As the ball trickled along the edge of the grass near the third base line, the crowd at AT&T Park held their breath, willing the ball to stay fair. It was another one of those Giants postseason moments, one that just couldn't seem to go wrong. When the ball finally stopped on the right side of the line, San Francisco Giants fans erupted, many of them stunned by their own good fortune, others buoyed by the feeling that this postseason was theirs for the taking.
On a 3-1 count in the bottom of the 7th inning, Gregor Blanco laid down a bunt that chopped directly into the ground, resulting in a high bounce and what seemed to be a ball headed into foul territory. Fortunately for Giants, the ball slowly came to a stop in fair territory, bringing back memories of Tiger Woods' famous shot that slowly tipped into the hole - at least for me. The image of Gerald Laird and Miguel Cabrera standing over the ball, waiting for it to turn foul, followed by the emphatic fair ball signal from home plate umpire Dan Iassogna, was symbolic of the Giants' unlikely road to the World Series and their success in the first two games.
The Giants now lead the Detroit Tigers 2-0 in the best-of-seven series as the teams take today off while heading east to Michigan. So much of the Giants' success in these past few outings seems to be magical, the type of play that people remember when thinking back on past World Series champions. The oft-publicized wins in consecutive elimination games, the pitching staff coming to life at the timeliest of occasions, and Marco Scutaro continuing to carry the offense on his back will be the great themes of this postseason should the Giants end up winning the World Series.
In addition to his bunt to load the bases with no outs in the 7th, Blanco also chased down a line drive to make a perfect cut off throw to Scutaro in the 2nd. With Prince Fielder going for home, Blanco's throw went over the head of Crawford right to Scutaro, who made the quick turn to get Fielder at the plate. The defensive effort kept the game level at 0-0, and thwarted what would be the Tiger's best opportunity to score in the whole game.
In Game 1, Blanco made two diving catches on almost identical defensive plays. Though Blanco may not be hitting a hot bat, his defensive stops have been critical to the Giants' success. His play has made it easy to forget about All-Star Game MVP Melky Cabrera, who has been inactive for the whole postseason following his 50-game ban for PEDs.
Bruce Bochy benched Madison Bumgarner in the ALCS, giving his start to the struggling Tim Lincecum. With the extra rest, Bumgarner was able to turn in on of his best starts since the All-Star break, giving up just 2 hits over 7 shutout innings. After what we saw the Giants starters do in Games 5, 6, and 7 of the ALCS, it seems like these pitchers have got everything firing when it matters most.
To Lincecum's credit, he has been a savior out of the bullpen. In his 6.1 innings of work out of the bullpen, he's given up only 1 hit while striking out 8. It may seem unorthodox having a 2-time NL Cy Young winner coming out of the bullpen, Bochy's decision to do so has been rewarding.
After all the things that have put the Giants in the position they're in, perhaps the most stark show of otherworldly power was Pablo Sandoval's shellacking of Justin Verlander in Game 1. His two home runs of the best pitcher in baseball propelled the Giants to a huge victory in the series opener, and provided all the momentum the team needed.
The raucous clubhouse and Hunter Pence's inspired "sermons" have done something to this Giants team. Despite the Tigers coming in as the favorites to win it the series, the Giants have been playing like the team of destiny so far. With the series shifting to Detroit for Game 3, the Giants will look to bring their momentum with them.
Connor Rose is a Chat Sports senior writer. E-mail him at: connorarose@gmail.com or follow Connor on Twitter: Follow @connorarose
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