Giants take control with six-run fifth inning - MLB.com

Giants' bats lead way to Game 1 win | MLB.com: News To learn about our efforts to improve the accessibility and usability of our website, please visit our Accessibility Information page.Skip to section navigation or Skip to main content Below is an advertisement.MLB.com Fan ForumSearchGoTop Searches:Game 1LeeLincecum#masthead .mlb_season_status_container {left:280px; top:18px;width:314px;height:54px;background:url(/images/masthead/y2010/ps/ps_header_tex_sf_gm1_date.png) 0 0 no-repeat;}#masthead .mlb_season_status_container {background-image:url(/images/masthead/y2010/ps/ps_header_tex_sf_gm1_date.png);}#masthead .mlb_season_status_container {background-image:url(/images/masthead/y2010/ps/ps_header_tex_sf_gm1_pre.png);}#masthead .mlb_season_status_container {background-image:url(/images/masthead/y2010/ps/ps_header_tex_sf_gm1_live.png);}#masthead .mlb_season_status_container {background-image:url(/images/masthead/y2010/ps/ps_header_tex_sf_gm2_date.png);}*html #masthead .mlb_season_status_container {behavior: url(/scripts/fix_png_bg.htc)}#masthead .sponsor_container {position:absolute;top:30px;left:600px;width:126px;height:32px;}MLB Sites American LeagueAL EastBaltimoreBostonNY YankeesTampa BayTorontoAL CentralChi White SoxClevelandDetroitKansas CityMinnesotaAL WestLA AngelsOaklandSeattleTexasNational LeagueNL EastAtlantaFloridaNY MetsPhiladelphiaWashingtonNL CentralChi CubsCincinnatiHoustonMilwaukeePittsburghSt. LouisNL WestArizonaColoradoLA DodgersSan DiegoSan FranciscoScoreboardStandingsIn this Section: Divisional Wild Card Spring Training 2009 Final Standings 2008 Final Standings 2007 Final Standings 2006 Final Standings 2005 Final Standings 2004 Final Standings 2003 Final Standings 2002 Final Standings 2001 Final Standings ScheduleIn this Section: 2010 Postseason 2010 Team-by-Team Schedule 2010 Regular Season Important Dates National Broadcasts 3-Day Glance 2011 Regular Season StatsIn this Section: Sortable Player Stats League Leaders Postseason Top Rookies Tracker Batter vs. Pitcher Sortable Team Stats Winter Leagues Historical PlayersIn this Section: Player Search Sprint Postseason Mashups Postseason Players Transactions Mobile Player Alerts Baseball Cards MLB Players Association NewsIn this Section: News Homepage Intel Pulse of the Postseason 2010 This Year in Baseball Awards 2010 Events Probable Pitchers Game Notes Opinion Photo Galleries News Archive History 2010 All-Star Game U.S. Army's When Opportunity Calls Captain Morgan's First Pitch MLB.com Extras Minor League Affiliates Entertainment Noticias en español VideoIn this Section: Watch MLB.TV Postseason.TV (U.S. and Canada) Postseason.TV Demo MLB.TV Postseason (International) Listen to At Bat with Audio Alternative Audio FAQs MLB.com Support Forum MLB.TV Download Center Video Highlights MLB Network MLB.com/Downloads Baseball's Best Moments Podcasts Dove Journey to Comfort MLB Productions GetGreat.com TicketsIn this Section: Postseason Tickets StubHub.com Postseason Ticket Reservations General Ticket Information Mobile Tickets MobileIn this Section: Mobile Home At Bat 2010 MLB.com on your iPhone & iPod Touch MLB.com on your Apple iPad MLB.com on Your BlackBerry Mobile Premium Team Alerts w/ video Team TXT: On Demand updates Manage Services - Mobile Dashboard Gameday Audio Mobile Web Mobile FAQ ShopIn this Section: MLB.com Gift Card Hall of Fame Minor Leagues Photo Store Books & DVDs Home & Office Outlet Baseball Cards Memorabilia Collectibles Kids Women's Men's Caps Jerseys Shop Homepage AuctionIn this Section: Baseball Cards Baseballs Bases Bats Caps Experiences Gloves Home Plates Jerseys Lineup Cards Miscellaneous On-Deck Circles Photos Pitching Rubbers Publications Pins FantasyIn this Section: Fantasy Homepage World Series Scoreboard Challenge Postseason Survivor MLB.com Final At Bat Challenge Postseason Trivia MLB.com 2010 Fantasy Baseball Yahoo! 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It wasn't the pitchers duel everyone expected.

Quite the opposite, actually. After Texas scored in each of the game's first two frames, the Giants stormed back with six runs in the fifth inning to break it open, and added three more in the eighth before eventually winning, 11-7. The two teams' run total of 18 is the highest this postseason, eclipsing the 13 scored by the Rangers and Yankees in Game 4 of the ALCS.

Even after the six-run frame, the Rangers weren't ready to call it a night. Texas put up two runs in the sixth inning on two-out hits from Mitch Moreland, who lined one off Tim Lincecum's leg for a single, and David Murphy to make the score 8-4. After Murphy's hit, Lincecum yielded to Santiago Casilla, who ended the threat with a strikeout of Elvis Andrus.

The Giants weren't finished either. San Francisco tacked on three final insurance runs in the eighth inning. An RBI double to left off the bat of Travis Ishikawa got things started before the Giants got RBI singles from Sanchez and Nate Schierholz. Sanchez's RBI was his third of the contest.

San Francisco's monster fifth inning got really moving with back-to-back two-out hits from Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff, which chased Lee from the game. Juan Uribe then promptly greeted reliever Darren O'Day with a three-run blast to left.

Sanchez kicked off the scoring in the fifth inning with his third double of the game. With that two-bagger, Sanchez became the first player in World Series history to double in his first three at-bats in the Fall Classic.

It was on Sanchez's second double of the game in the third that helped his team get on the board initially. Sanchez's RBI in the third helped the Giants to capitalize on a Michael Young error at third base and a rare hit batsman from Lee.

Buster Posey followed Sanchez with another line-drive single to center to tie the game temporarily at 2.

This all turned around what appeared to be a rocky start by the Giants and Lincecum. The Freak committed a mental mistake in the first inning that set him up for a potential disaster, but he narrowly avoided big trouble.

With one out and men on the corners, the Rangers' Nelson Cruz hit a soft grounder down the third-base line, where Lincecum fielded it and trapped Young between third base and home. But instead of forcing Young into a rundown, Lincecum simply chased Young back to third base, which was unoccupied.

That gave the Rangers bases loaded with one out instead of two men on and two outs. But the next batter, Ian Kinsler, grounded into a double play on the first pitch to spare San Francisco from a big inning.

Lee helped his team increase its lead in the second frame, doubling to the left-field gap. On the ensuing play, Bengie Molina scored on an Andrus sacrifice fly to put the Rangers up, 2-0, until the Giants came back to tie it and eventually take the lead.

Bailey Stephens is a reporter for MLB.com. Reporter Anthony DiComo also contributed to this story. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Lewis Stifles Giants and Gives Rangers a Boost - New York Times

Fans were urged to make some Texas-sized noise and to sing along to “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” Just in case anyone had forgotten, the 106th World Series had shifted to the Lone Star State, where subtlety is a four-letter word.

That fits the profile of the Texas Rangers, who matched the spectacle surrounding their first World Series home game with a 4-2 victory against the Giants in Game 3 that was anything but understated. Yet another stifling pitching performance from Colby Lewis, coupled with booming home runs by Mitch Moreland and Josh Hamilton, restored the sizzle to a series that seemed to have lost its sheen when it left an apoplectic San Francisco on Thursday.

The Rangers found World Series games here so much fun that they assured their fans of seeing a full complement, with the ace Cliff Lee lined up for a Game 5 start Monday that will play a pivotal role in determining whether Texas will become the first pennant winner to overcome a 2-0 deficit since the 1996 Yankees. Game 4, with Madison Bumgarner of San Francisco scheduled to face the Rangers’ Tommy Hunter, is set for Sunday night.

The underbelly of the Rangers’ bullpen, battered for 11 of the Giants’ 20 runs, may as well head for the concession stands when Lewis is on the mound. He has become their designated stopper, winning his last three starts, all after losses. Two of those came in the American League Championship Series against the Yankees, who were baffled by his extraordinary command and deceptive slider.

Yet the perception still existed that no way was Lewis — Colby Lewis? — morphing into an ace. Lewis allowed late bases-empty homers to Cody Ross (seventh inning) and to Andres Torres (eighth), and in four playoff outings he is 3-0 with a 1.71 earned run average.

The opinion that Lewis would be nervous heading into his start Saturday, with the Rangers trailing in the series, 2-0, was understandable if also, to him, a bit laughable. Want to know what pressure feels like? Try taking your family to Japan and telling them to trust you. Want to know what pitching in front of a rollicking capacity crowd feels like? Try making two opening day starts for the Hiroshima Carp.

“I think that’s what kind of helps me coming back here with the noise and the celebration and everybody cheering and stuff like that,” Lewis said.

There was noise and celebration and plenty of stuff like that at Rangers Ballpark, where the night unofficially began with the beloved former catcher — and current Washington National — Ivan Rodriguez catching (blocking, actually) the ceremonial first pitch from Nolan Ryan.

Many among the largest crowd in stadium history — 52,419 — came decked out in claw T-shirts and antlers headgear, the battle cry of a team that ever so slightly has intruded into a local sports scene dominated by the football team down the street. One fan held aloft a sign that deftly summarized the region’s feelings: “Who Needs Cowboys When We Have Rangers.” For 39 seasons, this bustling suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth has waited for Saturday, and its team did not disappoint.

Standing between the Rangers and relevance again was the San Francisco left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, who rarely produces a start that is merely average. He either dominates (Game 1, division series) or implodes (Game 6, N.L.C.S.), which is what he seemed to be saying Friday when asked about that brief appearance in Philadelphia.

“You know,” he said, “everybody is going to have bad days and good days.”

It started out good for Sanchez, who was uncharacteristically efficient in a 10-pitch first inning, but then it turned bad, in a second inning that he would soon like to forget. The Rangers’ poor situational hitting (4 for 21 with runners in scoring position through two games) was seemingly doomed to fail them once more, when with one out Jeff Francoeur could not drive in Nelson Cruz from third. Sanchez then walked the No. 8 hitter Bengie Molina, which is a smart play in National League ballparks, where the designated hitter is not used and the pitcher usually bats ninth.

Batting ninth for Texas was Moreland, a rookie left-handed hitter with a .342 average in 12 playoff games — and only 20 regular-season at-bats against left-handers. In the A.L.C.S., Moreland terrorized Yankees pitchers with his ability to grind out long at-bats, to foul off pitches, and that strategy can be particularly effective against wild pitchers like Sanchez. With a 2-2 count, Moreland fouled off four straight pitches — two sliders, two changeups — before mashing a fastball deep into the right-field seats. Ross, patrolling right field, hardly moved as the ball soared above.

The Rangers led, 3-0, their first advantage since the third inning of Game 1, and the score stayed that way as Lewis silenced the Giants through the middle innings, mowing down 14 of 16 batters. He ended up pitching seven and two-thirds innings, before Darren O’Day got one out and Neftali Feliz got the final three.

Sanchez briefly teetered, putting runners on base in the third and fourth, before with two outs and the bases empty in the fifth allowing a 426-foot blast to Hamilton that cleared both bullpens in right-center field.

As Hamilton rounded the bases, four people deliriously waving Texas flags ran onto the berm, reminding everyone — again, in case they had forgotten — how baseball is played in these parts.

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Giants, Braves snatch last two playoff tickets - USA Today

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants finally put an end to a season that threatened to go into extra innings, bringing clarity to the National League playoff picture while dashing the hopes of the upstart San Diego Padres.After two failed chances at clinching the NL West title, the Giants secured their first division crown since 2003 with a 3-0 victory against the Padres behind Jonathan Sanchez's five scoreless innings and rally-igniting triple.

Both the Giants and Padres would have been assured playoff spots if the Atlanta Braves had lost earlier in the day to the Philadelphia Phillies, but the Braves held on for an 8-7 win that put them in position to earn the wild card if San Diego lost.

The Giants will host Atlanta in an NL Division Series opener Thursday. The Phillies will host the Cincinnati Reds in the other NLDS opener Wednesday.

"We don't want to be handed anything," said Giants closer Brian Wilson, who notched his major league-leading 48th save. "We don't want to know we're in the playoffs in the third inning. It's not as fun."

The American League playoffs pairings were settled as well when the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 8-4, denying them a chance to win the AL East. About an hour later, the Tampa Bay Rays earned the division championship outright when they edged the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in 12 innings.

The Rays host the Texas Rangers in one AL Division Series beginning Wednesday. The Yankees, who lost eight of their last 11, open Wednesday at the Minnesota Twins.

"It would be stupid to say it doesn't matter how you finish," Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte said. "We would have liked to get this thing done, but we didn't. The bottom line is, we're the world champs until someone knocks us off."

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