Well now, that was a wild turn of events. As you likely know by now, the Giants will host the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in Game 1. Madison Bumgarner is starting that game and Ryan Vogelsong is starting Game 2. Nothing else was announced tonight, but Matt Cain will be on normal rest if he starts Game 3. Where does that leave Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito? We should find out tomorrow.
Here?s the quickie (unedited) preview story that I frantically filed for tomorrow?s paper, complete with some historical context from Dan Brown. If there are mistakes, it?s because we were also frantically trying to find a way back home. And that photo? Courtesy of Pablo Sandoval?s twitter account. The Giants headed to the airport midway through Game 5 in Washington and they thought they were about to fly to Washington. Two hours later they found out they?re headed home. I am too. Finally. So long, Cincinnati.
The last two World Series champions will face off in search of another title.
The St. Louis Cardinals overcame a 6-0 deficit in Washington on Friday night to stun the Nationals 9-7 and earn a trip to San Francisco for the National League Championship Series. The Giants watched the game on a tarmac in Cincinnati and now are guaranteed home-field advantage through the rest of the postseason.
?Wow ? going home with home field advantage,? right-hander George Kontos tweeted shortly before the plane took off. ?I like it.?
The Giants and Cardinals split a two-game series at AT&T Park in May and split four games at Busch Stadium in August.
The Cardinals will take the field at AT&T Park in Sunday?s Game 1 with several local ties. Manager Mike Matheny played for the Giants in 2005 and 2006 and was part of the Cardinals team that lost to the Giants in the 2002 NLCS.
The Giants swung a blockbuster deal for Carlos Beltran last season in an effort to get back to the postseason, but it never happened. Beltran signed with the Cardinals in the offseason and had three hits Friday night, including a double that started a four-run rally in the top of the ninth inning.
With the Cardinals one out from elimination, Bay Area native Daniel Descalso hit a two-run game-tying single. Pete Kozma followed with a single that put the Cardinals ahead for good.
?We know how to bounce back,? Descalso, a St. Francis (Mountain View) and UC Davis alum, told TBS. ?We?ve got grinders on this team.?
The Giants pride themselves on grinding, as well, and showed that trait this week while becoming the first team in MLB history to win three straight road games and overcome a two-game deficit in a best-of-five series.
The Cardinals have traveled an even wilder path.
They beat the Atlanta Braves in the first ever National League Wild Card Game and took a 2-1 lead in the NLDS before dropping Game 4 on a walk-off homer and falling far behind in Game 5.
Friday?s six-run comeback by the Cardinals was the biggest in a winner-take-all game in MLB history. They became the second team ever to overcome a multi-run deficit in the ninth inning of a winner-take-all game.
Before dropping the season-ending series in Los Angeles, the Giants had won 10 of 11 second-half series. The lone exception was a four-game set in St. Louis in August.
After the teams split the first two games, the Giants took the third game 15-0 behind Ryan Vogelsong, who on Friday night was announced as the Giants? Game 2 starter in the NLCS. Madison Bumgarner will start Game 1, and he pitched well in his last matchup with the Cardinals.
Bumgarner struck out seven but gave up three runs in six innings and the Giants never could climb back after Beltran hit a two-run homer in the first inning.
Bumgarner, Beltran and two evenly matched teams will play two games in San Francisco before heading to St. Louis for up to three games. If the series advances beyond that, the Giants will get the final two games at home.
These two franchises have been here before, too.
In fact, the ?One Flap Down? can still stir the passions of anyone who witnessed the 1987 NLCS.
In that memorable seven-game showdown, Giants outfielder Jeffrey Leonard hit .417 with four home runs, and he did it with controversial style. Leonard would round the bases slowly, with one arm dangling at his side.
Giants fans loved the act, but not the Cardinals. Bob Forsch drilled Leonard with a fastball in Game 3, adding spice to an already dramatic series. The Cardinals triumphed in Game 7, fueled by Jose Oquendo?s three-run home run off Atlee Hammaker.
(Leonard was the MVP of that NLCS, even in a losing cause).
The Giants got the best of the rematch when they met the Cardinals in the NLCS again in 2002. The series required only five games and Kenny Lofton delivered a memorable winner by driving home David Bell with two out in the bottom of the ninth of Game 5.
It was the Giants? first pennant-winning walk-off hit since Bobby Thomson?s Shot Heard ?Round the World in 1951.
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