Kuzul

As a New York Yankees fan it is easy to get to know the players in the American League.

Due to geographical circumstances and interleague play, I have learned more about some of the teams in the National League, like the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Over the past few seasons, the San Francisco Giants have not come to the Bronx and have not factored in the postseason.

The Giants actually resided in New York City from 1930-57, in which the franchise won five World Championships and 17 pennants. Since making the move to San Francisco, the city still awaits for their Giants to bring a World Series title to the Bay.

Mainly known as the home to starting ace Tim Lincecum (“The Freak”), who has won the Cy Young Award the past two seasons, the Giants are another team residing in the NL West along with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The organization’s biggest star, Barry Bonds disgraced the team’s mainstay. It seemed that the last special baseball moment for the Giants was Bonds hitting for his home-run record. It is his record because MLB can’t count it as baseball history when it was unauthentic.

Other than a cheat and a freak, there wasn’t much reason to get to the Giants over the last five seasons, until now.

After watching a few Giants games I understand their team’s appeal. The Giants players are scrappy, good, fundamental baseball players who are darn fun to watch because they never seem to give up.

STRENGTHS:

The team’s biggest asset is pitching. Three aces: Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner, follow Lincecome.

The Giants starters finished the regular season with a 3.36 ERA, which was the lowest in baseball. The Giants rotation also tossed a total of 1461 innings, gave up the least hits with 1279, 546 earned runs, and struck out the most batters.

All stats led the majors for 2010. They tied for third place with the Dodgers and Marlins for the least home-runs allowed with 134 in total.

The Giants have the top closer in baseball, Brian Wilson. A guy I would want on my team. Not only can Wilson shutdown batters, but he radiates a superior, daunting presence from the mound, making batters wince. Wilson led the majors with 57 saves in 73 save opportunities.

The Giants only offensive strength comes from pure, home-run hitting power. It is the only way the Giants know how to win.

Strategy is finding a way to beat the other team by holding up the opponent’s hitters and capitalizing at the plate on the two, three or four mistakes the opponent’s pitchers inevitably make.

WEAKNESSES:

The Giants approach has no surprises.

Slow is an understatement, as the team is tied with the cubs for the slowest runners in baseball stealing just 55 bases on the season.

The batters hit into a lot of double plays and rely too much on home-runs with nothing else as an offensive back-up. It explains how the Giants wins/losses coincide with the starting pitcher’s performance.

It is not a safe way to make the playoffs, as small ball can get a team those extra wins when other aspects are slumping. In many ways the Giants are an upgraded or superior version of the Toronto Blue Jays, as Toronto’s pitching keeps improving so does the team’s record.

How do I think the Giants will do against the Texas Rangers?

The Giants pitchers need to set the tone and dominate the games from the start. Other than Cliff Lee, the Texas Rangers pitching doesn’t hold a candle to the Giants. Keeping the speedy Rangers completely off the base-pads is essential.

I see no reason why the Giants couldn’t win it in six, only because Lee will win both his starts almost without a doubt.

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When the starting pitchers were announced for the World Series it was no big surprise. For San Francisco it was ace Tim Lincecum getting the nod. For the Texas Rangers it was postseason superstar Cliff Lee toeing the rubber to start things off. The biggest shocker may have been the rest of the rotations for either team.

The Rangers manager Ron Washington won’t change his rotation, deciding to follow Cliff Lee with C.J. Wilson in Game 2 and then Colby Lewis in Game 3. Washington also decided that Tommy Hunter would get the start in Game 4 of the Series.

This worked for the Rangers in the ALCS well enough that they are now favorites to win the Series. BetMania released the latest odds on World Series, and the Rangers are -140 to win the series, and -130 to win Game 1.

The Giants released a similar rotation, choosing to go with what got them to the World Series. Lincecum will go first, though he briefly pitched in relief Saturday night in the Series clincher at Philadelphia. Lincecum will be followed by Matt Cain in Game 2 and Jonathan Sanchez in Game 3. Then Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced that Madison Bumgarner will be on the mound for Game 4 on Sunday.

This is a bit puzzling to me.

When scouting both of these teams it’s very easy to make an argument for either pitching staff, but it’s obvious that Texas has the better offense. One mistake to nearly anyone in the Rangers lineup can cost dearly.

The offense can hit the long ball and score runs in bunches,  and the best way to combat this is strong pitching. While the rotations are not set in stone, for the Giants to have the best chance to win the Series, they need to start Lincecum three times.

Lincecum can go on three days’ rest, and this will allow Matt Cain to get another game in if needed. It will free up Bumgarner to work relief or add to the bullpen if needed. The rotation is the strength of this team and the reason they have come this far.

The Rangers can counter by starting Cliff Lee three times, but that most likely won’t happen unless he has rest and an elimination game is on tap. With the home field advantage, the Rangers will be without the designated hitter, and this will give the Giants a chance to win with strong starting pitching and solid relief from the bullpen.

To win the World Series, the Giants have to win at home and they have to win early. If they can’t beat Cliff Lee they will be in a tough spot and already behind in the series. The answer to winning the World Series will be letting the best pitchers lead the way.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 2010 World Series is upon us. In the next week or two we have the chance to see baseball history, to see two teams competing at the highest level for the crowning achievement in all of baseball. Along the way, perhaps we’ll share in a collective moment that will last a lifetime.

As we prepare to watch the Texas Rangers face off against the San Francisco Giants in this year’s Fall Classic, let’s have a look back at some of the greatest moments in World Series history.

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Using our MLB simulation engine we “played” the Texas Rangers versus San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series Best-of-Seven series 1001 times.

In the table below you will find each teams’ chances of advancing to the World Series and how often they win in 4, 5, 6 or 7 games. As you can see, the most likely scenario is the Rangers beating the Giants in six games 19-percent of the time.

Below the Rangers and Giants’ team previews are game-by-game summaries and related box scores of our simulation’s predicted results.

San Francisco Giants Preview – Ryan Fowler

No matter the sport, rooting for the little guy is amplified come playoff time.

It’s why the Cinderella stories during March Madness are so compelling and why, in more cases than not, unbiased fans pull for David over Goliath when it comes time to chose sides.

Rudy Ruetigger does not become a Hollywood classic if said defensive end stands 6-foot-6-inches and tips the scales at 260 pounds.

As if writing their own script this October, it’s ironic that, of all teams, the San Francisco Giants would play the role of the little guy in the 2010 World Series. Not to mention, one of the smallest guys on the team, Cody Ross (5-10, 194 lbs), would earn NLCS MVP honors against Philadelphia.

Philadelphia pitchers cringed when Ross, who we featured in our NLCS preview piece, would step to the plate. The right fielder, who hit .286 with a homer and three ribbies in the NLDS, straight up mashed his way to the MVP. He batted .350, cranked three homers (two in Game 1 vs Halladay) and drove in five runs. He slugged .950 versus the Phillies “Big 3,” oh, and Joe Blanton. Ross is to the Giants fan base what Thomas the Tank Engine is to toddlers.

In this year of the pitcher, we must turn our attention to the Giants rotation, a nucleus of precision with an occasional dash of friction. (see: Sanchez Game 6 vs PHI). San Francisco’s 1-2-3-4 punch of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and closer Brian Wilson all owned ERAs lower than 3.44 in the regular season. The Giants team ERA of 3.36 was the lowest in Major League Baseball since 2003 (Dodgers, 3.16). This remarkable stat includes Barry Zito‘s underachieving—when compared to his teammates—season at 9-14 and an ERA of 4.15. That stat line must be one of the reasons why Bruce Bochey removed Zito from the post-season roster and added Madison Bumgarner. All Bummy did, at 21-years-old, was become the youngest player in franchise history to record a playoff win.

No question, the Giants will rely heavily on their starting rotation to get them deep into games as they try to avoid crooked numbers from appearing on the scoreboard. Let’s face it, although Cody Ross is trying to match Reggie Jackson at-bat for at-bat, to think it can continue at the same rate is a bit naive. San Fran’s batting average was 15th in the big leagues during the regular season at .257 and it’s no surprise it’s dropped in the post-season to .231. However, the Rangers, and their .276 regular season team batting average, have somehow managed to ratchet up the offense this October, hitting .281 in the post-season with 17 home runs.

The Giants have hit six long balls in these playoffs. Four have come off the bat of the little guy Cody Ross.

Not bad for a guy five-foot-nothin, a hundred-and-nothin.

Texas Rangers Preview – Joel Beall

The battle cry of, “Nobody believed in us!” has become belittled in our sporting society, undoubtedly because every championship team states this mantra at some juncture in their title run. While most accept this motto as truth, the reality is many championship teams are projected for glory before the onset of the season. However, this sentiment can not be said for the Rangers, as few genuinely suspected Texas would find themselves four games away from the franchise’s first World Series title (well, except for the WhatIfSports MLB simulation engine, which correctly predicted the Rangers in six.)

And with good reason. The Rangers finished 43-42 the last three months of the season despite acquiring the services of starting pitcher Cliff Lee. Josh Hamilton, the team’s offensive catalyst, had succumbed to injuries in September, leading many to speculate on the slugger’s status for the postseason. Power hitter Vlad Guerrero appeared to tire during the second half of the season, as his average, home run, and RBI totals dipped considerably after June. Even Lee, the most coveted ace in the American League, had lost his aura of invincibility as the Texan posted a pedestrian 4.68 ERA in August and September. So one could understand why many pundits of America’s pastime predicted the Rays over the Rangers in the American League Divisional Series.

A three-games-to-two series triumph over Tampa should have quieted the critics, yet the Rangers performance was anything but convincing. Cliff Lee had regained his lights-out form, going 16 innings surrendering just two runs, and Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler belted three bombs for Texas. But the Rangers had blown a 2-0 series lead at home. Hamilton had not looked sharp at the plate, and the bullpen had been battered in back-to-back games. Surely this Texas team would meet its demise against the $207 million, 95-win Yankees.

Unfortunately, no one delivered this message to the Rangers clubhouse, as Texas took care of business in six games to send the franchise to its first World Series appearance in its 50-year existence. Hamilton awoke from his ALDS slumber, as the slugger hit .350 with four homers on his way to garnering series MVP honors. Lee continued his postseason pitching brilliance in Game 3, throwing eight innings of two-hit ball. Yet the real hero of the Rangers starting staff was Colby Lewis, who earned the W in Game 2 and pitched a masterpiece in the series-clinching Game 6. For the ALCS, Lewis yielded three runs in 13.2 innings of work, with 13 strikeouts to just nine hits.

Has Texas finally turned the Doubting Thomases into Arlington apostles? Not quite, as the San Fran starting rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Madison Bumgarner is fearsome enough to make the most ardent believer question their faith. But with Lee, Hamilton, Kinsler, Cruz and company, the Rangers have a fighting chance against the Giants.

And that’s something every Texas fan can believe in.

When asked what he thought about heading to the World Series, Giants closer Brian Wilson said “it sounds epic” after clinching the NL pennant.

The Rangers Big 3 torch San Fran pitching

His first appearance in a World Series was anything but.

Although not a save situation and the game tied, Wilson came on in the 9th to try and give his team a shot in the bottom half of the inning.

After he got Michael Young to fly out to left, Josh Hamilton, also appearing in his first World Series, stepped to the plate.

And Hamilton’s success story continued to add more chapters on this night. The Rangers big bopper slammed a solo homer to right field to give Texas the lead for good.

Neftali Feliz closed the game for the Rangers in the 9th and just like that Texas broke serve in this best of seven series and won 6-5.

Freddy Sanchez, Buster Posey and Juan Uribe all homered for the Giants in the loss.

Through the first two rounds of the 2010 MLB playoffs, Matt Cain has yet to surrender an earned run.

He kept this streak intact in Game 2 with a complete game, four hit shutout where Giants’ fans saw him whiff eight Rangers hitters.

The story wasn’t so sweet for C.J. Wilson who got punished in 6 2/3 innings of work. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits and walked four.

San Francisco put this game away in the 7th inning with three runs on four hits.

The World Series, tied at a game apiece, heads to Texas for three straight.

It may be the year of the pitcher, but the two starters in Game 3 took most of the night off.

ERAs are predicted to soar in World Series

Texas erupted for eleven runs on eleven hits and abused San Francisco starter Jonathan Sanchez for seven earned runs before he departed after four innings of work.

Michael Young, Vlad Guerrero and Josh Hamilton all took the Giants pitching staff deep in the game.

Colby Lewis was far from spectacular, but with the offense on full tilt, he didn’t have to be to win his third straight start.

Texas wins 11-4 to take a 2-1 series lead.

Sometimes all it takes is one hit to change the complexion of a MLB playoff game.

Juan Uribe, for the second time, provided that hit for his team.

With two on in the 7th inning, the nominated designated hitter for American League home games took Tommy Hunter deep and just like that the Giants led 3-1.

Mitch Moreland would provide a brief rally in the bottom half of the inning with a solo shot of his own, but the comeback ended there.

Brian Wilson bounced back to save Game 4 after his Game 1 let-down.

The ping-pong match between these two continues with a Giants 3-2 win in Game 4.

Two pitchers. Two complete games. One winner. That was the Texas Rangers.

A Giant, not a Ranger, has best chance at HR

Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee provided the entertainment for nine innings, while three Rangers home runs proved to be enough offense on this night.

Lincecum got touched up by Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Nelson Cruz in three consecutive innings to hand Texas a 4-nothing lead.

Lee only allowed the three Giants to reach base all night. The three-hit, no walk-out shutout was exactly what the Rangers were hoping for when they traded for him this past summer.

Now Lee and the Rangers are one win away from a World Series title.

Aubrey Huff had a chance to be the hero, but ended up the zero.

The Giants slugger had a chance to tie the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, but struck out swinging.

Pop some ginger ale Texas, your Rangers just won the 2010 World Series.

The very foundation of what brought the San Francisco Giants to the World Series let them down in Game 6.

The Rangers pounded out 17 hits against Cain, Romo and Lopez to clinch their first World Series in franchise history. The hit parade forced nine runs to cross the plate for Texas. Elvis Andrus was named Player of the Game with his 4-5 performance in the lead off spot with two ribbies and a run scored.

The Giants rallied to within one run in the bottom of the 7th inning with a five-run outburst to close the gap, but the Rangers answered with two more runs in the 8th and one in the 9th for insurance.

The 2010 World Series belongs to the Texas Rangers.

Create your own World Series Dream Team from WhatIfSports.com.

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Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 World Series combatants—the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants.

Fox television executives may not love it, and there are loads of disgruntled Yankee and Phillie fans grumbling about the legitimacy of this version of the Fall Classic. But this World Series promises to be a thrilling affair.

The defending champions of each league were sent packing, each bitterly disappointed that their dreams of a series rematch would never be realized. Last year’s World Series entrants both swept their divisional series foes, only to run into hungry squads that refused to be intimidated by the New York and Philly postseason pedigrees.

Texas has been generally regarded as a potent offensive juggernaut, but as it proved in its thorough dismantling of the New York Yankees, the Rangers can certainly pitch with the best of them. Midseason arrival Cliff Lee and his stellar postseason resume lead the way. But C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter form a diverse rotation capable of silencing the bats of the opposition, even the vaunted Yankee lineup.

San Francisco on the other hand, may have surprised its opposition with its offensive output, as the Giants earned their way to the World Series primarily on the strength of their pitching and, of course, their beards. Led by two-time defending Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, the Giants boast a thrilling, young starting staff that should have Bay Area fans excited about the next several years.

With Game 1 rapidly approaching on Wednesday, let’s take a look at the starting pitching rotations for each team. Since Texas hasn’t quite decided in which order it will trot out its starters and which hurler will occupy the fourth slot, we’ll profile the pitchers in contention for those roles.

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The Giants celebrate their victory over the Phillies in Game 6 of the NLCS to win the NL Pennant

I don’t want to do this.

I mean, I really don’t want to do this.  I put it off for a day, but I suppose I owe it to you all.

As a Phillies fan, nothing was more frustrating than the past week and a half.  Watching a team that was built to win championship after championship play like the Phillies of 2000 (65-97) was agonizing. 

The Giants’ offense–self-described as “torture”–looked more like your favorite slippers and a warm blanket when compared to that of the Phillies.

Yeah, it really was that bad.

Before I get too carried away, let’s look over the points discussed in the NLCS Preview.

The Rust Factor
The Phillies didn’t really show so much rust in Game 1.  At least not looking back on it.  At first, it may have appeared that way–Roy Halladay didn’t have his “A” game, and the offense sputtered and struggled to score.  But as we reflect on the series as a whole, it wasn’t rust for the offense, and maybe, just maybe, the Giants were so well prepared that they were able to jump on every opportunity and mistake.

Coming Back

Cody Ross hurt the Phillies more than any other Giant in the NLCS

Neither Pat Burrell, nor Aaron Rowand wound up doing much damage to the Phillies in their return to Philadelphia.  Actually, both were quite ineffective.  Burrell hit a measly .211 and knocked in just one run.  Rowand started a couple of games and went 1-for-5 with a run scored.  In the end, it wound up being another guy the Phillies were quite familiar with in Cody Ross that did the most damage.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching
Well, we didn’t really see much in the way of pitchers’ duels, but we didn’t exactly see the scoreboards light up, either.  This was a dirty series where most of the runs were scrapped together.  No pitcher was truly dominant (aside from maybe Roy Oswalt in Game 2), but on the flip side, only Jonathan Sanchez really failed on the hill.  In the end, pitching really didn’t determine this series.  The offenses did, but not in the way I expected, either.

Playing a Clean Game
Here’s where the games were decided.  Chase Utley played some poor defense all series.  Placido Polanco drilled Buster Posey in the back on a throw to first.  Shane Victorino couldn’t corral an over-the-shoulder catch at the wall.  The Phillies offense, well, they couldn’t do anything right. 

They had a horrible approach at the plate, swinging at bad breaking pitches and taking belt-high fastballs.  And they had opportunities, they just didn’t take advantage of them.  On the other side of the field, the Giants jumped on every bad pitch and made a point to get the runner home one way or another.

Not to take anything away from the Giants–they clearly wanted this more and played a damn good series–but the Phillies beat themselves first and foremost.  A team with this much offensive talent should not finish a six game series with a triple slash line of .216/.314/.321.  Note the last number.  The Phillies are known for their home run power.  Their postseason lineup slugged .449 in the regular season.  Ouch.

Chase Utley and the Phillies position players couldn’t do anything right against the Giants, in the field or at the plate

The Phillies couldn’t do anything right at the plate this series.  They struckout 56 times while walking just 20.  They left 45 runners on base (7.5/game) and hit just .178 (8-for-45) with runners in scoring position.  Countless times they couldn’t drive a leadoff baserunner home.  The only player who actually hit the baseball–Ryan Howard–finished without an RBI (and 12 K).

I’ll leave you with a rundown of some key players in the series.

 Giants

• Cody Ross – .350, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB/5 K
• Matt Cain – 1-0, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 K/3 BB, 0.714 WHIP, 0.00 ERA
• Tim Lincecum – 1-1, 14.1 IP, 12 H, 5 ER, 16 K/4 BB, 1.116 WHIP, 3.14 ERA
• Brian Wilson – 1-0, 3 SV, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7 K/2 BB, 0.800 WHIP, 0.00 ERA

Phillies

• Roy Oswalt – 1-1, 14.2 IP, 14 H, 3 ER, 14 K/3 BB, 1.159 WHIP, 1.84 ERA
• Carlos Ruiz – .167, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB/7 K
• Chase Utley – .182, 1 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB/2 K
• Ryan Howard – .318, 0 RBI, 1 R, 3 BB/12  

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After 162 regular season games and two rounds of playoffs, there are only two teams left standing: the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers.

With these two unlikely league champions set to square off in the 2010 World Series on Wednesday night, there are certainly plenty of disappointed fans in New York and Philadelphia.

While many casual baseball fans and network executives at Fox were hoping for a 2009 World Series rematch of the Yankees–Phillies, as a series featuring the Rangers and Giants may not be good for Bud Selig and Fox’s ratings; it will, however, ultimately be good for baseball.

It’s good for Rangers fans who have been waiting for this moment since the team’s inception as the Washington Senators in 1961; it’s good for San Francisco Giants fans that have been waiting for a World Series title since they were still playing baseball at the Polo Grounds in New York back in 1954.

It’s good for a fan of any small market team that isn’t supposed to make it this far, with juggernauts like the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies standing in their way.

This year’s World Series will give the casual fan the opportunity to become familiar with players not named Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Howard. Instead, the names Cody Ross, Nelson Cruz, Colby Lewis and Matt Cain will become recognizable. Also, guys like Josh Hamilton and Tim Lincecum will finally get the national media attention they deserve.

It’s not as though there won’t be plenty of intriguing story lines in this year’s World Series: Cliff Lee versus Tim Lincecum in Game 1 has the potential to be one of the best World Series pitching duels in recent memory, feel-good stories like the triumph of Josh Hamilton over substance abuse and the emergence of Cody Ross as an unlikely playoff hero are sure to garner the attention of sports fans everywhere. The list goes on.

In the MLB, there is no salary cap and there is anything but a level playing field in terms of payroll. When the New York Yankees annually spend 250 percent of the $84 million median payroll of the entire league, things are anything but fair.

In addition to the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies all spend nearly twice as much as the league median. It’s no surprise that three of these four teams are perennial championship contenders.

Enter the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers.

The Giants did have a $97 million payroll, good enough for 10th in the league, but considering $18 million of that is tied up in Barry Zito, who didn’t even make the playoff roster, that’s $79 million on the team that beat the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies in the postseason, which happens to be $5 million lower than the league median.

The Rangers’ story is even more intriguing. At the beginning of the 2010 season, the Rangers’ organization was bankrupt and actually owned by Major League Baseball. Their opening day payroll of $55 million ranked 27th in MLB, ahead of only the Pirates, Padres and Athletics.

Luckily for small market teams, this season further proves that no amount of money is guaranteed to buy a championship. The Yankees can go out and spend money like they own the mint, yet couldn’t get past a team that spent only 27 percent as much money.

It’s good for baseball to see some parity in a sport that is often criticized for being dominated by big market teams. Regardless of who ultimately prevails, a fanbase will be rewarded with a long overdue championship.

This year’s championship will either go out to lifelong Giants fans and former players like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal or to Rangers faithful and players including Nolan Ryan and Jim Sundberg.

Hardcore baseball fans love an underdog. It’s what keeps so many people pulling against the New York Yankees year in and year out.

This year’s World Series features two of them.

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The San Francisco Giants will play Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers. It is still taking time for that to sink in.

They have seven games to prove the world wrong. This Giants team has the opportunity to do something no Giants team has done since 1954: win it all.

They can do something Willie McCovey could not do. Will Clark couldn’t. Neither could Juan Marichal.

Gaylord Perry? Nope. We all know how the Bonds era ended.

Fifty-six years for the franchise—an eternity of waiting for the city of San Francisco.

Once again, the Giants will face a team that has never been to the World Series—the 2002 Angels had never been to the Series.

The Rangers reached the World Series by pounding the ball.

The Giants, as we know, do not pound the ball. But what is it about this team that gives them the opportunity to win a World Series where the other great Giants teams have failed?

First, let’s go back and look at the Giants’ history in the World Series.

1962 San Francisco Giants (lost 4-3 to the New York Yankees)

This team had Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal and the list could go on. They had an all-star lineup and an ace for the ages. How did they not beat the Yankees?

Gaylord Perry was also on this team, but he was not yet the Hall-of-Fame caliber pitcher he would become.

They could not figure out the Yankee pitching. In the seven game series, the Giants scored 22 runs for an average of 3.14 runs per game. In fact, they scored two or fewer runs four times.

1989 San Francisco Giants (lost 4-0 to the Oakland Athletics)

Let’s face facts: The A’s were the better team that year. They had pitching, hitting and played great defense. What else could you ask for?

The Giants had a great lineup with Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell and Matt Williams. But once again, the Giants were unable to keep the Athletics off the base paths or to stop them from hitting nine home runs in the four-game series.

The earthquake may have taken its toll on players, but pitching was the difference.

2002 San Francisco Giants (lost 4-3 to the Anaheim Angels)

Can you say “choke?” That is what the Giants did in this World Series.

Giants fans know the story: With a five-run lead going into the seventh inning of Game 6, they had the World Series wrapped up. Parties were being planned. The champagne was already on ice. The massive parade in San Francisco had been scheduled.

Then the bullpen failed. Tim Worrell, Felix Rodriguez and an injured Robb Nen gave up the lead and the momentum going into a tragic Game 7.

The rest is history. That Giants team had the hitting, and in the end, the pitching failed them.

2010 San Francisco Giants vs. Texas Rangers

This brings us back to the series that begins on Wednesday.

What do the Giants do well? Pitch—and now, get timely hits. They are the true definition to the word “team.”

This bunch of misfits, cast-offs or whatever you want to call them have made it their mission to prove to each of those teams who gave up on them that they shouldn’t have. We know the names, and as we continue to hear, they truly do pull for each other.

Take a look at the Giants’ wins in the NLCS. Who was key?

Game 1: Cody Ross’ HR.

Game 3: Matt Cain (you can make a case for Ross again), Aaron Rowand.

Game 4: Juan Uribe, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval.

Game 6: Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Madison Bumgarner, Jeremy Affeldt.

The saying goes, “It takes a village,” and it sure has with the Giants.

What do the Rangers do well? They hit the stuffing out of the ball and rely on solid, not great pitching with the exception of Cliff Lee. They, too, are a “team” and are carrying the hopes of the state of Texas which has never won a World Series.

As was described in the previous World Series trips for the Giants, the difference has been pitching. The Giants had the best ERA in all of baseball this season, and they carried it into the postseason.

They shut down the Atlanta Braves and the Phillies. Now, this pitching staff is four wins away from baseball immortality.

Wouldn’t it be fitting in the “Year of the Pitcher” for the team with the best ERA to win it all? I think so.

The saying goes “good pitching beats good hitting.” For the Giants to win this series, the statement has to ring true more than ever.

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Phillies’ skipper Charlie Manuel has played things pretty much straight up over the past two postseasons and has two NL Pennants and a World Series ring to show for it. With his team finding itself down two games to one and the next two contests in AT&T Park, the time is right to veer from previous course. 

San Franciso Giants manager Bruce Bochy adjusted his lineup for Game 3 and it paid large dividends. 

Moving certified Phillies killer Cody Ross up to the five hole put him in position to drive in the games first, and ultimate winning run. The line single to left plated non prototypical leadoff hitter Edgar Renteria, who had started the rally.  

And, former Phil Aaron Rowand got his first start of the postseason in place of Andres Torres, who has provided nothing offensively other than a breeze from his empty whiffs. Rowand, of course, responded with a double and later scored to extend the Giants lead to 3-0. 

Any notion that Jimmy Rollins might have kick started the Phillies offense with his bases loaded double on Sunday night was quickly dismissed with another moribund postseason showing. 

Yes, Matt Cain is pretty good, but the Phillies have owned him prior to his two-hit, no run work over seven innings yesterday. He was 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA against the Phillies coming into the game. 

Cain, Javier Lopez, and the anti-Beach Boy Brian Wilson combined to shutout the Phillies on three hits. They seemingly alternated between striking out Phillies hitters and getting them to hit routine ground balls to second baseman Freddy Sanchez.  

The time has come for Manuel to change things up to perhaps trigger a spark or avoid digging a bigger hole. Here are four suggestions for tonight’s game that could make a difference. 

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In a press conference the other day, Philadelphia Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel said his team really hasn’t hit since the first half of last season. Well, the man knows his team and knows what he is talking about.

Since the start of the second half last and including this year’s postseason, the Phillies have hit .245 as a team. Things only got worse for the Philly batters in Game 3 of the NLCS.

San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Matt Cain completely shut down the Phillies for seven innings, and Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson finished the job as the Giants beat the Phillies 3-0 to take a 2-1 series lead in their best-of-seven NLCS.

Cain pitched seven strong innings allowing just two hits, no runs, three walks and struck out five in the 119-pitch effort. Was Cain “Oh my god” great? No, he wasn’t, but he was good enough.

Out of his 119 pitches, only 69 of them were strikes, so his ball-to-strike ratio was almost 1-to-1. He also pegged Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino. Not too impressive, but Cain used a combination of four-seem fastballs, changeups and sliders to keep the Phillies’ hitters at bay.

The key for Cain in this game was the above mentioned changeup. It was as good as it gets today for Cain. He threw 30 changeups, and 14 of them were for strikes.

The key? He kept it down. Here is his pitch type plot courtesy of the PitchFX tool…

The changeups are in yellow, and Cain did an outstanding job all afternoon of keeping the change down, so when the Philly batters did hit the ball, it was on the ground.

Cain now hasn’t allowed a run in two postseason starts.

Here are some other observations from Game 3…

The way Cole Hamels went through the first nine batters, I thought he would throw a perfect game today. Nine up and nine down, and the Giants looked completely overmatched early.

The Pat Burrell walk with two outs in the fourth was a killer. Burrell walks and then Cody Ross singles, then Aubrey Huff singled, and just like that, the Giants were up 2-0.

Ross has a 1.444 OPS this series. Just sayin’.

The Phillies won’t win this series if Chase Utley continues to play like he is playing. His error in the fifth that led to the Giants’ third run was a back breaker, and he is batting .100 in this series at the plate.

How bad is Jimmy Rollins hurting right now? The guy couldn’t make it to second on a ball hit to the right field wall in the ninth. Granted the ball was scorched, but a healthy Rollins makes it to second on that hit.

Manuel is making the right decision to go with Joe Blanton in Game 4. Even if they lose, the Phillies will have Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Hamels on full rest for the final three games of the series. I will take my chances with those three down the stretch.

Wilson is locked in right now. 2.1 IP and 5 K’s.

Game 4 is Wednesday night at 7:57 PM est.

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