Giants Pull Off Upset, On Their Way to The Championship Series

Riveting. Astounding. Euphoric. Heart-attack inducing. Championship bound.

These Giants just do not give up. Down 0-2 in the division series with the Cincinnati Reds, all hope seemed lost. But as fate would have it, something else far greater happened, instead.

Just when Giants fans were curled up in fetal-positions, preparing for the worse, Scot Rolen bobbles the ball off a hit from Joaquin Arias, opening the door for a then anemic looking Giants offense late in the NLDS Game 3, which gave the team the spark they needed on their way to a 2-1 sorely needed win.

They again won yesterday 8-3 (thanks to three homers, a scrappy offense, and an on-point Tim Lincecum) in an exciting Game 4 to even the series, and were looking to upset the Reds even further. And that is just what they did today, behind a strong Matt Cain, who went five solid innings, giving up only three runs.

With the bases loaded in the top of the 5th inning (already 2-0 Giants), Buster Posey stepped to the plate to knock out a towering and resounding grand slam, putting the Giants further ahead at 6-0. This would be all the offense the team needed, as their bullpen would hang on to give up only one run on their way to a 6-4 series win.

It was by no means easy, and the Reds got the Giants in some seriously tough spots, putting runners in scoring position in the last four consecutive innings of the game. Hearts were pounding, Reds fans were screaming, hoping their home-team could pull it out after failing to seal the deal in Game 3. No such luck.

The last thing an opposing team should do is under-estimate the Giants.

And, as it would happen, they are the first National League team to come back from an 0-2 series deficit to then win the next three games on the road to take the series win. The first National League team, in all of the storied history of the game, are you kidding? That’s what this team can do. That is a testament to the talent this team possesses. That’s how much chemistry counts. With their backs up against the wall, they pulled off an upset that almost everyone in the baseball world thought impossible.

Hunter Pence’s pre-game speech’s fueled this rag-tag crew of Giants to show everyone that they mean business, and the result could not have been better.

So the bats were silent in the first two games, and were just a tad better in Game 3. But these last two games, the offense really stepped up and poured on 14 runs in the process, while they scored only 4 runs in the first three.

Who were the heroes?

Well they all were, but there were a few guys that really stood out:

• Tim Lincecum, Buster Posey, Ryan Vogelsong, Jose Mijares, Jeremy Affeldt, Matt Cain, Brandon Crawford, Santiago Casilla, Hunter Pence, Angel Pagan, Hector Sanchez, Joaquin Arias, Sergio Romo.

They all really stepped up, and contributed mightily to advancing their team to the NLCS. Without the contributions from these players, we would all be hanging our heads in silence right now.

Scot Rolen opened up the door for these guys, and it would be Scot Rolen who eventually struck out to close the door for his Reds team.

Whether they face the St. Louis Cardinals or the Washington Nationals, the Championship Series will be hard, and to win the World Series will be a long road. But these battle-tested Giants have now proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have what it takes to go all the way. No Strasburg sounds alright to me.

Stranger things have happened, right?

Let’s go Giants.