I remember leaving work early that day. I had to. Nothing was more important. The Giants were one win away from winning the World Series for the first time for time in 8 years. I recall hustling down the stairs of the light rail station in San Jose and jogging to my car. I was meeting my dad and a bunch of friends at a bar to watch Game 5 and couldn’t wait to get there. Despite Cliff Lee going against us again, I don’t recall there being much stress. I think when the Giants proved they could hit him in Game 1 it took a huge weight off. We didn’t know how they would beat him but they would find a way. That’s what this 2010 team does. Being born in 1983, this was actually the 3rd time the Giants had reached the World Series in my life but this time it weighed heavier. I was too young for the Earthquake series and I think 2002 needed to happen so I would appreciate winning it more. If you’re a hardcore fan, October is so stressful. It’s nice being able to plan your month around your favorite team’s odd TV schedule, but the games are not “fun”. It’s stress. It’s high blood pressure. So much is riding on every moment that sometimes you wish it would just be over. To be clear, the Giants were not pounding everyone. 7 of their 8 postseason wins before the World Series were decided by 1 run. 1 run! I wanted this to end. I wanted it to be over. I couldn’t wait to get to the bar because the Giants might win the World Series tonight.
The Most Important Inning – Defensively
As young fans growing up who have never seen their team win the World Series, we picture that clinching victory as a one run game where your favorite player hits a walk off home run to win 10-9 and you somehow end up on the field with them celebrating. In reality, series clinching wins can be ho-hum games. If Game 5 of the 2010 World Series was played in June, no one would remember it. But it didn’t happen in June. It happened on November 1. Tonight was another matchup between The Freaky Freak and Cliff Lee, and this was the pitching duel everyone was expecting. November baseball at its best. Timmy and Cliff were rolling. After the top of the 4th there were only 2 hits in the game, both singles by Posey and Torres. But the bottom of the 4th was the test for Timmy. The lineup had just rolled over and the thump was coming to the plate: Young (#ForeverRanger), Hamilton (MVP), Guerrero (HOF), and Nelson Cruz (HOF?). Scary. But those guys were facing a Freak on the mound and he was locked in.
To start the inning Lincecum ran the count to 3-1 to Young and then he hit a line drive shot down the left field line that landed in the front row foul. That was scary. Almost a lead off double. On the full count pitch Timmy came back with a fastball and Young hit it on the ground into center for the Ranger’s first hit. Now he’s on first base for Hamilton and nobody’s out. This is the best opportunity all game for Texas and Hamilton battled, fouling off nasty stuff from Timmy. He fouled off 5 balls in a row before swinging and missing on the 7th pitch of the AB. A great sequence by Lincecum. But we weren’t out of the woods yet. In stepped the Hall of Famer Vlad Guerrero who could hit any pitch in any location out. But this was our year and Guerrero hit a little first pitch tapper to Renteria’s right who made a nice play and got the force at 2nd. What a gift!
Now Nelson. Nelson Cruz reached the big leagues in 2005 but really became a force in 2009 for Texas as he was an All Star with 33 home runs. In 2010 he only played in 108 games and still hit .318 with 22 homers and 78 RBI. With 5 home runs already this postseason he was hot. Timmy’s first pitch to him was a fastball way in the dirt, ball one. Then fell behind 2-0 missing just inside with another fastball. Scary count right here with Guerrero on 1st base. With a deep breath, Timmy throws Cruz a slider that just nicks the outside corner for strike one. Great frame job by Buster. 2-1 now. On the fourth pitch of the at bat, Timmy reaches back and blows 93 passed Cruz for strike two. That was the most important pitch of the AB. Now he’s got him right where he wants him. On the 5th pitch, Lincecum throws the best changeup of his life and gets Cruz swinging to end the inning on 19 pitches to put him at 53 through 4 IP. Timmy had gone to two strikes on 9 of 14 batters and struck out 5 of them. Cruise. Control.
The Most Important Hit
Duh. Edgar Renteria’s 3 run shot that won the game, series, and sealed his World Series MVP award. Renteria was no stranger to the postseason. In fact, this was his 66th career playoff game. He won it with the Marlins in 1997 (he got the game winning hit in that game too), played in a bunch for St. Louis, and a series with the Red Sox in 2005. But he hadn’t been back since and he was getting old. At 34, he was waning as a big leaguer but he proved he still had some juice left. This Game 5 had made it to the 7th inning still tied at zero. Cliff Lee was at 75 pitches as Cody Ross stepped into the box. He grinded out a 2 strike single to lead it off (we’ll talk about this later) and Uribe followed with a hit of his own. After Aubrey Huff’s only sacrafice bunt of the year, which was a beauty, Burrell struck out again (10 times in 12 AB). Now with 2 outs, here’s Edgar. So far in this game he’s popped up to 2nd and hit into a double play. A little bloop single would feel pretty good right here. Working quickly, Lee delivers a first pitch fastball that misses up, ball one. Good take. Don’t make a first pitch out right here. Make Lee work. Next pitch was way outside, easy take. If you’re Cliff Lee now you have a decision to make. First base is open so there’s no harm in walking Edgar right here. He’s been good all series. You may want to walk him and face Rowand with a force at every base. If you’re Edgar Renteria, you think you just bought yourself a fastball that you can sit on. Edgar digs in and boy does he look hitterish. Cliff Lee winds and deals. He throws Edgar an 86 mph cutter that caught too much of the plate. Renteria puts a nice swing on it, keeping his hands in and drives it to deep left center field.
It split Murphy and Hamilton perfectly. With 2 outs that’s at least scoring 2 if it bangs off the wall. But it never banged off the wall. It carried over and the Giants had a 3-0 lead in the 7th. I gotta say we lost it in the bar at that moment. It was so tense all game and then suddenly you had a 3 run cushion with Timmy being Timmy on the mound. Life was good. Edgar’s home run barely, and I mean barely got out. It must have scraped the back of the wall as it didn’t even make the first row. It just kind of disappeared into history under the bleachers. He received quite the hero’s welcome in the dugout, especially from Pat Burrell who couldn’t hit a beachball that series. Then on the next pitch Aaron Rowand flied out to right field and then the entire stadium of 52,000 had to stand and sing God Bless America 60 seconds after their hearts had been ripped out. It must have been the least enthusiastic rendition of that song in the history of American sports. But those next 2 innings were pure joy for Giants fans.
Odd Stats
I know we talked about GSc last week (definition here) but it’s still relevant now. In Game 5 with a line of 8IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 10SO, 2BB, Lincecum threw a GSc of 80, his 3rd highest of 2010 (96 NLDS G1, 83 9/24 @ COL). He was so nasty it was like he was sticking his pitching hand in an electrical socket between innings. Cliff Lee, although much better than in Game 1, only threw a GSc of 59 but he kept this game really close. The Giants only knew how to play close games. Aside from the WS Game 2 blow out, every game was decided by 4 runs or less, and 7 of them by 1 run or less!
The Giants became the first team to beat Cliff Lee in the postseason. Before he met the Gaints, Lee was 7-0 and had only given up 9ER. Against the Giants he was 0-2 and gave up 9ER. The Rangers had only been shut out 5 times all year and only once at home. The Giants shut them out twice. Edgar Renteria became the 4th player to have a game-winning RBI in 2 clinching World Series games joining, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Yogi Berra. Heard of ’em? Edgar, as far as my research can tell, is also the only guy to win a WS in his at bat (1997), and lose a WS in his at bat (2004). Now he can put an MVP trophy on his shelf.
A Great At Bat
Renteria’s home run was incredible, yes, but there was a guy a few spots ahead of him in the lineup that had a great at bat that allowed Edgar to come to the plate with runners on. Let’s talk about Cody Ross. Ross had popped out and struck out earlier and was now leading off the 7th. Ross was coming off a hot NLCS where he was the MVP but had cooled down since then going 3-15 (.200) in the World Series so far. Now here he was facing Lee in the 7th of a 0-0 game. First pitch was popped up just foul near the Ranger’s dugout. Ross got lucky with that one. A first pitch pop out changes this entire inning. The 0-1 pitch jammed Ross badly and he popped it foul behind home plate again. A quick 0-2. Time to adjust. Ross takes a moment outside the box to think about it, then digs in. The third pitch from Lee is a curveball way high for ball 3, easy take. Not a great waste pitch from Lee. He knows it. With the 4th pitch he comes back with a much better curveball that Cody just gets a piece of to stay alive. Come on, Cody! On the 5th pitch of the at bat, Lee throws a low fastball, not a bad pitch, but Cody puts a good swing on it and grounds it up the middle for a lead off hit! Huge.
He fell way behind and still came through with a rap. That at bat started the inning that enabled the Giants to clinch the series that night in Texas. It will be forgotten because of Renteria’s heroics, but if Cody made an out right there, Edgar might not have even hit that inning. Also, Nelson Cruz homered in the bottom half of the 7th which would have given the Rangers the lead and Lincecum would have taken the L! What a crazy scenario to think about! So let’s stop right now.
Other Notables
Brian Wilson pitched 11.2 innings in the 2010 postseason and allowed 5 hits, 0 ER, struck out 16, and picked up 5 saves. What a beast. In his first World Series and as a rookie, Buster Posey went 6-20 (.300) with a HR and 2 RBI.
I will always remember where I was that night when Wilson struck out Cruz: Faultline Brewing Company in Sunnyvale, CA. Where were you?
This concludes my blogs about the 2010 team. I will now move on to 2012 where I will write about NLDS Game 5, NLCS Game 5, NLCS Game 7, WS Game 1, and WS Game 4. Please subscribe to relive those games.
Ten. Twelve. Fourteen. 