BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO ? There wasn?t a soaked soul in a Giants uniform who didn?t appreciate what NLCS MVP Marco Scutaro did in leading them past the St. Louis Cardinals and into the World Series.
But some understood it better than others.
?To see him hit the ball on the screws every time up there, I had flashbacks,? said Will Clark, who so memorably obliterated the Chicago Cubs in the 1989 NLCS. ?Getting that hot, barreling up every ball ? it was great to see somebody get locked in and stay locked in. He hit line drive after line drive. That?s a true professional doing his craft and from my perspective, it?s refreshing to see.?
Clark hit .650 against the Cubs, and to this day, pitchers talk into their gloves on the mound because of the grand slam the thrill hit off Greg Maddux after reading the pitcher?s lips. Clark had 13 hits in that postseason series.
Scutaro had 14 against the Cardinals, who knocked him down but never out.
?I?ve been there before,? Clark said. ?You?re in the middle of the tightest place in the world, in front of the brightest lights, and you?re putting great swings on the ball. It?s great to see.?
After rapping out three more hits in the Giants? 9-0, pennant-clinching Game 7 victory Monday night, Scutaro became the first player in LCS history to post six multi-hit games in one series. And 12 of his hits came after Matt Holliday?s controversial takeout slide left him hobbling toward the X-ray room.
?How you like me now?? said Scutaro, who couldn?t help one more jab.
The Giants paid back Holliday in every way. With the Giants up 7-0 in the sixth, Matt Cain drilled him with an 0-2 pitch that had the Cardinals, especially pitcher Chris Carpenter, screaming at him from the visiting dugout.
There was one more bit of retribution to end the game. Holliday popped up in the rain to Scutaro, who squeezed the Cardinals? last life between his fingers.
The Giants celebrated more than their second trip to the
World Series in three years, or their first Game 7 victory in franchise
history. They celebrated the invitation for Scutaro, a 36-year-old professional
hitter, to show his skills on the most important stage.
[BAGGARLY: Giants soak up their first Game 7 win in franchise history]
?I couldn?t be happier for him,? right fielder Hunter Pence said. ?He?s been an anchor for us. What an incredible performance. He?s very deserving of the MVP.?
Scutaro, who ended the season with a 20-game hitting streak, now has hit safely in 10 consecutive during the playoffs.
Scutaro received his trophy in one of the strangest presentations in memory ? amid a driving rainstorm. Afterwards, he did not sound like an impending free agent eager to test the waters.
?All those guys in there, I love every single one,? Scutaro said. ?I think to win a championship, it takes more than 25 guys. It takes the front office all the way to the bat boy, and you have to have that chemistry going.
?When I got traded here, in the beginning, I was thinking stuff like, `Where am I going to live?? And family, and packing, all that stuff. But a couple days later I was kind of happy just because of the kind of team we had. And now here we are in the World Series.?
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