Giants Win Pennant....2010 National League Champions

Juan Uribe's homer lifts SF Giants to World Series

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

San Francisco Giants lose 4-2, series extended

Andrew Baggarly
MercuryNews

There is a famous statue of Rocky Balboa, his gloved hands raised in weary triumph, near the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Giants can walk over and visit it today, if they like.

But they cannot hold the pose. Not yet, anyway.

The Philadelphia Phillies didn't become the two-time defending NL champions without stubborn pieces of iron in their lineup and rotation, and they seized on a series of Giants mistakes while taking a 4-2 survival victory Thursday night at AT&T Park.

The Giants still hold a three-to-two edge in this best-of-seven National League championship series, but now they must win on the road. They can clinch a trip to the World Series on Saturday behind Jonathan Sanchez at Citizens Bank Park, with Matt Cain ready for a potential Game 7 on Sunday.

Tim Lincecum said he plans to be available in the bullpen, too.

"We see ourselves more in the driver's seat than them, a little more in control," said Lincecum, who might have thrown a shutout if not for mistakes made behind him. "So it's up to us. You wanted to shut it down in front of the home crowd. But things happened that shouldn't, and we're going back to Philly."

The Phillies survived by beating Lincecum, although that was a matter of semantics. Playing under an intermittent drizzle, the Giants beat themselves in a sloppy, three-run third inning that included an error by first baseman Aubrey Huff that allowed two runs to score. It was preceded by an odd sacrifice bunt that would have resulted in a double play if third baseman Pablo Sandoval had been able to find the bag.

The Giants did not roll over against Roy Halladay either. They pushed, prodded and, in Pat Burrell's case, even screamed obscenities at the presumed Cy Young Award winner.

But they couldn't get the two-out hit they needed to push ahead, Jayson Werth added a solo shot in the ninth off Ramon Ramirez to pad the lead, and the Phillies' top relievers held firm.

After the game, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel revealed that Halladay strained his right groin while trying to put some extra mustard on a fastball to Cody Ross in the second inning.

"He was determined to stay in there," Manuel said of Halladay, who lasted six innings. "I don't know if you noticed the velocity on his fastball fell off, and he was having a hard time pushing off the mound, and he used a lot of cutters and changeups."

He also gave the Giants plenty of hittable pitches. But despite plenty of feisty at-bats that ran up Halladay's pitch count, they couldn't get the hits they needed with runners on base.

Their worst bit of bad luck came in the first inning, after Andres Torres worked a leadoff walk and went to third on Freddy Sanchez's hit-and-run single. Huff scorched a line drive right to first baseman Ryan Howard, who made a diving play.

The Giants pushed across one run in the inning, but they nearly landed an uppercut.

"Turning point in the game," Huff said. "We could've cashed in for a big inning. That one hurt, but the error hurt even more."

Huff's error was the most damaging play in an inning the Giants would like to zap from their memories. Raul Ibañez led off the third inning with a single, and Carlos Ruiz stood as still as a statue as he let Lincecum's 0-2 pitch hit his arm.

Then came one of the strangest sacrifice plays you will ever see. Halladay's bunt bounced off the plate and appeared to spin foul, but catcher Buster Posey alertly pounced on it and immediately threw to third base as Halladay stood in the box.

Sandoval took the throw as he retreated to third base, but he couldn't find the bag. Implored by a shouting home dugout, Sandoval threw to first base to retire Halladay.

"We're inches away from getting a double play," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "So that's a missed opportunity -- and it came back to haunt us."

Shane Victorino followed with a ground ball, and Huff conceded he rushed the play as he looked to throw home and keep Ibañez from scoring the tying run. The ball deflected off Huff's glove and ricocheted into shallow center field as two runs scored.

The Phillies added a run when Placido Polanco singled, and Lincecum blamed himself for not shutting down the rally.

"Aww, man," Huff said. "He's standing up for his first baseman. He's a great pitcher, a great kid. No, this one's on me. Obviously, I made the big one.

"It's all on me tonight."

Lincecum retired the next nine hitters, and the Giants kept threatening Halladay, but they managed only one more hit with runners on base.

Halladay's new nemesis and an old one combined to halve the Phillies' lead in the fourth. Burrell, who exchanged words with the pitcher after a strikeout in the first inning, yanked a double down the left-field line. Cody Ross, who hit two homers off Halladay in Game 1, doubled him in.

But Ross was thrown out trying to tag up on a fly ball to right fielder Werth.

"It was a split-second decision," Ross said. "It was the wrong decision. It kind of took the momentum out from under us."

And a home crowd waited to celebrate.

Box Score

Giants win 6-5, one win from World Series

Henry Schulman SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle

A nice pitching duel is great, and the Giants and their opponents have given fans nice share of them this postseason. But most teams that win a World Series will tell you they had to win at least one wacky game along the way.

The Giants won theirs Wednesday night under a full moon, and now stand one win from their fourth pennant and World Series trip in the San Francisco era.

Juan Uribe, who did not start because of his injured wrist, hit a one-out sacrifice fly in the ninth inning off reliever Roy Oswalt to give the Giants a 6-5 victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, and how nutty does that sound.

The Giants lead the series three games to one, which puts history squarely in their corner. Thirteen teams have had a 3-1 lead in the NLCS since it was expanded to seven games in 1985. Only the 1996 Cardinals and 2003 Cubs (Steve Bartman series) failed to advance.

Tim Lincecum, 2-0 in his first postseason, can pitch the Giants to their fourth pennant and World Series berth in the San Francisco era tonight in a Game 1 rematch against Roy Halladay, whom they beat with four runs.

It won't be easy, because Halladay has a knack for big rebound games.

He allowed four or more earned runs eight times in the regular season. His ERA in the eight follow-up starts was 1.53, including four games in which he allowed no runs.

After Wednesday, the faithful have to believe anything can happen.

Uribe entered in a double-switch with Brian Wilson in the ninth inning and made a fantastic grab and throw on Ross Gload's grounder in the hole for the first out. After Wilson completed the 1-2-3 inning to preserve a 5-5 tie, the Phillies turned to Game 2 winner Oswalt to pitch the bottom half to face the Giants' 2-3-4 hitters.

Freddy Sanchez lined out to right before Huff grounded the first pitch into right field for a single, his third hit. Buster Posey, who already had three hits and two RBIs in the game, fell behind 0-2 before lining a 1-2 pitch into the right-field corner for a single, moving Huff to third.

Uribe was down in the count 1-2 when he lifted a high fly to deep left, down the line. Huff tagged and scored easily to send AT&T Park into a state of pandemonium.

This game had more twists than a soft Philly pretzel. One sweet twist for the Giants was provided by Pablo Sandoval.

A prolonged sophomore slump and his benching for five games in the postseason could not destroy Sandoval's spirit or work ethic. Finally called upon to do something huge, he lifted the spirits of his teammates and the faithful with a huge hit.

The Giants were down 4-3 after blowing a 2-0 lead when Pat Burrell drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning against reliever Chad Durbin. Cody Ross, who earlier was hit on the right wrist by a Joe Blanton pitch that looked unintentional, delivered his ninth hit of the postseason, a bloop double down the left-field line.

Sandoval stepped in and lined the first pitch down the right-field line. To Sandoval's disbelief, first-base umpire Jeff Nelson turned and signaled foul. Replays showed he likely was right. Sandoval, undeterred, slammed a 1-2 pitch into the left-center gap. Burrell and Ross scored on Sandoval's first hit of the series to give the Giants a 5-4 lead.

Sandoval came to bat in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out with a chance to put the game away but could not deliver. He dueled reliever Ryan Madsen for eight pitches but grounded into a double play.

Javier Lopez, who pitched a scoreless seventh, was asked to get Ryan Howard in the eighth. Lopez had owned this matchup, striking out the Phils first baseman four times in five career meetings, including twice in this series.

After Lopez just missed trying to catch Howard with a 2-2 front-door breaking pitch, he was forced to challenge Howard and lost. Howard doubled to left-center.

Manager Bruce Bochy turned to Sergio Romo, who, like Sandoval, had lost his role. Romo could not hold the lead, allowing a Jayson Werth double to left, just fair, that tied the game 5-5. Werth was at second with two outs, and Romo kept him there. After Jimmy Rollins popped out, Romo struck out Ben Francisco and Carlos Ruiz.

Box Score

San Francisco Giants beat Philadelphia Phillies, take NLCS lead

Joe Stiglich MercuryNews

The Giants took control of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 at AT&T Park.

The victory gives the Giants a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series and a chance to clinch without heading back to Philadelphia. They're two wins away from advancing to the World Series, with Games 4 and 5 scheduled for AT&T Park on Wednesday and Thursday.

Matt Cain limited the Phillies to two hits over seven innings in his second career postseason start. Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson finished off the final two innings as Philadelphia didn't advance a runner past second base the entire afternoon.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy shook up his batting order considerably after a flat offensive performance in Sunday's Game 2 defeat. Edgar Renteria led off, Cody Ross moved up to the No. 5 spot, Aubrey Huff dropped to sixth and Aaron Rowand replaced Andres Torres in center field and hit eighth.

The adjustments worked.

Renteria led off the fourth with a single off Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels and came around to score the game's first run on Ross' two-out single to left. Ross continued his postseason hot streak and has four RBIs through three NLCS games. Aubrey Huff followed up with a run-scoring single to right in the fourth as the Giants took a 2-0 lead.

They padded their lead in the fifth. Rowand led off with a double to left and Freddy Sanchez scored him with a two-out single that ricocheted off Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. The play was originally scored an error but changed to a hit.

Cain retired his first seven hitters, then sidestepped damage in the third and fourth, when he stranded runners on first an second in each inning.

Bochy moved Jonathan Sanchez up to start Game 2 and dropped Cain into the Game 3 start. That gave Cain a start at AT&T Park, where he's been tough this season.

The right-hander was 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA in five career starts against Philadelphia in the regular season.

Box Score

S.F. Giants lose 6-1 in Philadelphia, series tied

Andrew Baggarly
MercuryNews

According to every baseball axiom, the Giants should feel very, very satisfied. As if they just devoured a cheesesteak grease bomb with the works.

They headed home with a two-game road split after the Philadelphia Phillies took a 6-1 victory in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series Sunday night.

But there remains a gnawing hunger in their gut. The hitters went down too easily against Roy Oswalt, despite another glittering swing from Cody Ross. They didn't play a crisp defensive game, either.

And despite a battle from left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, their pitchers worked off the mound with palpable fear of the Phillies' explosive offense, like they were throwing glasses of water at a raging brush fire.

Shane Victorino doubled and scored the tiebreaking run on Placido Polanco's sacrifice fly in the fifth, and the Phillies broke it open in a four-run seventh inning that included two intentional walks. Jimmy Rollins, the former league MVP from Alameda, hit a bases-clearing double off the scoreboard in right-center field -- a bracing shot from a player whose legs aren't 100 percent and had been 1 for 17 in this postseason.

Do the Phillies have the momentum now? Maybe, maybe not. But behind a determined eight innings of three-hit ball from Oswalt, they certainly did what they needed to slow the Giants' train.

"It wasn't a pretty game for us, all around," said Ross, who hit a tying home run, his fourth of the postseason, to break up Oswalt's no-hitter in the fifth inning. "Defense, offense, everything. This is one when we come off the field in the ninth and walk up those stairs, we have to forget about it.

"All our spirits are fine in here. We're upbeat, and we're ready to go home again."

Manager Bruce Bochy has a DVD of "The Dirty Dozen," but he probably didn't enjoy a relaxing screening on the cross-country flight. He and his coaches had several decisions to chew over after leadoff man Andres Torres struck out four times, leaving him 3 for 25 with 12 strikeouts and one walk this postseason.

And third baseman Mike Fontenot had a rough game, committing a throwing error in Sanchez's 35-pitch first inning and also dropping Rollins' elevator-shaft popup in the fourth. Pablo Sandoval replaced Fontenot in a double switch.

"You'll see a couple of changes," Bochy said.

Oswalt would have been tough on any combination Bochy threw out there. He used pinpoint location and mixed in a few mesmerizing, 65 mph curveballs to strike out nine. Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff noted that Oswalt threw more fastballs than in his four previous starts against the Giants this season, which included three losses while he was still with the Houston Astros.

"He had the good one today," Huff said. "It was getting on your hands. He's got that bowling-ball fastball, and he went after guys."

Ross continued his amazing postseason run, hitting a solo shot to break up a no-hitter for the third consecutive playoff game. He also hit one in the sixth inning off Atlanta's Derek Lowe in Game 4 of the NLDS, and his homer in the third inning Saturday was the first hit off Roy Halladay -- who no-hit the Cincinnati Reds in his first postseason start -- since Sept. 27.

"Amazing," Huff said. "We're fouling them off. He's hitting them."

Ross became the fourth Giant to hit four home runs in a single postseason, tying Jeffrey Leonard in 1987. Barry Bonds hit eight homers in 2002, and Rich Aurilia hit six that postseason.

"When I start seeing the ball real good, things happen," said Ross, who was booed by Phillies fans in every at-bat. "I just tried to get something going for the team and "... tonight it wasn't enough."

Other than Ross' home run, Oswalt refused to allow a runner in scoring position until Sandoval walked, and Freddy Sanchez singled in the eighth.

Jonathan Sanchez nearly matched Oswalt, but that three-walk, 35-pitch first inning took something out of him, and his fastball was in the upper 80s for most of the remainder of the game.

He issued a bases-loaded walk to Rollins in the first, but would have been out of the inning if not for Fontenot's bad throw on Placido Polanco's ground ball.

There probably aren't many stop signs in Oswalt's hometown of Weir, Miss., population 553. He certainly didn't recognize one from third-base coach Sam Perlozzo during the Phillies' four-run seventh inning.

Oswalt's leadoff single drove Jonathan Sanchez from the game, and after a sacrifice and an intentional walk to Chase Utley, Polanco stung a single to center field.

Oswalt ran through Perlozzo's protests and scored when Huff cut off an apparent on-target throw from Torres.

"Bad decision there," said Huff, who reacted after seeing Perlozzo holding out his hands. "The throw was on the money. It nails him. It's just a reaction play. What are you going to do?

"My play was big -- really huge. It changes the whole inning. The rest of the circumstances of the game probably change."

Jeremy Affeldt entered and did his job while striking out Ryan Howard. But the Phillies engineered a double steal during the at-bat, and Bochy had Affeldt intentionally walk Jayson Werth to load the bases.

Santiago Casilla entered, Rollins unloaded the bags and the Phillies made themselves heard in this series. Two-time NL pennant winners have a way of doing that.

Box Score

2 Jacks trump ace Ross goes deep twice as S.F. tops Halladay

Henry Schulman
SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle

The Giants now have four of the 11 postseason wins they need to get a World Series victory parade down Market Street. The journey gets only steeper and more treacherous, but on a chilly Saturday evening inside one of baseball's most inhospitable parks, they declared once and for all they will not be pushed off the road.

A crowd of 45,929 whistled at Tim Lincecum the way a man whistles at a woman. The fans booed Pat Burrell. Roy Halladay, who threw a no-hitter in the Division Series and almost certainly will wrest the Cy Young crown from Lincecum, was on the mound in full confidence.

None of it mattered. When Brian Wilson blew the game's final pitch past Shane Victorino, the scoreboard read "Giants 4, Phillies 3."

"Humongous," Wilson said in describing the win in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. Fifteen of the last 18 teams to win the NLCS opener went to the World Series. Humongous indeed.

Naturally, the Giants won by a run. They have played five games this postseason, all settled by that margin. This one might have been the best team effort.

Cody Ross continued his bid for enshrinement in the Mark Lemke Hall of Fame. Ross hit two solo homers against Halladay, whom the Giants attacked for four runs on eight hits in seven innings. Ross has four go-ahead hits this postseason, including both homers against Halladay.

Pat Burrell and Juan Uribe also had RBIs to cap a two-out rally in the sixth, which began with a Buster Posey single, to help the Giants stay perfect against Halladay in four games spread over nine seasons.

Most important, Lincecum outpitched Halladay in a seven-inning, three-run effort. Lincecum was not the 14-strikeout marvel he was in Game 1 of the Division Series against Atlanta. In the third inning, manager Bruce Bochy saw frustration in Lincecum and visited the mound to calm him.

Carlos Ruiz hit a tying solo homer against Lincecum in that inning, and Jayson Werth closed a 4-1 game to 4-3 with homer in the sixth.

"Just taking a 1-0 lead in the NLCS is good enough," Lincecum said. "I'll go back to the chalkboard and work on things, right the wrongs and make better pitches next time. At the end of the day, we're up in the series."

If a pitcher can backslide and still beat the consensus pick for best pitcher in the league, on the road, he must be going well.

His sense of humor remained intact, too. Asked about the whistles as he batted in the fifth inning, he said, "I was thinking I must have a really nice butt."

Ross swung his butt into a pair of Halladay sinkers and gave the Giants leads of 1-0 and 2-1 with his second and third homers of the postseason. Halladay has been in the majors since 1998. Only six other players had taken him deep twice in a game.

Posey said he wants to "bump up against" Ross for transference of mojo. Aubrey Huff called Ross "a great garbage find" by the Giants' front office.

Ross is having a hard time explaining all this. He was 3-for-16 lifetime against Halladay, including two grounders and a pop-up in the May 29 perfect game at Florida.

"This guy, he's obviously one of the best in the game," Ross said. "He's got the potential to go out there and do that every night he pitches. Fortunately, we got to him a little early and Timmy threw outstanding, and pitched well enough to win tonight."

That was in doubt after Werth's homer.

"When it was 4-1 in the sixth," Huff said, "I was thinking there was no way it's going to be this easy. Two pitches later, it's 4-3. I thought, 'That's just about right.' "

Bochy bypassed his rested and loaded bullpen and let Lincecum throw the seventh. It proved to be one of his best innings. Pinch-hitter Domonic Brown, Victorino and Placido Polanco did not breach the infield.

Lincecum said he knew he was at the end of his leash and thought, "I better make a statement here, get the guys out and give us a chance to win."

Philly's two big left-handed hitters, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, started the eighth, and lefty specialist Javier Lopez mowed them down.

Bochy again bypassed his stable of hard-throwing setup men and went to Wilson for the four-out save. Though Wilson allowed a Werth single in the eighth and hit Ruiz with one out in the ninth, He struck out Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibañez, Ross Gload and Victorino for his four outs.

Twenty minute later, Lincecum was addressing 50 members of the press when the cell phone in his locker rang. He turned around and said, "I've got to take this." Then he swung around, smiled at the reporters and said, "I'm just kidding."

Lincecum was in his element. After this win, the Giants seemed to be in theirs.

Box Score

Giants finish off Braves, on to Philly

Henry Schulman SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle

There was a time in the not too distant past when they said the road to a World Series championship went through Atlanta. The Giants knew that road. They happily traversed it in 2002, and now they have done so again.

The Giants came from behind twice Monday night to beat the Braves 3-2 and win their Division Series three games to one, then celebrated on the same field and inside the same bubbly-soaked clubhouse as they did eight years ago, when they won their only other Division Series.

All four games this year were decided by one run.

The Giants advance to their fifth National League Championship Series and will face the Philadelphia Phillies, who will enter as favorites because they have home-field advantage, not to mention the last two NL pennants.

Game 1 in Philadelphia on Saturday should pit Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay in what would be the most anticipated matchup of this postseason. They both pitched shutouts in their only Division Series starts. Lincecum struck out 14. Halladay threw a no-hitter.

The Giants scored the decisive run Monday on a bases-loaded RBI single in the seventh inning by Cody Ross, who had four big hits in a series that did not feature a lot of scoring.

Rookie Madison Bumgarner once again pitched like a man with years more experience as he held Atlanta to two runs in six innings, good enough to beat 37-year-old postseason master Derek Lowe. There can be little doubt Bumgarner earned a spot in the NLCS rotation.

Santiago Casilla relieved Bumgarner and got five outs. He should have had six, but shortstop Edgar Renteria, who entered in a double-switch, dropped a soft liner by Alex Gonzalez. Renteria threw out Gonzalez, but Brian McCann should have been doubled off first because he ran on the play.

With McCann on second, Javier Lopez relieved Casilla and struck out Jason Heyward to end the eighth. Wilson, as he did in the division-clincher against San Diego, pitched a scoreless ninth to get the party started.

At 21 years and 71 days old, Bumgarner became the youngest Giant ever to pitch in a postseason game and the youngest pitcher on any team to start a postseason game since 20-year-old Bret Saberhagen in Game 2 of the 1984 American League Championship Series, for Kansas City.

Even in allowing the game's first run, in the third inning, Bumgarner was poised. He did not allow leadoff singles by Omar Infante and Matt Diaz to become a big inning even with the 3-4-5 hitters up next. Infante scored on a McCann sacrifice fly, but the rookie walked off the mound down only 1-0. That proved critical.

The Giants were down 2-1 on McCann's solo homer in the sixth when they took the lead against Lowe with a seventh-inning rally about as small as it could get. They sandwiched walks to Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell around a Buster Posey infield hit to load the bases.

Lowe walked Burrell after Bobby Cox visited the mound. It looked as though Lowe made a case to stay in. Cox acceded in what was his final big decision as a manager.

Cox summoned sidewinder Peter Moylan to face Juan Uribe, who was 1-for-13 in the series when he hit a ball into the hole fielded by the shortstop Gonzalez. The fielder spun and threw to second, but umpire Ed Hickox ruled the throw pulled Infante off the bag. Everyone was safe, and Huff scored the tying run.

Pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand struck out against the new pitcher, lefty Jonny Venters, but Ross hit pay dirt for the second time in the game when he grounded a single to left that scored Posey. Burrell was thrown out trying to score behind him, but the Giants took a 3-2 lead.

With one out in the sixth, Atlanta leading 1-0 and Lowe throwing a no-hitter, Ross lined a homer into the left-field seats to tie the game, the third of the four big hits he had in the series.

The tie did not last one pitch in the bottom of the sixth. McCann lined Bumgarner's hanging offspeed offering just over the right-field wall to restore Atlanta's lead at 2-1.

Manager Bruce Bochy was concerned before the game about Lowe, who allowed one run in Game 1 only to lose to an epic performance by Lincecum.

"The guy we're facing today, he's tough," Bochy said. "He's been throwing the ball well. We've seen him a few times and he's still tough."

Lowe retired the Giants 1-2-3 to start the game, the first time they went down in order in the first inning since Jhoulys Chacin struck out the side in Colorado on Sept. 24.

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