UPDATE: (8:55) Marco Scutaro has been named MVP of the NLCS after batting .500 (14-for-28)
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BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO ? On the day he dropped his red Phillies duffel bag in the Giants clubhouse, Hunter Pence raised an extra large coffee mug and made a declaration.
?I?ve got to be honest,? he said on Aug. 1. ?Every now and then, I do things you don?t see very often.?
When you?re bucking all conventional wisdom, a little unorthodoxy is just what you need.
The Giants had to strike down the Cincinnati Reds three times to advance past the NL Division Series. They needed to take three more from the St. Louis Cardinals to claim a National League pennant.
Normal teams do not pull this off. The Giants are not normal. And they could not be deep-sixed.
They survived a half-dozen kill shots, and after a Game 7 replete with fantastic defense and a fluky, not-often-seen, triple-contact hit off Pence?s splintered bat, the Giants are taking their survival school to the World Series.
Matt Cain let his defense spin his pitches into outs, Marco Scutaro kept on raining hits and the Giants dismantled the Cardinals 9-0 Monday night to claim the 20th National League pennant in franchise history.
It was a surreal scene in the ninth inning, as the skies opened up and drenched the ballpark.
The Giants and the 1985 Kansas City Royals are the only teams in major league history to win six elimination games in a single postseason.
The Giants clinched a postseason series at home for the first time since the 2002 NLCS, also against the Cardinals. That one was done in five games, though. This was Game 7 ? and the Giants hadn?t won one of those in their 130-year history. This was just the second Game 7 to be held in the San Francisco city limits, and the first since the 1962 World Series.
That was many yesterdays ago. For these Giants, it?s been a rallying cry to make it till tomorrow.
Their next tomorrow will be Game 1 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, on Wednesday at AT&T Park.
Starting pitching report
Cain was far from perfect. His fastball rode up in the zone. He relied on his defense to make plays. He survived a choppy, 46-pitch sea before he could tie his boat to the dock after two innings.
But Cain kept daring the Cardinals to beat him, and they never could.
Before this season, no Giants pitcher in the franchise?s 129-year history had ever won Game 7 of a postseason series. No Giant had ever pitched a perfect game, either.
Cain has done both.
He held the Cardinals scoreless through 5 2/3 innings, and while they made enough loud contact to jangle nerves, the big ballpark and a surehanded defense allowed Cain to keep advancing toward 27 outs.
The Cards threatened in the second inning, when Yadier Molina hit a leadoff single and David Freese walked. But first baseman Brandon Belt smothered Daniel Descalso?s short-hop smash and threw from his knees for a forceout at second base. Then after Pete Kozma struck out, pitcher Kyle Lohse hit a line drive that shortstop Brandon Crawford snared with a backpedaling, leaping catch.
Left fielder Gregor Blanco made two terrific plays to help Cain escape the third without giving up a run. First, Blanco cut off Jon Jay?s hit near the bullpen mounds to hold the Cardinals? leadoff hitter to a single. Then Blanco got an excellent jump to catch Allen Craig?s drive to the gap.
Scutaro contributed a couple of clean picks on short-hops, too.
The Cardinals started just one more rally against Cain, and that was of his own making. It probably wasn?t an accident when, leading 7-0, Cain?s 0-2 fastball plunked Matt Holliday on the arm to start the sixth inning. The Cardinals? bull-strong left fielder was owed a little something after his controversial slide wiped out Scutaro at second base in Game 2.
Belt made a reaction catch of Craig?s line drive, and after Molina singled, Cain struck out Freese to end his night. Too superstitious to tip his cap, Cain walked off the mound to a standing ovation after 102 pitches.
Bullpen report
Jeremy Affeldt retired Descalso on a pop up to strand both of Cain?s runners, then he pitched around a walk in a scoreless seventh inning. Affeldt is unscored upon in eight appearances this postseason and owns a 1.53 ERA in 20 career playoff games.
Santiago Casilla and Javier Lopez subdued the Cardinals in the eighth, then Lopez allowed two of his four batters to reach in the ninth. Under a downpour, manager Bruce Bochy went to Sergio Romo to face Holliday ? and four pitches later, Scutaro saw a pop fly through the raindrops, punched the air with his fist and the Giants celebrated their second trip to the World Series in three years.
At the plate
Several Giants remarked that they let Cardinals right-hander Kyle Lohse off the hook in Game 3, when they collected 12 baserunners but just one run in his 5 2/3 innings. They vowed that they wouldn?t let that happen again.
They were right.
Lohse had tame stuff and a hit-me slider, and the Giants acted like lunchroom bullies to put him under constant duress. They scored a run in the first inning when Angel Pagan singled, took third on Scutaro?s classic hit-and-run single ? a 2-1 slider to right field -- and scored on Pablo Sandoval?s RBI ground out that Lohse fielded on the first base side of the mound.
The bottom of the lineup didn?t make it easy on Lohse in the second inning, either. Gregor Blanco hit a one-out single and Cain proved no slouch with two outs, barreling up a slider for a hard single up the middle that sent Blanco diving across the plate. It was the third consecutive game that a Giants pitcher collected an RBI, combined with Ryan Vogelsong?s butcher-boy grounder and Barry Zito?s ?sneak attack? bunt.
Lohse and the Cardinals suffered a system collapse in the third inning, as the Giants sent 11 men to the plate and scored five runs. Scutaro started yet another rally, whistling a single to increase his NLCS average to .500. Sandoval, who has been on most every pitch in this series, followed by taking an outside pitch down the left field line for a double. Sandoval raised his arms in something that resembled an NFL sack dance as he stood on second base. Buster Posey didn?t bite on a 3-2 pitch, drawing a walk to load the bases and send Cardinals manager Mike Matheny out to give Lohse the hook.
But Matheny didn?t go to Trevor Rosenthal, his TNT-throwing right-hander. He turned to Joe Kelly instead, and that?s when things got weird.
Kelly?s first pitch, a 95 mph fastball, splintered Pence?s bat halfway up the handle. That was the first impact. His loosened barrel traveled through the zone faster than the ball. That was the second impact. And because the ball needed a bit more coaxing, hide and wood kissed one more time.
A pool-hall shark couldn?t have created more english on the ball. It shot in an unexpected direction past Kozma, who broke the wrong way toward third base as two runs scored. When center fielder Jon Jay dropped the ball, third base coach Tim Flannery aggressively sent Posey, who scored from first base without a play.
It was one of the flukiest hits you?ll ever see, and all of the sudden, every physical law favored the Giants. They led 5-0, and the Cardinals? reactor shield continued to superheat from there.
Belt chopped a single off Kelly?s bare hand, Blanco walked to load the bases and Kozma, now fully on tilt, tried to throw for the force at home after picking up Crawford?s grounder. He might have had a chance if the Cardinals had pulled in their infielders, but Matheny had them at double-play depth. Kozma?s throw was hopelessly late as Pence scored, then descended the dugout steps to a raucous reception.
The Giants completed their rally when Pagan beat out a double-play grounder, allowing Belt to score and make it a 7-0 lead. It would have been even worse for the Cardinals if first baseman Allen Craig hadn?t stopped Sandoval?s line drive with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Rosenthal struck out the side when he finally appeared in the sixth inning, but the Giants didn?t mail in any at-bats against the Cardinals bullpen. Belt licked some icing when he turned on a 98 mph fastball down and in from Mitchell Boggs, clearing it over the steam cannons for a solo home run in the eighth.
Scutaro was 3 for 4 to finish 14 for 28 in the series -- breaking Will Clark's franchise record for the most hits in an NLCS.
In field
The Tigers have been trying to keep sharp by scrimmaging against a team of prospects culled from instructional league. It only seemed like the Cardinals were filling that role against the Giants
While the Cardinals broke down, the Giants held firm. Scutaro, Belt and Crawford each tamped down rallies with huge plays.
Attendance
The Giants announced 43,056 paid to see just the second Game 7 in San Francisco ? and the first since the deciding game of the 1962 World Series. This time, Bobby Richardson did not play a role. And somewhere, Charlie Brown and Linus are smiling.
Up next
By virtue of the National League?s victory in the All-Star Game (oh, and thanks, Melky!) the Giants will play host to Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday at AT&T Park. The Detroit Tigers are expected to send right-hander Justin Verlander to the mound, likely against left-hander Barry Zito. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. PDT.
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