The Giants earned the right to face the Texas Rangers in the World Series by beating the favored Philadelphia Phillies in six games, on the road, winning 3-2 on Saturday night to capture their first National League title since 2002.
When the series began, many pundits — including myself — pointed to the Phillies' superior experience, better offense and the fearsome threesome of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.
However, as even I pointed out, of all the teams in the playoffs in either league, the Giants had the best chance to beat the Phils due to their outstanding starting pitching.
In fact, when you look at it, the Giants have the only rotation in baseball that can stack up to Philadelphia, with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez.
Sure, the Yanks have Sabathia but who else that strikes fear? Texas has Lee, and while the others have pitched well and may end up beating the Giants, before this started I'm sure that no one ranked their staff ahead of San Fran.
Having said that, Texas does have the ultimate stopper in Cliff Lee, who has been almost unbeatable in his postseason career, so the Giants' next stop won't be easy by any means.
But at least for now, the Giants have to celebrate beating a team that was widely picked to repeat as NL champs. And they did it on the road.
Let's take a look at the keys to the Giants victory.
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