Lincecum Baffles Rangers as Giants Win World Series

Cliff Lee was unbeatable. The Rangers' Ace had compiled a dominant postseason record and helped the team make its first world series in club history. Lee's opponent in both of his starts against San Francisco would emerge as the hero, as Tim Luncecum dominated Texas as the Giants defeated the Rangers 3-1 to win the 2010 World Series.

All of the pre-World Series talk focused on the Rangers' dominant offense and Lee, who had emerged as one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time. In the end it was Lincecum, the guy who looks like the buddy you used to play video games with all night in high school, and the rest of the Giant's pitching staff that carried San Francisco to its first title since 1956.

Edgar Renteria blasted a three run home run with two outs in the seventh inning to give the Giants the lead for good. Renteria would earn MVP honors for the series, providing San Francisco with clutch hitting that gave the team's all-star pitching staff just enough to work with. The Giants pitching, defense and timely hits were just enough every night, and the Rangers can't help but wonder what happened once they got on baseball's biggest stage.

Giants Beat Phillies, Advance to World Series

The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 to clinch a spot on the world series. San Francisco relied on strong pitching and clutch hits to steal the road victory in the NLCS' sixth game, and earn a trip to the World Series to face the Texas Rangers.

The Giants haven't won a World Series title since 1953, when the club was still located in New York. San Francisco nearly won it all in 2002, but eventually was upset by the Anaheim Angels after an epic collapse late in game six. The loss wasted a ridiculous series from Barry Bonds in which the now-disgraced slugger was nearly unstoppable. San Francisco may not have the offensive firepower it did in 2002, but it has great pitching that could deliver a championship.

San Francisco's opponent, the Texas Rangers, are in the World Series for the first time. Texas has a ton of offensive firepower and Cliff Lee, who is pitching out of his mind this postseason. The Rangers have to be the favorite to win it all, but after the NLCS, it is impossible to rule out the scrappy Giants.

Phillies Beat Giants, Send Series back to Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2 last night, avoiding elimination and sending the series back east. The win narrows the best-of-seven series to 3-2, and forces the Giants to try and seal a trip to the world series as a visiting team.

The game featured another matchup of all-star pitching, as Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum squared off for the second time in the series. Halladay was able to overcome a groin injury to outdual Lincecum and extend the series. The Giants can only think about missing a big opportunity to win the series, and things will only get tougher with game 6 and a possible game 7 taking place in Philadelphia.

The Phillies joined the Yankees in extending the series after falling into a hole. New York is also attempting to come back from a 3-1 deficit and make a run at defending its 2009 title. While this has been a memorable postseason, it appears things are just now heating up.