Taut final game goes to San Francisco with run in 10th on Scutaro hit

DETROIT — Funny, this stuff never seems to get old.

Celebrating in hostile territory, hoisting trophies and dousing one another in champagne, the Giants could get used to winning the World Series.

Riding some impressive relief work by Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo, the Giants battled to a 4-3 victory Sunday night in 10 hard-fought innings for a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

San Francisco scored the winning run in the top of the 10th when surprise designated hitter Ryan Theriot scored on a single by, of course, Marco Scutaro.

"It means everything," said center fielder Angel Pagan, who won his first World Series ring. "They're my teammates, my brothers, my family. That's why I was so emotional on the field. We deserve this. We went through a lot of ups and downs, a lot of bumps in the road."

The win gave the Giants their first postseason sweep since the New York Giants beat the Cleveland Indians in four games in 1954.

Experiencing a little d??vu from two years ago, when the San Francisco team claimed its first championship on the Texas Rangers' home field in Arlington, Texas, they mobbed one another at the pitcher's mound after Sergio Romo struck out American League triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera to end the game.

The players recognized the hard-core Giants fans who braved drizzle and 42-degree temperatures to watch their team claim the title, then retired to the clubhouse to throw around the sparkling wine and beer and to take turns hoisting that complicated World Series trophy.

Each team started the eighth with a promising walk that ushered in the heart of the order. The Giants' threat was defused when the Tigers' Prince Fielder started a crisp double play on Sandoval's grounder to first base. The Tigers ran into a buzz saw that looked a lot like Jeremy Affeldt, a situational reliever who struck out Cabrera, Fielder and Delmon Young in order.

Romo struck out all three batters he faced in the 10th to win the Series.

As usual, it was the Giants who came through with the biggest hit.

Buster Posey gave the Giants a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Tigers starter Max Scherzer left a changeup over the plate and the cleanup hitter deposited the ball in the left-field seats, just a few feet inside the foul pole. It scored Scutaro, who had led off the inning with an infield single that lumbering third baseman Cabrera couldn't handle.

Detroit's Young tied it up in the bottom of the sixth with a no-doubt homer to right field. It was the fifth home run Matt Cain had served up this postseason after allowing none in 2010. Two batters later, Detroit's Jhonny Peralta nearly upped the total again, sending a deep fly to the left-field corner that Gregor Blanco collected just in front of the wall.

Cabrera took the edge off of his — and the Tigers' — frustration in the bottom of the third inning when he lofted a high fly to right field with a runner on second base. The frosty Michigan wind did the rest, carrying the ball over Hunter Pence and into the seats.

At that point — the 30th inning of the World Series — the Tigers had taken the lead, 2-1, for the first time in the four games.

Scherzer started the night by striking out three of the first four Giants he faced, but back-to-back drives by Pence and Brandon Belt got San Francisco on the board in the second inning. Pence lifted a double to left-center, and Belt drilled a ball down the right-field line that he turned into a triple.

With two championships in three years, the only worry now is starting to believe it's easy.

"A dynasty?" Giants president Larry Baer said. "I don't ever like to say that. You have to earn it every year."

This year, the Giants sure did.

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.