By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Marco Scutaro ripped a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning as the San Francisco Giants captured their second World Series trophy in three years after sweeping the Detroit Tigers, 4-3, in Sunday's Game 4 at Comerica Park.

Scutaro, the NL Championship Series MVP, hit Phil Coke's 3-1 pitch to center that brought Ryan Theriot home to break a 3-3 standoff before Sergio Romo wrapped up the win by striking out Austin Jackson, Don Kelly and Miguel Cabrera for his third World Series save.

Scutaro finished with two hits while catcher Buster Posey hit a two-run shot in the 6th inning that briefly game the Giants a 3-2 lead and Brandon Belt added an RBI triple in the opening frame.

Pablo Sandoval had one hit but was adjudged as World Series MVP for his outstanding performance with three home runs, a double and four RBIs while hitting .500.

"That's what makes it so much special, the way we did it," Scutaro said. "We were always against the wall and my teammates just came through first series, second series and now we swept the Tigers. That's what I told my team. 'Please, I don't want to be against the wall again. Let's get rid of this quick.'"

"I think tonight was a fitting way for us to end it, because [the Tigers] played hard. They didn't stop. It's an unbelievable feeling," Posey said.

Theriot opened the 10th with a single off Coke and moved to second after Brandon Crawford's sacrifice bunt. Angel Pagan struck out before Scutaro delivered a single to center field while Theriot sped towards home, beating Austin Jackson's throw to give the Giants the lead.

Matt Cain surrendered five hits and three earned runs - a two-run shot by Miguel Cabrera and a solo homer by Delmon Young that tied the count at three - on five hits with three strikeouts in seven innings.

However, it was Santiago Casilla who got the win after getting the final out in the 9th inning with a groundout by Gerald Laird. Before that, Casilla broke Omar Infante's left hand after hitting it with a pitch.

Belt put the Giants on the board with an RBI triple that scored Hunter Pence in the opening frame but the Tigers answered with a two-run homer by Cabrera in the third inning for a 2-1 lead.

Cabrera's homer ended the Giants' streak of 56 consecutive innings in which they didn't face a deficit. San Francisco hadn't trailed since losing Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at St. Louis.

Hitless in previous eight at-bats, Posey revived himself and the Giants by belting a two-run shot into the left-field seats in the sixth for a 3-2 lead. It was Posey's third postseason homer and first extra-base hit since his grand slam in Game 5 of the Division Series at Cincinnati, a span of 40 at-bats.

Young responded with a solo shot that tied the count and stayed that way until Scutaro's heroics.

The Giants won their second World Series trophy in the last three years, bringing the franchise's total to seven.

"Congratulations. A seventh world championship for the Giants," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said. "Second in three years, we're getting used to this now. You kept coming back, coming back."

"We overcame a lot of adversity, a lot of challenges during the year and then six elimination games. I think if anything we learned from it, it was never give up. This team had incredible heart," Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said.

Meanwhile, the Tigers came up short once again, just like what happened in the 2006 World Series when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I mean, I'm a little bit flabbergasted, to be honest with you," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I never would have thought that we would have swept the New York Yankees, and I never would have thought that the Giants would have swept us, but it happened."

 

 

 

Giants Sweep Tigers to Capture World Series Title