Cliff Lee to Phillies

Prized free agent pitcher Cliff Lee has apparently agreed to a deal with the Phillies. Wow, nobody saw this one coming, I mean nobody. I don't have time right now to go into a lot of detail, but I have provided this useful link to a Jayson Stark column that I think does a nice job of articulating the details, etc.:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove10/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=5918008

I also liked the tweet from Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that I have re-tweeted and can currently be read to the right of this post as well as on my Twitter account at twitter.com/dpaysports. And yes it is true, the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants did beat Lee (twice), Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels on their way to the championship.

The Giants win the World Series!

Pictured: The 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants.

The San Francisco Giants won the World Series tonight, beating the Texas Rangers by a score of 3-1! The Giants won the series 4 games to 1. What an awesome feeling this is! It's great to have my favorite team win its first World Series since 1954. I'm so happy about all this right now. It's still pretty surreal.

Edgar Renteria was named World Series MVP and for good reason. Renteria hit a three-run home run off of Cliff Lee in the seventh inning tonight to break a scoreless tie and put the Giants ahead for good. I sort of screamed I was so excited when that ball went out. Renteria further solidified his reputation as a clutch player. And let's not forget that he hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth against the Braves to tie the game in the Giants' home opener this year (which they won in extra innings). So in a way it's kind of full circle. Renteria didn't have the best year of his career and didn't really even play that much down the stretch. But what a World Series he had. I'm glad he was in the lineup and I'm glad he was on my team.

Not to be lost in all this was how well Tim Lincecum pitched tonight, throwing eight innings of 1-run baseball and recording ten strikeouts. It was a masterful performance on the biggest of stages. Lincecum showed why he has won the last two Cy Young Awards and why he is the ace of the staff. Brian Wilson continued his excellent postseason with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to officially clinch the championship.

The Giants' pitching was really a big story this series. You heard a lot about the Rangers offense and how potent it was and for good reason, but people overlooked how good this pitching staff really is. The rotation is great and what really set this group apart from other playoff teams was its dynamic bullpen. The old baseball saying is that good pitching beats good hitting and you saw that in this World Series.

Well, that's all for now, but I'll leave you with this thought: The San Francisco Giants are World Champions! Yes!

Giants one win away from glory

Pictured: Giants rookie pitcher Madison Bumgarner delivers a pitch during Game 4 of the World Series Sunday night in Texas. Bumgarner threw eight scoreless innings.

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers 4-0 last night in Game 4 of the 2010 World Series in Arlington, TX. The Giants now lead the Series 3 games to 1. Rookie pitcher Madison Bumgarner was the story and pitched eight shutout innings in his World Series debut. Bumgarner was in complete control throughout and seemed completely unfazed that he was pitching in the World Series. I, like just about everyone else, was impressed that he shut down such a potent offense in what is considered a hitter-friendly ballpark. It's nice to think that the Giants don't have to worry about him or any of their other starters becoming free agents anytime soon.

Aubrey Huff supplied the first of the offense with a towering two-run home run in the third inning off Rangers starter Tommy Hunter. Andres Torres had an RBI double in the seventh and Buster Posey added a solo home run in the eighth. Brian Wilson worked a scoreless ninth in relief of Bumgarner. Edgar Renteria had another solid night, playing good defense at short stop and going 3 for 4 at the plate. He's having quite a World Series and is further solidifying his reputation as a clutch player.

Game 5 of the World Series is tonight in Arlington at 5:57 p.m. MT on FOX. The Giants will start their ace, Tim Lincecum, and the Rangers will go with theirs in Cliff Lee. We'll see if we get that dynamic pitching matchup everyone thought we would get in Game 1. Both guys are very, very good.

I'm pretty excited because the Giants are only one win away from winning their first World Series since 1954 when they were the New York Giants. They moved to San Francisco in 1958. It would be cool to win it at home but the way I see it is you have to go for it starting tonight on the road. You don't want to give the Rangers anymore chances than you have to. I'll be watching tonight. You should be too.

Giants win Game 1 of World Series; Game 2 tomorrow

Pictured: Juan Uribe (5) rounds the bases after his 3 run home run in the 5th inning of Game 1 of the World Series.

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers 11-7 tonight in Game 1 of the World Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The Giants were led by 3 doubles and 3 RBIs from Freddy Sanchez, who like many Giants was making his World Series debut. The really big blow came in a six run 5th inning when Juan Uribe hit a three-run home run to put the Giants up 8-2 at that point. Aubrey Huff had a solid night with an RBI and Buster Posey, Cody Ross, Nate Schierholtz and Travis Ishikawa came up with RBIs as well.

The Giants got to Cliff Lee tonight, proving that he is not invincible. I think it is ridiculous that some people were saying that Games 1 and 5 were automatic Rangers wins simply because Lee was pitching. Maybe now the Giants will get a little more respect. You would have thought getting to the World Series would command some amount of respect in itself. It's even more silly to say that when Lee was scheduled to face Tim Lincecum (who has won the last two National League Cy Young awards as many people seem to have forgotten) in both of those games. Lincecum wasn't exactly lights out tonight, but he was better than Lee. Now I didn't think that the Giants would get 7 runs off of Lee, but I didn't think he was unbeatable either. You never know what's going to happen in baseball and it's hard to think that this particular Giants team won't put up some kind of fight.

Bengie Molina, who was traded from San Francisco to the Rangers in July, got a loud ovation during pre-game introductions. I thought that was a really awesome thing to see. Molina meant a lot to the Giants for the 3 1/2 seasons he was here and seems to be a really good guy. I hope he doesn't do too well in this series because I want the Giants to win, but I still like the guy and would have applauded too if I was there.

Vladimir Guerrero had a pair of defensive miscues in the 8th inning in right field for the Rangers. He is normally the Texas DH but was in the field in a National League park so that the Rangers could have his bat in the lineup. He still has a strong arm, but his knees just aren't what they used to be and that's why he's been primarily a DH. I feel bad for the guy as he used to be one of the top right fielders in the game, particularly from his days with the Montreal Expos. I don't think his mistakes had an influence in the outcome of the game, but did help the margin to be a bit more comfortable at the end for the Giants. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the Giants won and will take it.

The Giants bullpen was a little shaky, particularly in the 9th inning in which Ramon Ramirez, Jeremy Affedlt and Brian Wilson all allowed baserunners to get on as the Rangers scored 3 runs in the frame. Bruce Bochy downplayed it after the game saying he was glad he could get those guys some work in so that they wouldn't be too rusty. I think there is something to that as nobody had pitched since the Giants clinched the NLCS last Saturday. Affedlt was a huge part in that Game 6 win and Wilson has had a good postseason and particularly a very strong NLCS. I think the Giants' bullpen will pitch well in the remainder of the series.

Here's the particulars for Game 2 of the World Series tomorrow night:

Game 2 -- Texas Rangers (Wilson) at San Francisco Giants (Cain), 5:57 p.m. MT (FOX, Giants lead series 1-0)

World Series gets under way tomorrow night

At left: Cody Ross holds up the NLCS MVP trophy. He and the Giants begin the World Series tomorrow night.

The World Series begins tomorrow night. Game 1 is set for 5:57 p.m. MT with the Texas Rangers at the San Francisco Giants and will be broadcast on FOX. For those of you who aren't near a TV, it can also be heard on ESPN Radio, which in Salt Lake City can be found on AM 700. Back to back Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum will pitch for the Giants and the Rangers will go with their ace, Cliff Lee. It should be a fantastic pitching matchup and I can hardly wait for the game to get started.

Let's hope that Cody Ross can continue his hot streak in which he seems to get an RBI and/or extra base hit every game. I hope the Giants can get to the Rangers' pitching staff, which has some good arms. I think once you get past Lee you have a chance to do some damage. Not to say the guys on their staff don't have talent, it's that the Giants have been able to hit some against similar pitching this year.

I'm going to go ahead and pick the Giants to win this series in six games (knock on wood). The Rangers have a potent lineup and some decent pitching and are a dangerous team to be sure. The Giants, though, clearly have the deeper pitching staff in my opinion, especially in the bullpen. The Rangers' bullpen imploded in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Yankees and has shown some vulnerability and inconsistency throughout the postseason. The Giants' bullpen has been pretty solid for most of the postseason, with Game 2 of the NLDS against the Braves as the exception. The old saying is that good pitching beats good hitting and I think that's what will happen in this series.

This Giants team has shown a lot of heart all year long and is really a tight-knit group which isn't always true with professional sports teams. I think this will also have an impact on how this series goes. So, tomorrow night can't get here soon enough. Let's go Giants!

Cliff Lee dominant; Giants-Phils resume play tomorrow

The Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees 8-0 tonight at Yankee Stadium to take a 2 games to 1 lead in the ALCS. Cliff Lee was masterful through eight scoreless innings and the Rangers rocked the Yankees bullpen with six runs in the 9th. Josh Hamilton hit a two run home run in the first and that was all Lee needed. This was a big win for the Rangers who took home field back and will try and extend their series lead tomorrow evening.

The San Francisco Giants host the Philadelphia Phillies tomorrow afternoon at AT&T Park in Game 3 of the NLCS. Hopefully they come out on top. Just a short post tonight as I am busy. Go Giants! Here are the start times for tomorrow's games:

Game 3 -- Philadelphia Phillies (Hamels) at San Francisco Giants (Cain), 2:19 p.m. MT (FOX, Series tied 1-1)
Game 4 -- Texas Rangers (Hunter) at New York Yankees (Burnett), 6:07 p.m. MT (TBS, Rangers lead series 2-1)

League Championsip Series preview

The American League Championship Series gets under way tonight at 6:07 p.m. MT with the New York Yankees at the Texas Rangers. The Yankees start CC Sabathia and the Rangers counter with C.J. Wilson who was very solid in his Game 2 start against the Rays in the Division Series. The Yankees looked like a buzzsaw in sweeping the Twins in the first round and appear to have a lot of momentum plus a bona fide ace starting in Game 1. I hate the Yankees more than any other team in sports but I think they just have too much for the Rangers to handle and will win the series in five games.

It hurts the Rangers' cause that Cliff Lee likely won't be able to start until Game 3 of the series because he pitched on Tuesday night in the deciding Game 5 of the Division Series against Tampa Bay. Lee's performance in the Rangers' win has further solidified him as a big game pitcher who knows how to win in October. Curt Schilling, now an analyst for Baseball Tonight, said he feels a big key in this series for the Rangers will be to get Lee two starts. I agree as I feel the Rangers will have the edge when Lee takes the ball. They need to find a way to win a couple of other games, though. Tonight is a big game because whoever wins will be in the driver's seat for the series. If the Yankees win they will have stolen away home field advantage after the first game and if the Rangers win they will go back to New York with no worse than a split and their ace Lee lined up to pitch in Game 3. The stakes are high tonight and I'm excited to watch.

The National League Championship Series gets under way tomorrow night at 5:57 p.m. MT on FOX with the San Francisco Giants at the Philadelphia Phillies. Game 1's pitching matchup could be one for the ages as the Giants go with Tim Lincecum and the Phillies with Roy Halladay. I'm really excited to watch that one. Halladay of course threw a no-hitter in his most recent (and first career) postseason start while Lincecum threw a complete game shutout in his NLDS start against the Braves and yielded only two hits while striking out 14 batters. Both teams have solid pitching, especially when you look at their first three starters. The Phillies go with Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. The Giants go with Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain. The Phillies' offense is more potent than San Francisco's and while the front line starting pitchers are similar (I may give the Phillies a very slight edge in this department) but I believe the Giants' bullpen is more formidable. This should make for a very exciting series and I for one can't wait for it to get under way. As much as I would love for the Giants to win and am craving a world title for them, I think the Phillies take this series in six games.