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)

Cain is able and Ross comes through again for Giants in Game 3

Pictured: Cody Ross once again comes through, this time with an RBI single in the 4th inning.

The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 this afternoon in Game 3 of the NLCS to take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is set for tomorrow night at 5:57 p.m. MT on FOX. Matt Cain threw seven shutout innings and outdueled Cole Hamels to earn his first career postseason win. Can't say enough about Cain, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said that Cain seemed to get even tougher when he got in more pressurized situations. The rest of the country is starting to see what we've seen for a couple of years now: the Giants have some big time pitching. Javier Lopez pitched a perfect 8th -- I still don't think he gets all the recognition he deserves as he's been absolutely lights out lately. Brian Wilson threw a scoreless 9th to earn the save.

Cody Ross once again came through, this time with a two out RBI single in the 4th inning off Hamels to enable the Giants to draw first blood. He's really dialed in right now -- after the game both Ross and Hamels said they felt it was a pitcher's pitch which makes it even more impressive that he was able to pull it to left field and give the Giants the lead. Aubrey Huff followed with an RBI single of his own and Freddy Sanchez added an RBI single an inning later.

The Giants are in pretty good shape but it's important for them to keep riding this momentum into tomorrow night's game. A win tomorrow night will put them in great shape for a prospective National League pennant.

The Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees tonight 10-3 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the ALCS. The big blow was a three run home run from Bengie Molina to make it 5-3 in the 6th and the Rangers kept adding on after that. Reliever Derek Holland was as big a hero as anyone, throwing 3 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball to hold down the fort. He appropriately earned the win. The Rangers have a chance to clinch tomorrow. That sure would be cool.

Here's the details for tomorrow's games:

Game 5 -- Texas Rangers (Wilson) at New York Yankees (Sabathia), 2:07 p.m. MT (TBS, Rangers lead series 3-1)
Game 4 -- Philadelphia Phillies (Blanton) at San Francisco Giants (Bumgarner), 5:57 p.m. MT (FOX, Giants lead series 2-1)

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!