It's Pitching, Stupid, and the Giants Have Enough to Look Smart

Filed under: Giants, Rangers, World Series

ARLINGTON, Texas -- How could folks not get this? The hitting, the fielding and the pitching (oh, the pitching) for a San Francisco Giants team that led the majors in ERA, strikeouts and a bunch of other stuff.

All of that was apparent long before odds makers tabbed the Texas Rangers as World Series favorites and the Giants as lucky just to be in the hard-hitting shadow of the other guys' 10-gallon hats.

Yeah, well. The Giants rolled to a 4-0 win in Game 4 on Sunday night at Rangers Ballpark to sit a victory away from an inevitable world championship that may come as soon as Monday night -- you know, whether the Giants wish to admit it or not.

"I mean, it feels good," said Giants catcher Buster Posey, trying to keep from smiling in the visitors' clubhouse.

Then, with the national and international media hanging on his every syllable, Posey shifted into cliché mode, adding, "Having said that, we know that it's a good ball club over there, and we've got to come out (Monday) and keep playing hard."

Now back to plain speaking: Game 3 was a fluke. Somehow, the Rangers won it on Saturday night at their big place with the cozy feel, but the Giants always were destined to take this World Series, because they are just better. In other words, they weren't aided Sunday night on Halloween by the ghoulishness of witches and goblins.

Try the goodness of hitters and pitchers.

You can throw in the greatness of fielders, too, because the Giants played splendid defense throughout Game 4. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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