Sweep, 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.

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.

Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier provided the offense as the Dodgers got a strong outing from Vicente Padilla to advance to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row.