Giants win the West!

At left: 3B Pablo Sandoval hugs CF Andres Torres (56) after the Giants defeated the Padres 3-0 to clinch the NL West.

The San Francisco Giants (92-70) topped the San Diego Padres (90-72) to win the National League West on Sunday afternoon. The offense was supplied by RBI hits by Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff, both of which came on the heels of a triple from pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, as well as a home run by Buster Posey in the 8th inning. Jonathan Sanchez threw five strong, scoreless innings and the bullpen was able to close the door. Brian Wilson worked a 1-2-3 9th inning to record his franchise record tying 48th save of the year.

It was really awesome to watch the Giants clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2003. It's just an incredible feeling to watch your favorite team accomplish something that they have worked so hard for. It's a long season and to win the division on the final day is quite an accomplishment. That's another thing about baseball that I love: the regular season means so much. In no other sport do you see guys celebrating a playoff berth this way. Every year there are good teams (like the Padres this year) who don't make the playoffs which makes getting there all the more special. I like that the season has been watered down and that you have to be one of the top teams just to get to the playoffs, unlike in other sports where about half the teams make it, often with records hovering around the .500 mark.

With the win, the Padres were eliminated and the Atlanta Braves (91-71) won the Wild Card following their 8-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies (97-65) earlier in the day. The Giants and Braves meet for Game 1 of their best-of-five series on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. MT on TBS. I'm really excited to have my guys in the playoffs. It should be a fun ride. Go Giants!