San Francisco Triumphs in World Series
October 29, 2012
The San Francisco Giants won their second World Series in the last three seasons on Sunday, October 28, sweeping the Detroit Tigers in four straight games. The Giants stopped the heavy-hitting Tigers with solid performances by starting pitchers Barry Zito, Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong, and Matt Cain. An unhittable bullpen closed out each game.
In the series, there were plenty of heroes for the Giants, none bigger than third baseman Pablo Sandoval, the World Series Most Valuable Player. Sandoval became just the fourth player in series history to hit three home runs in one game. Sandoval accomplished that feat in the critical opening game, hitting two homers against Tigers ace pitcher Justin Verlander. Two other stars for San Francisco, second baseman Marco Scutaro and outfielder Hunter Pence, were not even on the team until they were acquired in trades late in the season.
Detroit, the American League Central Division champions, was widely favored in the contest. The Tigers featured star pitcher Verlander as well as third baseman Miguel Cabrera, who became the first player since 1967 to win the American League triple crown of batting, leading the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. Batting behind Cabrera was slugging first baseman Prince Fielder, who had a dreadful series, batting only .071 with no runs batted in. But the entire Tigers team struggled, scoring only six runs in the four losses, including two shut-outs.
San Francisco, the National League West Division champions, struggled mightily to even reach the World Series. The Giants lost their first two games at home against the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series. However, they swept the next three, with two victories on the road, to win that series, 3 games to 2. San Francisco then fell behind the St. Louis Cardinals, 3 games to 1, in the National League Championship Series. Facing elimination in each remaining game, the Giants won the next three games to defeat St. Louis, 4 games to 3, to win the National League pennant.
Detroit qualified for the World Series by edging the Oakland Athletics, 3 games to 2, in the American League Division Series and then swept the New York Yankees, 4 games to 0, in the American League Championship Series to win the American League pennant.
Related articles in World Book:
- Baseball
- Baseball (2010) (a Back in Time article)