One Giant Leap: Giants Sink Rangers For First World Series Title Since 1954

The city of San Francisco has planned its celebratory Giants parade for 11am Wednesday morning, and one thing that always has to be a concern - especially in the bay area - is the quality of the weather. I was in Boston for the 2004 Red Sox parade, for example, and that took place on a cold, rainy morning. It didn't kill the mood, but it didn't improve it, either.

Well, turns out the Giants and the people of San Francisco have nothing to worry about - the Wednesday forecast is glorious. According to weather.com, it should be sunny and somewhere between 68-76 degrees for the duration of the festivities, which is practically perfect. Forget umbrellas and forget layering; those are t-shirt conditions if ever there have been t-shirt conditions.

Despite the Monday night riots, it's expected that the Wednesday parade and celebration should go off without incident. The biggest problem's likely to be either cleanup of all the confetti, or figuring out the transportation for so many countless thousands of people. To accommodate the crowds, there will be two extra Larkspur ferries, six extra metro trains, and extra cars added to BART trains. These services will be provided for the duration.

No traffic will be allowed on the parade section of Market Street during the event, and the garage at the Civic Center will be closed to general parking.

Monday night, we gave you the important details concerning Wednesday's Giants parade. On Tuesday, though, we've learned a little more.

The parade is scheduled to begin at 11am. However, for those who can't attend, Sacramento's FOX40 will have live TV coverage starting at 10am, and for those who can't be near a TV, FOX40.com will air streaming coverage online as well. Presumably, San Francisco's local FOX affiliate will also be airing the parade.

It'll be a ticker-tape parade that, as noted last night, will follow the same route the Giants followed when they arrived in San Francisco from New York in 1958. A map of the route can be found here. Fans are free to line the sidewalks along the parade route, or they may also choose to gather in Civic Center Plaza for the celebration. Many estimates expect attendance in the hundreds of thousands.

Attendees are being strongly encouraged to arrive early and take public transportation. Getting around San Francisco is going to be an absolute mess, and the idea of taking a car and trying to find parking sounds like nothing short of a complete nightmare.

If World Series MVP Edgar Renteria has played his last game with the San Francisco Giants, he certainly made it a memorable one. The 35-year-old shortstop apparently called his seventh-inning three-run home run that broke a scoreless tie in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, which the Giants went on to win to wrap up their first world championship.

It's the second time in his career Renteria has provided the game-winning RBI in a World Series-winning game; he did the same with the Marlins in 1997. With that he joins an exclusive club, joining Yogi Berra, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio as the only players to twice knock in game-winning runs in clinching games of the World Series.

In the postgame news conference, Renteria told reporters that, though he has confidence, he "was joking" when he told teammate Andres Torres he was going to hit a home run as he went to the plate. But Torres obviously took him seriously, as he celebrated with teammate Aaron Rowand as Renteria's home run left Rangers Ballpark, screaming "he told me he was going to do it!"

Now the question is: Will he get the chance to do it again? Renteria hasn't committed to playing again next season. He struggled with injuries during the second year of a two-year, $18.5 million deal he signed with the Giants two years ago that many observers deemed a head-scratcher, at best. Renteria had two of his worst years at the plate and played only 72 games this season. San Francisco holds a $9.5 million option for 2011 on Renteria with a $500,000 buyout.

In this news conference clip provided by Yahoo! Sports, Renteria talks about his home run in Game 5.

On Monday night, for the first time since 1954, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. Then, as is customary now, their fans took to the streets to help celebrate with joyful exuberance and gleeful cheering. And also: riots, vandalism and fires. It was mostly the latter, really. 

And like never before, it's being chronicled for all to see. On Twitter, the hashtag #SFRiot is providing real-time updates on a city waking up after a night of chaos. People were even checking in on Foursquare (via Casey Kelley):

Reports gathered by Mashable (your go-to source for sports updates), tells of police being overrun by the crowds, broken store windows, cars and "at least one bus" in flames and "a squad car containing assault rifles was just broken into, according to the police scanner." Speaking of that police scanner: there is a playlist of last night's activity on the scanner available for download that you can listen to in iTunes. It's 2010, y'all. 

And of course, there are pictures and video. In one particularly horrifying video, from San Francisco's KTVU (via Big League Stew), a mob surrounds a car, pulls the passenger and driver out through the window and begins beating on them and then starts to destroy the car. They disperse a few minutes later when police finally arrive.  

This is video from 22nd and Mission Ave, apparently one of the "hardest-hit areas" of the riots. 

On to the photos: 

(Photos via Getty and TwitPic users _S810, spanktar and zfleeman)

The last time the Giants won the World Series was in 1954. The team was led by the greatest Giant of all-time, Willie Mays. So he knows how the current Giants are feeling following their World Series win on Monday night. And perhaps that’s part of the reason why watching them win it all made Mays so emotional.

This series of tweets Monday night come from John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Willie Mays, greatest Giant of all, watched game from home and told the Chron he had to leave room after final out. Too emotional.

Mays: “Oh, man, I don’t get overly excited about baseball, but looking at these kids and how excited they were, I had some tears in my eyes.”

Why Willie Mays had to leave room after game: "I had to get out of here for a minute because I’m not used to getting emotional like this.”

Mays wasn’t the only Giant great overcome with joy watching his former team win the World Series. Barry Bonds, who is beloved in San Fran despite how the rest of baseball may feel about him, issued this statement to SportsCenter:

There is no city that deserves this championship more and I congratulate Bill Neukom, the entire ownership group, Bochy and most of all the guys on the team that fought hard to bring the trophy home to the city of San Francisco. I grew up watching my dad and godfather as Giants, lived out my dream playing in the same uniform in front of the best fans in the world and I just witnessed the Giants winning the World Series. I am ecstatic for the team, the city and all the fans – you truly deserve it.

All of these quotes come courtesy of SB Nation Bay Area, which also has Comcast SportsNet’s post-game interview with Barry Bonds, in which his excitement for the Giants is pretty clear.

Brian Wilson may be the man who closed out the World Series win for the Giants, but he’s obviously known for much more than just being an excellent closer. More specifically, his beard and hilariously awkward interviews, both of which were on display throughout the 2010 playoffs.

After the Giants won the NLCS over the Phillies, he gave the memorable “Machine” interview to FOX. A couple days later he claimed that his beard’s darkness came from being tanned by playing so many day games. And after the Giants won the World Series, Wilson revealed that he just wants to rage, bro:

Aside from the character, Brian Wilson The Pitcher had an outstanding postseason. He finished the playoffs with six saves, and K’d 16 in 11.2 innings. In the World Series, he allowed one baserunner in 2.2 innings, while striking out four, including Nelson Cruz swinging to seal the Series for San Fransisco.

A lot of times, quotes from players, coaches, officials and fans will use a lot of words to say very little and contribute nothing of value. But following a championship such as the Giants' 2010 World Series title, they can sometimes do an excellent job of establishing the mood. I present a selection for your perusal:

Brian Sabean:

“This buried a lot of bones—’62, ’89, 2002,” Giants general manager Brian Sabean said, ticking off losing Series appearances. “This group deserved it, faithful from the beginning. We’re proud and humbled by the achievement.”

Ron Washington:

“They beat us soundly,” manager Ron Washington said. “They deserve it.”

World Series MVP Edgar Renteria:

"It was a tough year for me, and I appreciate everyone in the organization because they had patience with me -- the GM, the manager," Renteria said. "So they gave me the chance to play and thank God everything went well. And I don't know, the home run? I don't know, I saw the ball well, put a good swing on the ball and it went out."

Barry Zito:

“He devastated that lineup,” fellow pitcher Barry Zito said. “Timmy [Lincecum] was cool as a cucumber out there tonight. I don’t even think he threw a curveball. He stayed with his heater and he stayed with his slider. The other side showed that they were on the defensive because they were swinging at the first pitch and they were more aggressive than usual. Timmy took advantage of it.”

Cliff Lee:

“You’ve got to tip your cap to Lincecum. He pitched an unbelievable game. They outpitched us the whole series,” Lee said. “Against this lineup, that’s highly impressive what they did with the ball. A lot of credit goes to their pitching and defense. It was outstanding, and they flat-out beat us.”

Mitch Moreland:

“There were three games that they just dominated. The pitcher came out and did their job and kept us off balance pretty much the whole game,” Moreland said. “We just couldn’t get anything going. That’s kind of the story for us.”

Some fan:

“I have a permanent smile on my face,” said Valerie Nicklas of Berkeley, who partied at another large street gathering near the Giants’ AT&T Park. “This makes all the years of suffering worth it.”

As fans, all we can ever do is react. React and predict and complain about the things we don't agree with. So much of our time is dedicated to discussing what's happened and what we think will happen next, and we do it all with one goal in mind - a World Series championship. It's all we ever want out of this, and so many of us think we know how to get it.

Giants fans are no different. They've spent years upon years of getting into arguments in bars and online about what the team has done, and what the team will do. At times, it wasn't quite clear that the team's leadership had a good plan in place. This caused a great deal of consternation. Was theirs a front office capable of building a world champion? If not, then what?

Whether by luck, by design, or both, the Giants have managed to achieve what so often seemed unachievable. And I leave it to McCovey Chronicles to say more:

Every roster move and every transaction was an attempt to lead to this. Every barstool argument about the merits of Mike Aldrete or Eugenio Velez, every guttural cheer in the close wins, and every expletive in the close losses was created with the implicit understanding that the San Francisco Giants could possibly, maybe, if everything broke their way, could conceive of having a chance to potentially one day win the World Series. Maybe. The Giants would win, and they’d hold the trophy up high as idiots ran around and sprayed each other with champagne.

That’s why we spent so much time trying to figure out if it was a good idea to trade Kirt Manwaring for Rick Wilkins, or hoping that Milt May really was the heir to Willie McCovey’s throne: the stupid, unrealistic promise that the San Francisco Giants could win the World Series.

Words fail.

Click through for the full post and the fan reaction. There is one city that, tonight, is the happiest of all the cities.

Monday night, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the first time since moving west to California. But they had won before, in a previous incarnation - they won it all as the New York Giants in 1954.

Those 1954 Giants were managed by Leo Durocher, and they played in the Polo Grounds. They went 97-57 during the regular season and finished first in the National League, five games ahead of Brooklyn.

The team was led by Willie Mays and his 41 home runs in the middle of the lineup, and offensive support was provided by Don Mueller and Hank Thompson. On the mound, the strongest performances came from Johnny Antonelli and Ruben Gomez, who combined to allow 163 runs in 480.1 innings.

The Giants met the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. The Indians had gone 111-43 during the season to win the American League, and in those days the AL and NL winners advanced straight to a head-to-head showdown. And in in the Series, despite the Indians' better record, they proved no match, as the Giants won four in a row for a sweep. They took Game 1 5-2 in ten innings. Game 2 was won by a 3-1 score, and the final two contests went by 6-2 and 7-4.

Dusty Rhodes led all Giants hitters with seven RBI, making up 35% of the team's total. And on the mound, the pitchers allowed a total of just nine runs, with Antonelli and Gomez each getting a win.

It was the Giants' first World Series win since 1933. Little did they know it would be another 56 years until their next. The Giants, of course, lost in 2002, and also in 1989 and 1962.

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As a closing note, some 1954 facts as provided by FOX during the broadcast:

-I Love Lucy was the #1 show on TV

-Gas cost $0.21 a gallon

-Dwight D. Eisenhower was president

-There were no MLB teams west of the Mississippi

The Giants, of course, just Monday night put the finishing touches on a World Series title by beating the Rangers in five games. And it was only Monday night that their fans were finally able to forget about all the misery they went through back in 2002.

The 2002 Giants were a team managed by Dusty Baker and led by Barry Bonds, who slugged 46 home runs. He was supported by second baseman Jeff Kent, and the pitching staff was led by Russ Ortiz and Jason Schmidt.

The Giants won 95 games in the regular season and made the playoffs as the NL Wild Card. In the playoffs, they eliminated the Atlanta Braves in five games in the NLDS, and then eliminated the St. Louis Cardinals in five games in the NLCS. That set up a World Series showdown against the southern California rival Anaheim Angels.

And the Giants were able to pull out to a 3-2 series lead before flying to Anaheim for Game 6. And it was in that Game  6 that they held a 5-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning. But the Angels were able to get big home runs from Scott Spiezio and Darin Erstad in what became an incredible comeback win, and John Lackey then went on to shut the Giants down in Game 7 as the Angels pulled off the dramatic championship.

Coming so close and then seeing it all given away left a bitter taste in the mouths of fans fans and officials - a bitter taste that persisted for the years and years to come. That taste has only tonight been washed away.

The 2010 World Series hasn't been over for an hour, and already we know plenty of details about the celebratory parade back in San Francisco. Which, of course, we should expect, given that city officials don't wait for these things to end before planning out how they want to arrange tens if not hundreds of thousands of people. Every city knows how and where it wants to pull off a championship parade. But only one city gets to do it. Pity the poor Texas officials and all of their blueprints.

The San Francisco Chronicle has the information.The parade is scheduled to begin at 11am Wednesday morning, and will start at Montgomery and Washington. From there it will head southbound along Montgomery until it hits Market Street. At Market, it will turn west until it hits Civic Center Plaza.

Following the parade, the team will be presented the key to the city by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom on the steps of city hall. And as the Chronicle points out:

The parade will replicate the route taken by the team when they came to San Francisco from New York in 1958.

Here's a Google Maps image for your planning convenience:

Edgar Renteria was named the 2010 World Series MVP just a few minutes ago. The Giants scored 29 runs over five games, four of which they won. But make no mistake - the biggest factor was the strength of their pitching.

Okay, so in Game 1, it was the hitting. It was the hitters who established an 8-2 lead against Cliff Lee and the Rangers in the fifth inning, and that wound up an 11-7 game. There wasn't very much pitching to speak of.

But look at Game 2. Though it wound up 9-0, it was 2-0 going into the bottom of the eighth, and it was Matt Cain who kept the Rangers quiet with 7.2 shutout innings.

Look at Game 4. While Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey homered, it was Madison Bumgarner who kept the Rangers quiet with eight shutout innings.

And look at Game 5. While Renteria hit the big home run that put the Giants in front, it was Tim Lincecum who allowed just a solo homer over eight standout frames.

The Giants finish the World Series with a team batting average of .249 and a team slugging percentage of .450. But they also finish the World Series with a team batting average allowed of .190, and a team ERA of 2.45. Their arms were able to keep guys like Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero in check, and now they have all the time in the world to reflect on their achievement.

Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee didn't deliver the pitcher's duel they were expected to deliver in the World Series opener, but the two looked to be on top of their respective games in Game 5. It's for that reason that this Game 5 run-by-run rundown of the offense is going to be incredibly brief.

The Giants scored their three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Facing Cliff Lee, Cody Ross led off with a groundball single back up the middle. Batting next, Juan Uribe lined a single of his own into center field, putting two on with nobody out.

Aubrey Huff bunted the runners over to second and third, and Pat Burrell stepped in just looking for a grounder or a fly ball. But Burrell struck out, leaving it all up to Edgar Renteria to come through with a knock. Renteria proved more than capable, as he blasted a 2-0 cutter over the left-center fence for a three-run home run. There's a reason that guy was named World Series MVP.

The Rangers scored their one run in the bottom of the seventh. All they were able to do was get a solo home run by Nelson Cruz off Lincecum with one out.

Those were the two run-scoring half innings. At no other point did either team even come close. Outside of those two half innings, no runners so much as reached second base. The pitching was so good this felt like a game that would come down to one mistake, and it was Cliff Lee who made it.

The San Francisco Giants, of course, won the 2010 World Series as a team, and they received the championship trophy for their efforts. But there's a little individual hardware that gets handed out after these things as well, and it was determined that the MVP of the 2010 World Series was none other than Giants shortstop Edgar Renteria.

A guy who spent much of the season on the bench, Renteria again came up huge in the World Series, just as he did all the way back in 1997 for the Marlins. In Game 1, he picked up a hit and scored two runs. In Game 2, he hit a tie-breaking homer off C.J. Wilson that stood up as the winning run. In Game 4, he delivered three hits. And in Game 5, it was his three-run homer in the top of the seventh off Cliff Lee that put the Giants in the lead - a lead they'd hang on to.

In all, Renteria finishes the series having batted 7-17 with two home runs, six runs scored, and six runs batted in. He makes for a very worthy choice, as nobody else made the impact he did in snapping two scoreless ties.

Another choice could've been Tim Lincecum. It was Lincecum who shut the Rangers down in Game 5 by allowing one run over eight stellar innings. Lincecum also got the win over Cliff Lee in Game 1. But that Game 1 effort was less about Lincecum being terrific and more about Lee being worse than usual, and whoever votes on this thing decided that Lincecum didn't deserve the MVP based on one standout performance.

Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - After 52 long years, the Commissioner's Trophy is finally heading to San Francisco, and it's all because of a repeat World Series hero.

Edgar Renteria, who had the game-winning hit in the 11th inning of Game 7 in the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins, blasted his second home run of the 2010 Fall Classic -- a three-run shot -- giving the Giants all of their offense in a 3-1 Game 5 victory over the Texas Rangers to win the title.

Renteria, who played in a career-low 72 regular season games in 2010, didn't even crack the postseason starting lineup until an injury to Juan Uribe in the NLCS. His third career playoff home run broke a scoreless tie and lifted the Giants to their first World Series win since they played in New York in 1954, snapping the majors' third-longest drought. Following the game, he was named the series' MVP after going 7-for-17 with two homers and six RBI.

Tim Lincecum (2-0) was on the right end of a classic pitchers' duel, beating Cliff Lee (0-2) for the second consecutive matchup after hurling a gem, allowing just one solo homer among three hits and two walks while fanning 10 in eight innings, helping the Giants win the championship for the first time since 1954 and snap the third-longest championship drought in the league among teams that have won before.

Brian Wilson, who led the regular season with 48 saves, threw a perfect ninth inning to record his sixth save of the postseason and send the Giants into a wild celebration.

The San Francisco pitching staff -- the first completely homegrown staff to pitch in the World Series since the 1986 Red Sox -- simply dominated the high- octane Texas offense, perhaps proving once again that when it matters most, good pitching will neutralize good hitting. After the Rangers scored seven runs in a Game 1 loss, Texas scored just five runs in the final four games, including four in its Game 3 victory.

Lee's only mistake was Renteria's home run, but he otherwise pitched brilliantly, giving up six hits while striking out six in seven innings.

Nelson Cruz's home run was the only offense for Texas, which was not able to win the title in its first World Series in team history. AL MVP favorite Josh Hamilton, whose story from drug problems and back to greatness has been highly publicized through the years, went 0-for-4, giving him a 2-for-20 mark in the series.

In the seventh inning, Lee couldn't quite escape unscathed, as one big swing put the Giants on the verge of a championship.

Cody Ross and Uribe hit consecutive singles leading off, with Ross becoming the first baserunner of the game to reach second base. Aubrey Huff put down the first sacrifice bunt of his career, a perfect roller up the first base line that forced Lee to make an acrobatic dive to force the out.

Pat Burrell struck out for the 10th time in the World Series, a swing through a 3-2 fastball, bringing up Renteria. Lee, who rarely gets into a hitters' count, went 2-0 to Renteria before a cutter up and out over the plate. The Giants shortstop sent a high deep fly ball to left-center, barely clearing the wall for a three-run homer.

Cruz quickly breathed some life into the Rangers, swatting a one-out homer to left in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 3-1. Ian Kinsler followed with a walk to seemingly ignite a small fire into the offense, but Lincecum quickly put the fire out with consecutive strikeouts of David Murphy and Bengie Molina.

Lincecum made Mitch Moreland his third consecutive strikeout victim to begin the bottom of the eighth, then induced weak groundouts from Elvis Andrus and Michael Young to put the Giants three outs away from a championship.

Wilson came on in the ninth and struck out Hamilton looking on a pitch right down the middle before getting Vladimir Guerrero to ground out to Renteria. Cruz then struck out swinging on a high pitch to finish off the 2010 MLB season.

The Rangers finally got their first hit in the fourth inning, when Young led off with a groundball single through the middle. Hamilton, though, who came into the game 2-for-16 in the series, struck out, before Guerrero hit into a fielder's choice. Cruz struck out to end the frame.

San Francisco caught a break to begin the fifth. Huff hit a high bouncing groundball to second, which Kinsler fielded with his bare hand and threw to first. Moreland, though, simply dropped the throw at first base to leave Huff safe on the error.

Burrell, however, struck out for the ninth time in his 11th World Series at- bat before Renteria bounced into a 6-4-3 double play.

In the top of the sixth, Freddy Sanchez lined an 0-2 pitch to shallow right, and Cruz was unable to make the diving grab. On the next Lee offering, Buster Posey sent a moonshot to deep right; Cruz drifted back and leaped toward the wall, catching the ball on the heel of his glove to likely prevent the game's first run.

Moreland singled for the Rangers leading off the home sixth, but Andrus and Young both flied out to center on consecutive pitches. Two pitches later, Hamilton grounded out weakly to second.

San Francisco became the second team to clinch three postseason series on the road in one year; the 2005 White Sox also did it, and that team employed current Giants Aaron Rowand and Uribe...Huff's last sacrifice bunt came as a member of the Triple-A Durham Bulls in 2000...San Francisco scored 30 runs in 10 games during the NL playoffs before scoring 29 runs in the World Series in five games...Lincecum is the first pitcher since Bob Gibson in 1967 to record 10 strikeouts in a World Series clinching win...Burrell finished the World Series 0-for-13 with 11 strikeouts and had 22 punchouts in 42 playoff at- bats...20 of the 25 San Francisco players are first-time champions. The exceptions are Burrell (Philadelphia, 2008), Javier Lopez (Boston, 2007), Renteria (Florida, 1997) and the aforementioned Rowand and Uribe...Lee lost a potential elimination game for the first time in his career. He had been 2-0.

They say it's the first time the Giants have won the World Series since 1954. Realistically, this is the first time they've ever done it as the current team. This is San Francisco's first world championship since moving from New York to California.

After Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum traded zeroes for six innings, Edgar Renteria came up in the seventh and, with two outs, delivered a sudden, surprising three-run home run to put the Giants in the lead.

And though the Rangers were able to get one back in the bottom half on a solo shot by Nelson Cruz, that was the last run they'd be able to score. Lincecum kept them quiet the rest of the way in the seventh. Lincecum kept them quiet in the eighth. And closer Brian Wilson came out and slammed the door in the ninth.

Josh Hamilton led off by taking a called strike three on a 95mph fastball. The next batter - Vladimir Guerrero - grounded out to short on a first-pitch slider. And the third batter - Nelson Cruz - was the final batter of the season. Cruz worked a full count, but swung and missed at a high fastball, and all the Giants poured out of the dugout and bullpen to commence the celebration.

Soak it all in.

And it's all come down to this.

In his second inning of relief, trying to preserve a two-run deficit, Neftali Feliz looked absolutely stellar in the top of the ninth. He was able to strike out Juan Uribe leading off on three pitches, the last being a slider low and out of the zone.

The next batter was Aubrey Huff, and he fell behind in the count 1-2 before rolling an easy grounder to second base for the second out.

The final batter was Pat Burrell, and as he's done so often in these playoffs, he struck out, swinging and missing three times against Feliz. Feliz kept the Giants off the board through two innings of work, allowing only an infield single.

Here comes Brian Wilson in the bottom of the ninth to try and win the Giants a World Series. Tim Lincecum's performance:

8 innings
3 hits
1 run
2 walks
10 strikeouts
101 pitches (71 strikes)

Lincecum probably still had some gas, but this is Wilson's job, and he's pretty good at it.

Good news for the Rangers: Neftali Feliz kept the Giants from adding to their lead in the top of the eighth.

Bad news for the Rangers: Tim Lincecum kept the Rangers from battling back in the bottom.

Feliz came out from the bullpen in an unfamiliar position in the eighth, but he did the job with ease, needing just 11 pitches to work through the top of the Giants order. Andres Torres popped out in foul territory. Freddy Sanchez followed with a lineout to left, and after Buster Posey picked up an infield single on a swinging bunt, Cody Ross grounded out to second to end it.

Lincecum then returned to the mound, trying not to give the Rangers any life. They didn't get any life. The first batter - Mitch Moreland - swung and missed three straight times.

The next batter - Elvis Andrus - needed two pitches before he tapped back to the mound. And the last better - Michael Young - grounded out to third on a 2-1 count to send this game to the ninth.

Feliz will return to the mound for the Rangers, and as for the Giants, closer Brian Wilson is getting warm and preparing to try and seal the deal in the World Series.

The bottom of the seventh inning brought good news and bad news to a Rangers team that suddenly found itself needing to claw back from a deficit.

Edgar Renteria's two-out, three-run homer in the top of the seventh gave the Giants a sudden, unexpected 3-0 lead. Tim Lincecum took that lead into the bottom half, and he was able to strike out the first batter he saw - Vladimir Guerrero - on four pitches, the last of which being a changeup in the dirt.

That brought Nelson Cruz to the plate with nobody on, but Cruz isn't one to go down without a fight. On a 1-1 count, Cruz did what he does best, yanking a low pitch into the left field seats. The solo homer narrowed San Francisco's lead to 3-1.

Ian Kinsler then followed with a walk, and it felt like the Rangers had some life. Unfortunately for them, David Murphy struck out on five pitches, and needing a big hit, Bengie Molina struck out on five as well to end the frame.

The Rangers got one of the runs they needed, but they gave away three outs to get it, and they head into the eighth still behind by two. Neftali Feliz is on out of the bullpen in relief of Cliff Lee to keep things where they are. Lee's day:

7 innings
6 hits
3 runs
0 walks
6 strikeouts
95 pitches (69 strikes)

Hold the phone. After six innings of Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum looking terrific, we saw our first cracks form in the top of the seventh. And unfortunately for Lee and the Rangers, they're now facing very long odds if they want to stay alive and send this series back to California.

Cody Ross worked a long at bat to lead off and grounded a single back up the middle past Elvis Andrus. And with some speculating that he might bunt, Juan Uribe followed with a base hit of his own into center field.

That put a runner on second for the first time in the game, and Aubrey Huff subsequently moved the runners over by dropping down his first sacrifice bunt of the year. Up came Pat Burrell with a big opportunity to shake off his struggles and put the Giants out in front.

He couldn't do it. On a full count, Lee struck Burrell out swinging with a cutter, and that brought Edgar Renteria to the plate as the Giants' big hope. A grounder or a fly ball wouldn't do it anymore. If the Giants wanted to score, they needed a hit.

And Renteria provided a hit. A huge hit. After getting ahead in the count 2-0, Renteria got a high cutter over the middle of the plate and launched it to left-center field. It didn't look too bad off the bat, but David Murphy kept running back until he ran out of room, and the ball disappeared over the fence for a three-run home run.

Aaron Rowand flew out to end the inning and take us to the stretch, but the Giants are now up 3-0, nine outs away from a World Series title, with Tim Lincecum absolutely dealing.

On and on it goes. Lincecum vs. Halladay didn't quite deliver the first time. It didn't quite deliver the second time. Lincecum vs. Lee didn't deliver the first time.

Lincecum vs. Lee is delivering the second time. At last, what looked to be a classic pitcher's duel coming in has indeed turned into a classic pitcher's duel.

Lee's sixth inning was a quick one, if a somewhat terrifying one. Aaron Rowand struck out looking on three pitches, and Andres Torres bounced a weak groundout. That brought up Freddy Sanchez, and Sanchez was able to drop a looping base hit into right, just in front of a diving Nelson Cruz.

In stood Buster Posey, and Posey drove a first-pitch fastball deep the other way. As the camera panned up and Joe Buck's voice rose, however, Cruz retreated and made a leaping catch on the track to rob Posey of extra bases and preserve the shutout.

Lincecum came out to the mound and promptly allowed a leadoff groundball single to Mitch Moreland, and for a fleeting moment you could feel like the Rangers might finally break through. Ron Washington tried to make something happen by calling for a hit-and-run with Elvis Andrus. But as Moreland took off, Andrus skied a ball to center, and Moreland had to return to first base.

The next batter, Michael Young, then stung a pitch, but he hit it right to Rowand in center field. And Josh Hamilton grounded out to second to end the frame.

Off to the seventh we go in a scoreless tie. Lee's thrown 75 pitches, while Lincecum's thrown 68. It doesn't look like either of these pitchers is going to go away for quite some time.

This is getting silly now. Five innings have gone by in something like 70 or 75 minutes, and neither team appears even close to being able to put a run on the board. You get the feeling like this is going to come down to an error or a single mistake pitch.

Cliff Lee returned to the mound for the top of the fifth and got the job done without too much worry. Aubrey Huff hit a high chopper in the infield on which Ian Kinsler made a spectacular pick-up and throw, but Mitch Moreland couldn't handle the ball, and Huff reached base. No matter. Pat Burrell struck out swinging, and Edgar Renteria followed by pulling an inside pitch right to Elvis Andrus, who flipped to Kinsler, who flipped to Moreland for the textbook 6-4-3 to end the inning.

Then Lincecum just kept on doing what he's been doing. Kinsler took a strike, then grounded out weakly. David Murphy took a strike, then fouled a strike, then struck out swinging. Bengie Molina whiffed at two strikes before hitting a weak tapper back to the mound. Lincecum threw eight pitches in the inning, all of them strikes, and worked a perfect frame that didn't give the Rangers a chance.

To the sixth we go, knotted at 0-0. Pitch counts are 63 for Lee and 61 for Lincecum. Both guys are just throwing strike after strike, although Lincecum's been missing more bats.

I think it's official now - we do indeed have the pitcher's duel we missed out on in Game 1. Both Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum look real good, and there are four innings in the books just an hour into the game.

In the top of the fourth, Lee returned to the mound and retired the Giants in order. Buster Posey was able to work a very long 11-pitch at bat that saw him drill a line drive just foul in right field, but in the end he grounded out. Cody Ross and Juan Uribe then made things easier - Ross striking out on four pitches, and Uribe flying out on three of his own. That ended the fourth for Lee.

So Lincecum jogged out to the hill and went right back to work. Michael Young worked a good at bat and sent a grounder back up the middle to lead off, giving the Rangers their first hit. But Lincecum was able to strand him on the bases. Josh Hamilton struck out on a slider down and well out of the zone. Vladimir Guerrero bounced into a fielder's choice to short. And Nelson Cruz - despite getting ahead 2-0 in the count - whiffed on a 2-2 slider to end it.

Through four, we have no runs. Lee's thrown 51 pitches, while Lincecum has thrown 53. It's Lincecum who's looking to be the more unhittable of the two, as he has five strikeouts over his last two frames.

After both starting pitchers traded goose eggs through the first two innings, Cliff Lee came out in the top of the third trying not to be the first guy to give in. And, in typical Cliff Lee fashion, he succeeded.

It wasn't the best that Lee's ever looked. After Edgar Renteria led off with a first-pitch pop out, Aaron Rowand followed with a line out to left field. The next batter, Andres Torres, then slapped a hard-hit grounder back up the middle for a base hit, and Freddy Sanchez concluded the inning with a lineout back to the mound just over Lee's head. Lee kept the Giants scoreless, but three of the four balls in play were struck well.

Lincecum then returned to the mound and looked absolutely dominant. He struck out David Murphy swinging on three pitches. He struck out Bengie Molina swinging on three pitches. He walked Mitch Moreland on some borderline calls to give the Rangers their first baserunner, but he came back to strike out Elvis Andrus on four pitches to end it.

To the fourth we go, still scoreless. Lee has thrown 33 pitches, while Lincecum has thrown 34. 45 of those 67 total pitches have been strikes.

After an easy first inning that saw zero runs and 23 total pitches, the second might've been even easier, as Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum each settled into a groove.

Lee came out and immediately got locked in a long battle with Juan Uribe. With the eighth pitch, though, Lee was able to strike him out swinging with an inside fastball. That brought up Aubrey Huff, and Huff proved much simpler to put away than Uribe, grounding out on the second pitch. The Giants' final hope in the inning was Pat Burrell, and while Burrell did smoke a 3-1 fastball into left field, David Murphy retreated a few steps to make a catch and end the inning.

Tim Lincecum then came out and pitched very efficiently. He busted Vladimir Guerrero with a first-pitch inside fastball and got a fly out. He busted Nelson Cruz with a first-pitch inside fastball and got a groundout. Ian Kinsler didn't swing at the first pitch, which was a fastball and also a strike, but a few pitches later he also grounded out, wrapping up a six-pitch second inning.

To the third we go, with Lee at 25 pitches, and Lincecum at 19. This may end up being the pitcher's duel we all missed out on in Game 1.

In the top of the first, Cliff Lee was able to come out and keep all the fans excited by turning in a shutout inning. Against the top of the Giants order, Lee wasn't perfect, but he stranded Buster Posey on first base and put up the game's first zero.

Looking to respond in kind, Tim Lincecum jogged out to the mound set to face the Rangers' 1-2-3. And he did Lee one better by retiring his adversaries in order. Elvis Andrus chased a high fastball and bounced an easy grounder back to the mound, which Lincecum was able to snare and throw over to first. Up next was Michael Young, and he worked a full count before sending a fly ball the other way into moderate right, where Cody Ross made an easy catch.

The final batter of the inning was Josh Hamilton, and Hamilton got ahead 2-0 before Lincecum fought back to 2-2, and on the fifth pitch, Hamilton grounded out to first.

With one inning in the books, it's scoreless, with Lincecum having thrown 13 pitches and Lee having thrown ten.

This being the final home game of the season for the Texas Rangers one way or another, the fans and their towels are out in full force. There's a very boisterous atmosphere in Arlington, and everyone in attendance just wants to see Cliff Lee dominate and the Rangers send this thing back to San Francisco with their hopes still very much alive.

And after all the pregame festivities were complete, Lee came out to the mound and did his first job. He opened against Andres Torres and struck him out swinging on a curveball in the dirt.

The next batter was Freddy Sanchez, and Lee jammed him, breaking his bat and inducing a routine grounder to the left side. Just like that, the Giants had two down.

In stepped Buster Posey, and Posey was able to line Lee's first pitch over the head of Ian Kinsler and into right field. That gave the Giants their first baserunner, and the faintest hint of a threat. But then Cody Ross came up and popped out in the infield, and we're going to the bottom of the first with Lee having kept his opponent off the board.

In no best-of-seven series do you ever want to find yourself behind 3-1. It's not the worst possible situation, but it's close, and even based on a simple 50/50 coin flip, the odds are only 12.5% that you'll be able to come back to win. A team that's behind three games to one is, simply, a very long shot.

But via our Rangers blog Lone Star Ball, author Adam Morris presents a couple reasons why he's altogether feeling pretty good coming into Monday's Game 5:

I will say this...I don't find myself nearly as upset or as bothered by being down 3-1 as a lot of folks are, or even as much as I would have thought I would be.  Part of that, I think, is that with this team, as I've said before, I feel like we're playing with house money.  This team is seeing its championship window just now opening, it is well positioned to compete for several years, and not many folks before the season thought the Rangers would even with the A.L. West.  Just seeing the Rangers in the World Series, something I've been waiting for for almost 40 years, with this team never even getting close, takes a lot of the sting out.

But the other thing about it is that I don't think this series is over.  We have Cliff Lee going tonight.  We have a team that has bounced back time and time again when things have gone badly.  I have confidence that the Rangers will not let San Francisco celebrate a world championship in Arlington.

Click through for the whole post. Adam's right - with Cliff Lee taking the hill, this series isn't over. And even if the Rangers lose tonight, 2010 won't be the last time they're heard from. That's a team that stands to be relevant for a good many years.

Ron Washington has elected to go with what's worked, and his Game 5 lineup looks similar to pretty much every lineup he's used all month.

Bruce Bochy, though, has opted to shake things up a little bit, even after a 4-0 win in Game 4 that put the Giants a game away from a world championship. Bochy is playing the matchups and hoping he gets a favorable roll of the dice.

The biggest news is that Pat Burrell is back in the lineup after taking Game 4 off. Burrell will serve as the Giants' designated hitter. He was benched because he's gone 0-9 in the World Series with eight strikeouts, and because he's struggled for most of the month, but he was a productive bat for the Giants for much of the season, and he has Bochy's trust. Additionally, he's a right-handed power hitter to slide in against the left-handed Cliff Lee.

Because Burrell is DH, Aubrey Huff returns to first base and Travis Ishikawa finds himself on the bench. The other interesting move is that Aaron Rowand will start and play center field, displacing Andres Torres. Torres will start as well, but he'll get the go in right. Even though Torres is a capable center fielder, Rowand isn't very comfortable in the corners.

Why Rowand? Because, like Burrell, he's a right-handed bat, and he's also a good defensive outfielder. Despite Rowand's struggles at the plate, this is just Bochy playing the matchups.

As a final touch, Cody Ross will bat cleanup, and Juan Uribe will bat fifth. This is a team that could win the World Series Monday night.

Andres Torres, RF
Freddy Sanchez, 3B
Buster Posey, C
Cody Ross, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Aubrey Huff, 1B
Pat Burrell, DH
Edgar Renteria, SS
Aaron Rowand, CF

Tim Lincecum, SP

In all, Cliff Lee will face only one left-handed in the game.

Though the Rangers got shut out by Madison Bumgarner and Brian Wilson in a 4-0 Game 4 loss that pushed them to the brink of elimination, smart fans knew better than to count on Ron Washington to make big changes to his lineup.

The Game 5 lineups are out, and sure enough, Washington is sticking with what's familiar. The only change of any significance is that David Murphy will slide in to replace Jeff Francoeur, but the two outfielders have been platooning, and with the right-handed Tim Lincecum taking the mound for the Giants, it makes sense to get the left-handed Murphy into the game.

Murphy will play in left field, while Nelson Cruz moves back to right. Bengie Molina will catch Cliff Lee behind the plate, and Mitch Moreland remains at first base. As the Rangers have had the best offense of the month - with a team .264 average and .760 OPS in the playoffs - there's not much reason for Washington to shake things up, Sunday be damned. If the lineup fails to produce, it won't be the manager's fault.

Elvis Andrus, SS
Michael Young, 3B
Josh Hamilton, CF
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Nelson Cruz, RF
Ian Kinsler, 2B
David Murphy, LF
Bengie Molina, C
Mitch Moreland, 1B

Cliff Lee, SP

During a relief appearance in Sunday's Game 4, Ranger righty Alexi Ogando had to come out after injuring his side. The injury was to his left oblique, and there was widespread speculation that he wouldn't be able to return in the rest of the series. Oblique injuries tend to knock pitchers out for at least a couple weeks during the regular season.

As of Monday, the Rangers have agreed that Ogando won't be able to come back. As such, they have dropped him from their World Series roster and replaced him with Dustin Nippert.

It's a tough break, as Ogando had been effective. Armed with a live arm and a high-90s fastball, Ogando averages a strikeout an inning and had allowed only one run over six playoff innings, with eight strikeouts and one walk. He was an important piece of Texas' middle relief.

In steps the righty Nippert, who made an appearance during the ALDS against the Rays, and who also made two NLCS appearance for the Diamondbacks in 2007. Nippert is not incapable of getting hitters out, but he doesn't miss bats to nearly the degree that Ogando does, and he very frequently struggles with walks. Nippert isn't likely to pick up any important innings.

With a weakened bullpen, expect Ron Washington to lean on his starters as long as he can.

The Rangers had big plans for Game 3 and Game 4. Headliners like Kelly Clarkson, George W Bush, George H W Bush, Lyle Lovett, Nolan Ryan, Ivan Rodriguez, and Martha Plimpton all appeared either to throw the ceremonial first pitch, sing the national anthem, or sing God Bless America.

Game 5 is a little different. Game 5 isn't guaranteed coming into any series, and its tentative nature can make it a little more difficult to get big-time commitments leading in. But the Rangers have gone and arranged maybe the best lineup they could.

The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown out by Ferguson Jenkins. Jenkins, 67, is a Hall of Fame right-handed starter who pitched for the Rangers from 1974-1975 and from 1978-1981. Over those six seasons as a Ranger, he won 93 games and posted a 3.56 ERA. He was elected to the Rangers team Hall of Fame in 2004, and he holds the club record in single-season wins, innings, and complete games.

The national anthem will be performed by country music singer and part team owner Charley Pride. From NBC:

Pride unofficial started his music career in the late 1950s as a ballplayer with the Negro America League's Memphis Red Sox while signing and playing guitar on the team bus between ballparks.

Over the past 30 years, Pride has received 31 gold and four platinum albums -- including one quadruple album.

Former Ranger Mark McLemore will then assist in taking the first game ball to the mound, and later on, God Bless America will be sung during the seventh inning stretch by Mollie Corbett, who is married to a technical sergeant with the Air Force.