San Francisco Giants, World Series | featured news

Smart pitching. Clutch hitting. Sharp fielding. Plus an MVP Panda. All the right elements for a sweet World Series sweep for the San Francisco Giants. Nearly knocked out in the playoffs time and time again, and finally pressed by the Detroit Tigers in Game 4, Pablo Sandoval and the Giants clinched their second title in three seasons Sunday night.

In the absence of truly great teams, baseball thrives on drama. And for weeks, the sport got about as much as it could have hoped for: postseason races that came down to the final days of the regular season, four division series that went five games and a Game 7 in the NLCS.

Justin Verlander lasted just four innings on Wednesday night and surrendered two of the three home runs hit by Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval in an 8-3 Tigers loss that opened the World Series in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Giants are back in the World Series, meaning baseball’s best party will rage at least two more nights. The Giants snuffed the reigning champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-0, to win Game 7 of the National League Championship Series at AT&T Park on Monday. They shook orange towels, jammed to classic rock, scarfed garlic fries and reveled in another shot at glory.

San Francisco Giants defeat Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the World Series, 3-1, to capture the title, winning the organization's first championship since moving West in 1958.

Midway through Game 4, the speakers at Rangers Ballpark blared the 1960s Halloween favorite "Monster Mash."

The Rangers recorded the first World Series victory in franchise history. Lewis combined with Darren O'Day and Neftali Feliz on a five-hitter, with Hamilton and Mitch Moreland each delivering a home run in a 4-2 victory.

Fans jumped up and down, shaking orange pompoms, waving scarves and chanting "Sweep! Sweep!" While the Giants are looking more and more like a baseball juggernaut, they're only halfway to their first World Series title in 56 years. They hope to wrap it up on the road.

It was like seeing Bill Gates standing in the unemployment line or Rush Limbaugh shooting hoops with President Obama. The San Francisco Giants did the unimaginable Wednesday against the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series. They knocked the mystique and aura right out of burgeoning postseason legend Cliff Lee, cruising to an 11-7 victory in front of a frenzied crowd of 43,601 at AT&T Park.

The San Francisco Giants advanced to the World Series by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on Saturday to clinch the National League Championship Series.