Henry Schulman
SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
Let the weak-minded beware, and tell the stodgy to shutter their televisions. Bruce Bochy's misfits and mercenaries are going to rush headlong into Ron Washington's claws and antlers in the 2010 World Series.
The Giants continued their inspired postseason Saturday night by beating the Phillies 3-2 in a wild Game 6 of the National League Championship Series to reach a World Series that even the screwiest mind could not have conjured when the season began.
They got there because of a man who owns one championship ring, wants another and delivered what will be remembered as one of the greatest home runs in franchise history.
With two outs in the eighth inning, Uribe broke a 2-2 tie that had stood since the third inning when he attacked the first pitch from Ryan Madson and sent it just over the wall in right field, only his third hit in 14 at-bats in the series. Uribe raised his right arm in jubilation as he saw the ball go over.
The celebration began after Brian Wilson completed a five-out save. Bochy had Tim Lincecum start the eighth inning. Lincecum allowed two singles before Wilson got Carlos Ruiz to line into a double play.
Wilson walked two in the ninth - of course - but the game and Philadelphia's season ended when Wilson threw a called third strike past Ryan Howard, a slider, forcing a sellout crowd of 46,062 to watch in near-silence as the Giants celebrated on the infield.
The Giants captured the 19th pennant in franchise history and their fourth in San Francisco by taking the National League Championship Series four games to two.
They won the NLCS for the third time in five tries since the series was introduced and will open the World Series against the speedy and powerful Texas Rangers at AT&T Park on Wednesday night.
The bullpen earned as many accolades as Uribe for the clinching win, although "bullpen" must be used loosely here. Starters Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner joined Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez and Wilson in pitching seven shutout innings after Jonathan Sanchez failed to get an out in the third and helped ignite a benches-clearing row.
The Giants had other frustrations. Eleven of them reached base in six innings against postseason stalwart Roy Oswalt yet only two scored, in the third inning, on an Aubrey Huff single and an error. Two familiar issues, the double play and poor clutch hitting, prevented them from doing more damage.
Most notable, Oswalt struck out Buster Posey with a high fastball to strand two in the fifth inning. With two on in the sixth, Edgar Renteria hit into a double play.
The Giants had just tied it 2-2 in the third when Sanchez threw six consecutive balls to start the bottom half. On the first pitch after a visit from coach Dave Righetti, Sanchez hit Chase Utley in the back. As Utley ran to first he grabbed the ball and flipped it toward Sanchez.
The pitcher objected and shouted something at Utley, who shouted back. Utley appeared to say, "What's bull--?" which suggests Sanchez said, "That's bull--."
When Utley took a few slow steps toward the mound the benches emptied. After a long scrum, Bochy removed Sanchez, who looked agitated and angry and probably would have been pulled anyway. The bullpen had been in action since a two-run first inning.
As Sanchez took an almost slow-motion walk to the dugout, he was booed at an aircraft-engine decibel level. His start of two-plus innings was the Giants' shortest in the postseason since the Cubs chased Rick Reuschel in the first inning of Game 2 of the 1989 NLCS.
Bochy turned to little-used Affeldt, who pitched his inning of the year. The two runners he inherited did not move an inch as Affeldt struck out Ryan Howard, retired Jayson Werth on a flyball and got Shane Victorino on a squibber to first.
All that noise and the game remained 2-2. Affeldt provided another 1-2-3 effort in the fourth.
The Phillies got quick jump on Sanchez as they did in their Game 2 win here.
They scored twice in the first inning on a walk, a wild pitch, a Utley RBI double a Howard single and a Werth sacrifice fly. Before Sanchez could retire his second hitter, Guillermo Mota was warming in the bullpen.
But Sanchez limited the damage and allowed the Giants to tie the game 2-2 in the third with a strange rally that began with Sanchez singling, Andres Torres hitting a 399-foot single that popped out of Victorino's glove, a Huff single that scored Sanchez but got Torres thrown out at the plate and a throwing error on Posey's slow roller to third that allowed Huff to score.
Box Score
No comments:
Post a Comment