This article can be found on SportsFullCircle!

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This truly is the Year of the Pitcher. Some of the best in baseball have tossed no-hitters and perfect games, but so have relative unknowns. Texas Rangers starter Colby Lewis didn’t throw either on this night, but his start—as so many outings have this postseason—exemplified how dominant those gracing the mound have been. He, who pitched in Japan not long ago, shut down the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series and was at it again against the San Francisco Giants in front of a raucous crowd desperate for a victory.

Power pitchers have proved their worth this season, but if anything, this year has shown that one doesn’t have to throw in the high nineties to succeed. Lewis illustrated that once more, as a right-hander far more reliant on location and focused on changing speeds than lighting up the radar gun. Topping out at 92 doesn’t matter in this day and age. Accurate placement can translate into dominance. The Giants can attest to that.

The 30-year-old flirted with danger early on, allowing two to reach in the first then issuing a leadoff walk in the second, but escaped both times. Faced with the former situation, Lewis struck out Pat Burrell, whose night at the plate would only worsen. Lewis confused the power hitter with a fastball, slider and curveball as part of the four-pitch sequence. By mixing in the entirety of his repertoire, Lewis continued to befuddle San Francisco, and his ability to silence their bats was only helped by support from a rookie.

Through the years Texas has tried to replace Mark Teixeira at first base. They gave Chris Davis a shot, but he didn’t pan out. Then they handed the reigns to Justin Smoak only to trade his struggling yet promising bat to the Seattle Mariners for Cliff Lee.

When Lee came aboard, Mitch Moreland was given the bulk of the playing time at first. He started slow, adjusting to major-league pitching. But as summer turned to fall he began to figure it out. There’s a reason why he has held down the position throughout the season. Still, what he did against Jonathan Sanchez in the second inning came out of nowhere.

Two runners were on with two out. The second of the two, Bengie Molina, walked in front of the 25-year-old slugger, extending the inning. Sanchez, who has proved to be wild this postseason, fell behind the Mississippi State graduate 2-0 before finding himself in the midst of a tremendous battle. He threw everything he had to Moreland: sliders, changeups and fastballs.

After a fourth-pitch fastball was called strike two, Moreland fouled off two sliders and two changeups. Then Sanchez tried to blow a fastball by him. This turned out to be a bad choice in pitch selection. The heater was thrown right down the pipe and hit smack dab on the sweet spot. A split-second later it was cascading into the seats in right. The ninth pitch of the battle went for a three-run homer, a blast now forever ingrained into Moreland’s memory.

Given this boost, Lewis did the rest. Twelve of the next 14 hitters he faced walked back to the dugout disappointed. The two who reached didn’t go anywhere. He was composed, just doing his job.

Teammate and slugger Josh Hamilton applauded his outing with some added insurance in the fifth, though he had a good idea Lewis wouldn’t need it. With two out he was served up the definition of a hanging curveball by Sanchez and deposited the mistake into the seats in right-center. Lewis had four runs with which to work now. He would only need the three supplied by Moreland.

After Pat Burrell struck out for his third of four times to begin the seventh, Cody Ross tagged a fastball into the left-field stands. He’s been doing that all postseason, as this was his fifth homer of the playoffs. He was bound to make an impact in this third game, considering he’s made one in seemingly every other. Lewis shrugged that off, retiring the next two in the seventh. After allowing a solo-shot in the eighth to Andres Torres and struggling thereafter, he left to an ovation. The 4-2 lead was now Neftali Feliz’s to save.

Feliz hadn’t pitched in seven days but showed no signs of rust. After the final out of the eighth was recorded by Darren O’Day, Burrell notched a Golden Sombrero to begin the ninth against the Dominican, becoming the sixth position player in World Series history to strikeout in all four plate appearances. Ross flew out, and then Juan Uribe ultimately failed to catch up to Feliz’s heater, as his upper-cut proved disadvantageous in striking out to end Game 3.

Lewis and Feliz had entirely different game-plans, with pitches clocking in at entirely different speeds. But they were similarly successful. That’s what makes this Year of the Pitcher so fantastic to watch. There have proved to be many ways to dominate, and both the journeyman and rookie did in their own way to help bring Texas back into contention in this entertaining World Series.

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Riding the pitching arm of Colby Lewis and a three-run homer from the bat of their No. 9 hitter, the Texas Rangers defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-2 to cut their series deficit from two games to one.

To many, starting pitcher Lewis and rookie first baseman Mitch Moreland (their nine-hole hitter) may not sound like World Series heroes, but tonight their stars shined the brightest before a jubilant crowd at Ranger Ballpark in Arlington.

Their heroics guided the American League champions to the franchise’s first-ever World Series victory as they served notice to the Cinderella Giants (and the baseball world) that this, indeed, may be a long series.

The Rangers were already in uncharted territory, playing in their very first Fall Classic, and hosting their first game of such magnitude.  Adding to the drama were these little stats that may have been quite sobering to a team looking to fight back after dropping the first two games of a series.

The last 11 teams to take a 2-0 lead with home field advantage went on to win the World Series.

In the history of the Fall Classic, teams have taken a 2-0 lead 51 times; 40 of them have become World Series champions.

The last three teams to grab a 2-0 lead not only went on to win, but also went on to sweep the series.

Against these Texas-tall odds, the Rangers sent Colby Lewis to the hill to effectively keep them alive.  Lewis, who entered the game with a 2-0 postseason record and a sparkling 1.45 era, was equal to the task, even if he didn’t start the game with full command.

After retiring leadoff batter Andres Torres on a bouncer to second, Lewis gave up a two-strike hit to the sizzling Freddie Sanchez.  Aubrey Huff flew out to deep right, before Lewis walked Buster Posey.  Lewis got left fielder Pat Burrell to strike out (kind of a mean feat as Burrell was 0-for-4 with four whiffs) on a slider that appeared to be a foot aside.  Still, a huge out for a team that could not afford to give the Giants even more momentum..

The Rangers almost got to Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez in the bottom of the first frame. Vladimir Guerrero, back in his familiar designated hitter role, put a mighty swing on an inside pitch with two outs and a man (Michael Young, with a single) on first.  Vlad may have gotten it off the end of the bat, but Burrell, temporarily redeeming himself, made a fine running catch to keep the game scoreless.

For the next five innings, Lewis was in almost complete control, yielding a total of two more hits and one walk, The one free pass was issued to  Cody “Babe”  Ross to start the second, but the threat was wiped out by an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play of Pablo Sandoval, started by the nifty glove work of second sacker Ian Kinsler.

While the Rangers may not have made too many “web gems”, they were solid all night, committing no errors or misplays after playing two shoddy games in San Francisco. 

On the other side of the hill, Sanchez, who at times  can be brilliant, faced  Nelson Cruz to start the second.  The muscular left fielder hit a rocket, best described as a “Cruz Missile” that attacked the center field wall, but did not clear it for a leadoff double.

Sanchez got Kinsler to ground out to short, and Cruz alertly ran on contact to take third, with shortstop Edgar Renteria electing to take the sure out at first.  With the infield playing back, Jeff Francouer hit a one-hopper even with the bag, but the normally aggressive Cruz retreated to third, even though the Giants appeared to concede the run on a contact play.

With two outs and Cruz stalled out at third, it would now take a hit (barring a wild pitch, of which the often wild Sanchez has proved capable of dealing) to get on the board. After Bengie Molina walked, in stepped rookie first baseman Mitch Moreland, hitting out of the nine hole.

In the key at-bat of the contest, Sanchez fell behind Moreland 2-1 before getting the benefit of a borderline strike to even the count.  The first baseman would foul off four straight pitches before seeing a pitch—the ninth of the climactic showdown—that he liked.  Well, Moreland did not miss it, sending it deep into the rightfield seats to give Texas a 3-0 lead that (thanks mostly to Lewis) it would never relinquish.

Josh Hamilton, who had not yet had his big moment in the Fall Classic, would add to the 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth.  Again, the Rangers and their prodigiously talented center fielder would strike with two outs.  Andrus had started the frame with a leadoff single, which Michael Young followed with a hard one-hopper to third baseman Juan Uribe. 

Uribe’s throw was high, but Freddie Sanchez turned a sensational pivot, just nipping Young to complete the twin killing.  Hamilton would drive a Sanchez fastball well into the bleachers to make the score 4-0 Texas.  As well as Lewis was pitching, the blow was a key one in giving the home team some insurance against a team that never gets discouraged.

A Babe Ross homer in the seventh—almost a formality in the craziness of the 2010 postseason—would put the Giants on the board, but Lewis and the Rangers minimized damage all night by retiring the leadoff man eight out of nine times; in this case, Burrell had started the inning by whiffing again.

Things got a little more scary for Lewis after he gave up another one-out solo shot in the eighth, this time a blast by centerfielder Andres Torres.  Had Lewis, who prior to this season had done his most effective pitching in Japan, run out of gas?

Manager Ron Washington elected to leave him on the game, and Sanchez hit a rocket to left that looked like extra bases off his bat. Cruz, making one of the best plays of the night, robbed him with a  terrific over-the-shoulder catch. Lewis stayed on to face dangerous lefty Aubrey Huff, and hit him on the top of his front foot with an off-speed pitch. 

Preternaturally mature rookie catcher Buster Posey stepped to the plate, and Washington elected to turn to setup man Darren O’Day. The resulting showdown would define the game, and indeed, be what postseason baseball is all about.

Top of the second: Rangers 4, Giants 2.  Two outs, a man on first, and the momentum trending to the visitors.  A less-than-hot reliever versus a great young hitter who had already reached base safely twice on the night.

The mano-a-mano would be epic.  After getting up 0-2 on Posey, the side-arming reliever would miss on three straight offspeed pitches  that were wide of the outside corner.  O’Day would step off the mound three times, continually shake off Molina, and even have a summit conference with his battery mate during the at-bat. It was the kind of high drama that baseball fans love, and non-believers can’t stand.

The Rangers ended up loving it, as Posey reached for a 3-2 pitch and tapped it weakly to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who gunned him out at first.

With a well-rested rookie closer Neftali Feliz throwing pure gas in the ninth, the Rangers left their raucous ballpark with a 4-2 victory and the sense that they were truly in this series. 

The Rangers will turn to young Tommy Hunter against an even younger (and quite impressive) Madison Bumgarner to try to keep their momentum going in Game 4. 

But under the Saturday night lights deep in the heart of Texas, Lewis, Moreland their teammates made the debut of World Series baseball in the Longhorn State a quite memorable one.

Gold Notes

Nolan Ryan’s ceremonial first-pitch toss to honorary catcher Ivan Rodriguez was clocked at 68 MPH.  It was a little short of the plate and outside, but Pudge scooped it with ease, saving the legendary team president a wild pitch.

Babe Ross and Josh Hamilton both hit heir fifth home runs of the postseason; it was Moreland’s first.

I realize that FOX pays a ton for the rights to televise the World Series, but they have to give us a better “God Bless America” singer than Martha Plimpton, the star of a FOX series, Raising Hope.  She was horrible; I hope she’s better in the series, which I’ve decided to boycott, anyway.  Sorry to give it some play here (Kelly Clarkson gave a pretty good version of the national anthem).

One has to think FOX and otherwise neutral baseball fans would like to see a Lincecum-Lee matchup with the teams tied at two apiece.  Maybe this one will actually be a pitcher’s duel.

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The home cooking was especially tasty for the Texas Rangers on Saturday night, as they finally got on the board to make this a series heading into Game 4 with a 4-2 victory over the Giants in Arlington.

San Francisco had taken the first two games at home, slugging around Cliff Lee in Game 1 and dominating Texas 9-0 in Game 2.

Saturday continued the trend of home-field advantage, as the Rangers used two home runs to win and cut the Giants’ series lead to 2-1.

Meanwhile, even college football and the Dallas Cowboys had to take a back seat on a day when the World Series visited Texas for the first time ever. With the Cowboys playing poorly and the Longhorns losing to Baylor, World Series fever has swept the state, and, this time, the Rangers lived up to the billing.

Let’s take a look at the keys to the victory on the eve of Halloween. Don’t be scared. Come on in…

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The Giants entered their third 2010 postseason series as the underdog, again. Everybody was told the Giants can’t score runs. The Rangers will light up Giants pitching.

In two games, the Giants have outscored the Rangers 20-7. San Francisco had only scored 30 runs in their first 10 games leading up to the World Series.

The most glaring problem for Texas has been their miscues and the Giants’ ability to capitalize on them. San Francisco has built the entire postseason on taking advantage of miscues.

The Giants received a victory after Braves second baseman Brooks Conrad committed three errors in one game. They continued to take advantage of errors against the Phillies, mostly bobbles by Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.

With the Rangers, they started to pile on the runs by hitting the ball towards Vladimir Guerrero. He looks older than his 35-year-old body says he should be. Guerrero having played a mere 16 games in right field did not help the Rangers.

The implosion of the Rangers bullpen has also been a huge factor. On Thursday night, the Giants led 2-0 going into the eighth inning. The Rangers were able to get the first two outs but then allowed the Giants to bat around.

Much of this was keyed on walks and location of pitches.

Whatever the case, the Giants continue to take advantage of mistakes and limit the opportunities of their opponents. But there is more to their success against Texas.

The pitching the Giants have seen prior to the World Series was some of the best pitching in all of baseball.

In the NLDS and NLCS, the Giants faced Derek Lowe twice, Tim Hudson, Roy Halladay twice, Roy Oswalt twice and Cole Hamels. Tommy Hanson is no slouch either.

Their bullpens are just as good. Jonny Venters, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, Craig Kimbrel.

To say the least, by name, the Giants have seen the best.

Then came the Rangers and Cliff Lee who had not lost in the postseason, ever. We saw how that worked out. C.J. Wilson came as advertised.

The drop off in quality pitching is huge when you think about what the Giants have already seen, and this is why they have been so successful.

Because they have seen pitchers that make so few mistakes, when they face guys who are not as sharp, they are able to attack more easily.

They have started to wait out the Rangers pitching, letting them make the mistakes.

A perfect image of that was the eighth inning of Game 2. On a normal day, in a normal game, I would not have been surprised to see Juan Uribe or Edgar Renteria strike out swinging on a pitch a few inches outside or in the dirt.

They were patient (wait, these guys patient?) and waited for their pitch. In Uribe’s case, he was able to take a walk, another thing he does not do often.

The Giants have scored 20 runs with Buster Posey and Pat Burrell going a combined 2-for-14 in the first two games of the World Series. If these guys heat up in any way, the Giants will be in very good shape heading into Texas.

San Francisco will have big questions to answer before the start of Game 3. Who will be the DH? Will Pablo Sandoval play against the right-handers Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter?

Will there be a game that actually involves torture?

Aubrey Huff has offered his services as the DH. Burrell would rather not relive the debacle that was his career as a DH. How important will defense be?

Travis Ishikawa or Nate Schierholtz could also end up in the lineup. Maybe Sandoval plays third, Uribe at short, and Renteria is the DH. Bruce Bochy will have plenty of options.

The Giants are in a great position heading into Arlington with a 2-0 lead in the series. Eleven teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the World Series. A team has never come back from a 3-0 deficit to win.

Game 3 is a crucial game for both teams and is a make-or-break game for Texas.

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Apparently the pitchers duel that everyone was expecting to occur Wednesday night caught a late flight to San Francisco and arrived Thursday evening. With Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee facing off in Game 1, no one could have predicted the 11-7 slug-fest that took place in the World Series opener.

In Game 2, the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants sent their secondary aces to the hill to hopefully do the job that neither of their respective No. 1 pitchers could accomplish. With C.J. Wilson of the Rangers and Matt Cain of the Giants taking the hill Thursday evening, the promise of a superbly-pitched game was well within reach.

Through six innings, that scenario unfolded beautifully as each starter had his best stuff working and had command of all his pitches. Cain had the upper-hand, as he continued his amazing run of scoreless postseason innings, extending it to 21.1 innings. However, Wilson nearly matched his effectiveness through six, until he was forced by a blister on his finger to turn the 2-0 game over to the Texas bullpen.

That’s when things began to get interesting—primarily if you’re a Giants’ fan. Texas’ bullpen, normally highly effective, imploded in spectacular fashion, helping the Giants to an eventual  9-0 victory in front of an ecstatic home crowd in AT&T Park.

The Rangers were comprehensively shut down by Matt Cain and two San Francisco relievers with barely a whimper. For a team that was only shut out five times all year, Texas was stifled all game by a dominant Giants’ pitching performance.

San Francisco continued its trend of finding a different unlikely hero each night, as tonight Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe led the way with both their bats and gloves. New-found folk hero Cody Ross had another great game as he continued to ride his hot streak following his NLCS MVP performance. Technically, the Rangers’ bullpen played a massive role in the Giants success as well, gifting several runs to their NL foes to put the once-close game out of reach.

Join me as we examine the key facets of Texas’ game and find out where it all went wrong for the visiting Rangers in World Series Game 2.   

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Game 2 of the 2010 World Series belonged to Edgar Renteria, Matt Cain and the San Francisco Giants from start to finishing Thursday.

Cain tossed a scoreless gem in 7 2/3 innings of work to vault himself into some historic company, extending his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 21 1/3 innings.

But it was the 35 year-old shortstop from Columbia who absolutely stole the show.

Renteria blasted a tape-measure home run of Rangers’ starter C.J. Wilson in the fifth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, then added a two-run single in the eight to blow the game open.

It ended up being another perfect night by the Bay for the thousands of Giants’ fans who gathered to watch their team creep ever-closer to a World Series crown.

Here’s a comprehensive report card for the San Francisco Giants’ game 2 win.

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Baseball is a game of inches. Defensive alignment can be the difference between a snared liner and a double in the gap. Whether a pitch is inside enough or not can be the difference between a sawed off pop-up and a homer deep into the seats.

And, as a game-changing play in Game 2 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers illustrated, lacking just a bit of extension in a swing’s follow-through can turn a sure-fire homer to center into an improbable and unlucky double.

That was the case in the fifth, when Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler led off with a drive to the deepest part of the park. Matt Cain made one of his few mistakes, but it somehow only resulted in a double, as the ball hit off the top of the wall and bounced back into play.

Kinsler looked out to center in disbelief after rounding second. He wouldn’t move; Cain sent down the Rangers after that and walked off the mound having still not allowed an earned run this postseason.

What happened next? Edgar Renteria, one of the Giants many wily veterans, showed Kinsler how it’s done, smacking a fastball from C.J. Wilson high and deep to left that dropped into the tunnel as fans above cheered. Thirteen years after winning the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins as a 21-year-old, Renteria came up big on the game’s biggest stage again.

Cain appreciated the blast, and proceeded to mow down Texas in the sixth and seventh before leaving in the eighth to a resounding ovation. Preceding his exit was another crucial hit produced by Juan Uribe, who has been one of the more valuable hitters this postseason.

After driving in the Giants’ second run in the seventh, he also produced in the eighth. So did every other Giant as part of a nightmarish frame three Texas relievers won’t soon forget.

As the eighth transpired, somewhere Rick Ankiel was feeling their pain. The pitcher turned outfielder was memorably wild in the 2000 NLDS against the Atlanta Braves as the Game 1 starter for the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the third inning of that outing he allowed four runs on two hits and four walks while uncorking five wild pitches. He was the first to throw five wild pitches in an inning since Bert Cunningham did so in 1890 as a member of the Players League. Afterward, Ankiel joked about being in his company, but what the Rangers bullpen went through was no laughing matter.

As stated, the game of baseball is one of inches. It is also one of feet, the distance the trio of Derrick Holland, Mark Lowe, and Michael Kirkman repeatedly missed the strike-zone. Holland was the worst of the lot, and his downfall certainly drew some sympathy from this particular baseball fan as well as a presumed many others.

Entering with two out and a runner on first, he threw 11 straight balls. The first eight loaded the bases, and the next three to Aubrey Huff put Holland on the brink of forcing in a run. He guided in a strike, but then missed woefully high.

Buster Posey, whose two-out single made this possible, trotted home, as three other Giants slowly took their base. This was just the beginning for the Rangers, but it was the end of Holland. Thirteen pitches, 12 balls: Ankielesque, just without the wild pitches.

But, clearly, he was plenty wild. And so was his replacement. Uribe, a stocky third baseman who touts a mighty and increasingly successful swing, managed to fall behind in the count to Mark Lowe, who was making his first appearance of the postseason. 

On cue, however, he rested his bat on his broad shoulders and watched three pitches miss badly. For his and the Rangers sake, that was the last of the walks issued in the inning. But this didn’t mean the Giants were done. Oh no, they were far from finished. Pitches were guided into the hitting zone and they took their hacks.

Renteria capped of his first three-hit game of the season with a single to left. This plated the Giants sixth run, and three more came their way as Aaron Rowand and Andres Torres let the Rangers wound continue to bleed.

In disposing of the New York Yankees in the ALCS, Texas poured it on late. So far in this series San Francisco has turned the tables, dominating the concluding innings. They have done so in a way that will be hard for the Rangers to stomach and hard to overcome, just as it was for the Yankees.

With that, backed by Cain’s brilliance, Renteria’s tremendous night at the plate, and the wildness so sadly put on display by the Rangers bullpen, the Giants blanked their heavy-hitting opponent and handily took a 2-0 World Series lead.

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Much has been made of the Giants’ Tim Lincecum and the Rangers’ Cliff Lee, and with good reason.

But after that matchup failed to produce the expected pitching duel, the Giants’ Matt Cain more than filled the ace role for San Francisco as they took a two games to none lead in the World Series, winning 9-0.

It’s about time we recognized Cain for the stud pitcher he is. After finishing the 2010 season with a 3.14 ERA and 177 K’s with 61 walks in over 223 innings, the Giants’ number two starter has been number one in the postseason.

Cain has now gone more than 22 innings without giving up an earned run.

But the game two victory took more than just the pitching of Matt Cain.

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