Pat Burrell

Game 1 of the NLCS was supposed to be an epic pitchers duel between two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and no-hit wonder Roy Halladay. 

Instead, both pitchers did not have their best stuff, though Halladay continued where he left off with retiring the first seven Giants he faced. 

Then, No. 8 hitter Cody Ross stepped into the batter's box. 

Alright, the NLCS field is all set. It is going to be the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. The uniforms have been washed, the shoes have been shined, let's throw on our Roy Halladay replica jerseys and get to the ballpark.

We're going to be playing some championship baseball in just . . . five days?!?!?!

Uh, okay.

(Psst: who's in charge of scheduling around here? Oh right; the networks.)

As the 2010 post-season delves further into October, the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies are the last two National League teams standing.

The National League Championship Series between these two clubs will begin on Saturday, October 16th - in Philadelphia.

The Phillies jumped all over Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds, sweeping Dusty Baker and company right out of the playoffs. While it may be tee time in Cincinnati, the Phillies are resting, laying in wait for the Giants.

It seemed all but over. The Giants were leading 4-1 with two innings to go.

San Francisco has one of the best bullpens in baseball, but there came the Atlanta Braves, and in the blink of an eye, the game was tied.

It marked the second time that night a team came back from a 4-0 deficit to win the game, as the Braves eventually won 5-4 in 11 innings thanks to a home run by Rick Ankiel.

Now the series moves back to Georgia tied at one.

The initial champagne has been popped and the celebrations have come and past. Now that the playoff series are set, we can begin talking about matchups and how far each team will go.

Which National League team will play for all the marbles?

We have the Wild Card winning Atlanta Braves going to San Francisco to start their series with the NL West Champion Giants on Thursday.

The NL East Champion Phillies will host the NL Central's Reds starting on Wednesday.

They're back. After a seven-year absence from the postseason, the Giants hosting the wild-card wining Atlanta Braves in an upcoming Division Series. It has been a roller coaster of a season for the team by the bay.

In early July the Giants were in fourth place in the NL West and 4.5 games back. Then, after taking a three game lead, they dropped two to San Diego (SD was 12-6 this season against SF) and had to go to the final game of the season to clinch their berth. But they did it—and hope to follow it up with a World Series ring.

Tonight, a showdown in San Francisco could pop the top off of what up until now may have been this year’s most underrated story in sports: the San Francisco Giants clinching an MLB postseason appearance for the first time since the Barry Bonds era.

The Giants' season-long chase after the San Diego Padres has finally paid off. San Francisco is half a game back of the Padres.

Getting here has been a lengthy and remarkable pursuit marked by the resilience and dedication of the boys in orange and black.

And it isn't over. Much will depend on how the Giants play their last remaining games.

And yet there are some things beyond the Giants control that may happen to hamper their run at NL West Pennant.

Let's take a look at 10 key things to watch for down the stretch for the Giants.

The San Francisco Giants did three significant things during their humongous four-game series against the San Diego Padres. Call it a pleasant coincidence that the team also won three of the weekend contests.

By taking three of four in Petco Park, the good guys exorcised some serious demons in a personal house of horrors. Since the start of the 2009 campaign, the Giants had only won three of the last 14 contests played in the Friars' home. You have to imagine the lads enjoyed doubling a two-year win total in four days.

Where were we?

Oh, right, nothing about yesterday's game matters once today's game starts.

The Giants belted the Padres 7-3 to win the opener of the important four-game NL West series Thursday in San Diego. Giants fans were roaring that everything had fallen into place.

Then on Friday night, the Giants squeaked out a gut-wrenching and fascinating 1-0 win over the Padres to move into a tie for the NL West lead.