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When Tim Lincecum throws the first pitch Wednesday night to Elvis Andrus, the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants will start up an age-old debate: Does pitching or hitting win the World Series?

Texas proved that it has baseball’s most potent offense with seven of its players having an OPS above .600 in the playoffs.

San Francisco, on the other hand, proved to have the best four-man rotation in the post-season with an excellent 2.08 ERA.

Something has to give, and I believe it’s going to be San Francisco’s pitching.

The Giants’ starting rotation of Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner proved to be fearless, jamming hitters at will, and throwing unhittable off-speed pitches while behind or ahead in the count.

The staff, however, defeated the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies—teams that do not run nearly as aggressively as the Rangers.

The Giants’ rotation had the luxury of throwing sliders and changeups in the dirt because of rookie sensation Buster Posey’s catching skills and their opponents’ lack of speed.

Texas’ Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton led the postseason with seven and four steals, respectively. Their most notable steals came during the double steal they pulled off against the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

The Rangers also aggressively tag up on pop flies to try to make each out as productive as possible, as shown by Nelson Cruz’s play in Game 5 of the ALCS.

Texas’ theory on aggressive baserunning is that pitchers are forced to throw fastballs, and it puts immense pressure on an opponent’s defense. The Giants’ starter’s success came from their off-speed pitches being extremely efficient, which will not be the case during the World Series.

The Rangers might be the best fastball-hitting squad in baseball, and will force the mediocre Giants’ defense to bail out the pitchers.

Also, the Giants’ defensive weakness resides on the left side of the diamond, which has Juan Uribe, a strong thrower but a slow-footed shortstop, and Pat Burrell, who might be the worst defensive left fielder in the game.

The top two-thirds of the Rangers’ lineup is all right-handed batters except Josh Hamilton, who batted .359 in the regular season and showed he can spray the ball everywhere. 

Everything seems to favor Texas which will likely lead to the Rangers completing its Cinderella run by winning the franchise’s first championship in five games. Cliff Lee will also improve to 5-0 this postseason and become the 2010 World Series MVP. 

As for the age-old debate, my vote is hitting wins championships. The Rangers have sold me on its offensive firepower, and the Giants’ pitching stats are misleading since they haven’t faced an offense remotely similar to the Rangers’.

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Without the benefit of a Farmer’s Almanac or sophisticated meteorological computer modeling, it is clear that it will be a long, cold winter in Philadelphia.  

The San Francisco Giants ensured that when they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies last night, wresting away the National League Pennant that the Phillies had held for two years.  Regrettably, the Phillies helped the Giants’ cause, continuing their trend of failing to generate runs in the postseason.  

Last season’s playoffs star hitter Ryan Howard stood frozen, unable to pull the trigger on a Brian Wilson 3-2 cutter that barely touched the bottom edge of the strike zone. After a pregnant pause that suspended an entire fanbase, home plate umpire Tom Hallion rung up Howard to end the Phillies’ two-year NL reign. 

That strikeout, which left two runners stranded, will be replayed for generations to come. It aptly symbolizes the Phillies’ disappointing 2010 postseason performance. 

Despite their high profile and seemingly high power offense, the Phillies simply could not push runs across the plate. They could not come through with big hits or even score runners from third. All they needed to do was put a ball in play, and they failed. 

The night started with great promise, as the Phillies seemed to finally find their missing mojo. Chase Utley’s ringing double into the right field corner and Jayson Werth’s warning track sacrifice fly gave them a 2-0 lead in the first.  

Then, it was radio silence the rest of the way. The Phillies reverted back to 2010 form, unable to push another run across the dish with the entire season on the line.

The first inning evoked deja vu that hearkened back to the 2008 and 2009 championship teams. It appeared as if the bats had broken out of their slumber and the Phillies were primed to play to expectations. 

2010 postseason reality quickly kicked back in, however, when a “shoulda-woulda-coulda” top half of the third allowed the Giants to even the score. Utley whiffed on grounder that appeared within his reach. Shane Victorino couldn’t quite hang on to make a Willie Mays-esque catch. Placido Polanco threw away a swinging bunt.  

Then, a promising bottom half of the inning began with a walk and yet another hit batter. After Utley flipped the ball back to the mound after it drilled him just below the neck, Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez went ballistic. 

Isn’t the batter who took the heater in the spine the one entitled to be annoyed? 

Sanchez’s actions touched off a bench-clearing scrum that allowed valuable time for Jeremy Affeldt to get loose in the pen. After the field cleared, Bruce Bochy replaced the rattled Sanchez with Affeldt, who promptly extinguished the rally.  

The Giants’ hurlers worked themselves into trouble over the balance of the game, but Phillies hitters could never cash in.

The Phillies seemed ready to break through with two outs in the fifth, when Howard lined a double to left center with Rollins on first. Third base coach Sam Perlozzo somewhat shockingly held Rollins on what would have been a close play–one in which the speedy shortstop typically crosses the plate with the certainty of death and taxes.   

In the sixth, the Phils were knocking on the door again when Raul Ibanez doubled to left and was moved over by a Carlos Ruiz bunt. After working a 2-0 count, pinch hitter Ben Francisco missed a couple hittable pitches before taking a called third strike. The looping curve ball seemed to be high and wide, but as Howard discovered later, with two strikes, swinging at anything close was advisable in this game. 

After both teams took turns leaving men on base for a long stretch, Juan Uribe jumped on Ryan Madson’s first pitch fastball with two outs in the eighth and lofted a high fly ball to right that had just enough carry to reach the seats. The Citizens Bank Park crowd was suddenly silenced as the Giants took a 3-2 lead. 

Bochy called on Thursday’s losing pitcher Tim Lincecum. After surrendering singles to Victorino and Ibanez with one out, his night was done. Brian Wilson trotted in with his crazed closer act and got extremely lucky when Carlos Ruiz lined into a double play. 

Brad Lidge loaded the bases in the ninth but got Wilson to bounce out to maintain the one run deficit. The stage was set for one last ditch effort to rally to keep the Phillies season alive. 

With one out, Rollins walked, but it was erased on Polanco’s fielder’s choice.  Utley worked another walk, putting the Phillies 2010 season into the hands of their cleanup hitter, who had yet to record an RBI in either playoff series. 

Howard lingered in disbelief after being rung up, while Wilson celebrated himself with his contrived signature ritual. Giants players rushed to the center of the field to celebrate their large upset and a trip to the “Fall Classic.” 

The winningest team in baseball, the odds-on favorite and the Phillies’ most talented team ever, had fallen short of its goal and expectations. 

A season so full of promise was prematurely over. A marvelously talented and highly appealing team was exiting the big stage before the final act.  

All that remains is a cruel winter of wondering what went wrong and what could have been for the Phillies players, coaches, front office, and fans.

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The Giants earned the right to face the Texas Rangers in the World Series by beating the favored Philadelphia Phillies in six games, on the road, winning 3-2 on Saturday night to capture their first National League title since 2002.

When the series began, many pundits — including myself — pointed to the Phillies’ superior experience, better offense and the fearsome threesome of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

However, as even I pointed out, of all the teams in the playoffs in either league, the Giants had the best chance to beat the Phils due to their outstanding starting pitching.

In fact, when you look at it, the Giants have the only rotation in baseball that can stack up to Philadelphia, with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez.

Sure, the Yanks have Sabathia but who else that strikes fear? Texas has Lee, and while the others have pitched well and may end up beating the Giants, before this started I’m sure that no one ranked their staff ahead of San Fran.

Having said that, Texas does have the ultimate stopper in Cliff Lee, who has been almost unbeatable in his postseason career, so the Giants’ next stop won’t be easy by any means.

But at least for now, the Giants have to celebrate beating a team that was widely picked to repeat as NL champs. And they did it on the road.

Let’s take a look at the keys to the Giants victory.

Begin Slideshow

Wow, in a style befitting their tortuous nature, Brian Wilson pitches the San Francisco Giants into the World Series!

After getting Ross Gload to ground out to open the inning, Wilson allows a 3-2 walk to Jimmy Rollins. He gets Placido Polanco to ground into a fielder’s choice, as Juan Uribe makes a solid throw on the run to get Rollins at second.

Then it got rough.

Chase Utley squeaked out a walk to put the tying run on second.

Then Wilson, facing Phillies clean-up man Ryan Howard, got him looking on a nasty 3-2 curveball to end the game, end the Phils’ season and send the Giants to the World Series.

Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge comes in to pitch the top of the ninth. The veteran righty K’s Nate Schierholtz to lead things off, then allows a bunt single to Andres Torres and another single to left to Freddy Sanchez.

Lidge then gives a free pass to Buster Posey, forcing Giants closer Brian Wilson to come to the plate.

It looked like the Giants were considering pinch-hitting Pablo Sandoval, but it seems to be just a ruse.

Wilson pops out of the dugout, looking about as comfortable as a prostitute in church, and proceeds to ground out to Ryan Howard at first to end the inning.

We’re headed to the bottom of the ninth, with three outs separating the Giants from their first World Series berth in eight years.

And you’ll never guess who just strolled into Game 6 for the visiting San Francisco Giants: two-time Cy Young Award-winning starter Tim Lincecum, who started and went seven strong innings in a Game 5 loss on Thursday.

Lincecum strikes out Jayson Werth to begin the inning, but then allows consecutive singles to right to Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez.

Manager Bruce Bochy comes to get Lincecum, opting instead for the more late-game-seasoned Brian Wilson. Not sure what the thinking was initially in bringing in Lincecum.

And Wilson comes through… though a bit frighteningly.

Carlos Ruiz lines to Aubrey Huff at first, who tosses to second to double off Victorino! Wow, what a letdown for the Phillies and their passionate fans.

We’re headed to the ninth.

After a quiet bottom of the seventh from the Phillies against Giants reliever Javier Lopez, the Giants struck back in the top of the eighth.

Still facing reliever Ryan Madson, Juan Uribe—starting at third base in place of Pablo Sandoval and who had been hit by a pitch in his last at-bat—took the tall righty deep to right and into the first row of seats, giving San Francisco a 3-2 lead and shocking the home crowd into silence.

Madson comes back to whiff Edgar Renteria to end the frame.

The Phillies could now be down to six outs on their season.

Very few, if any, saw this coming.

Yeah, the Texas Rangers are a damn good team.  But c’mon, this is the Yankees we’re talking about.  They’ve been penciled into the 2010 World Series since they won the 2009 Series.

But, as they say, that’s why they play the games.

To the uneducated observer, it would appear as though the Rangers were the perennial playoff team and the Yankees were the team that just won its first ever playoff series.

The fact that the opposite is true only makes what the Rangers accomplished that much more impressive.

First, let’s review my series preview (as you may recall, I predicted the Rangers in six).

I mentioned two key factors that would play a major impact in the outcome of the series: the rest factor and the star factor.

Boy did they ever.

First, concerning the rest factor, I noted that there was a legitimate possibility that the Yankees could come out flat, allowing the Rangers to jump out to an early lead at home.  Well, they did, but unfortunately for the Rangers, the bullpen couldn’t hold their 5-0 lead and the Yankees stole Game 1.  Still, the Rangers proved to themselves that they could beat the Yankees.  And that was all they needed.

Then, the stars.  This is where the series really took shape.  Bottom line: the Rangers stars were up to the task and the Yankees stars faltered.

I’ll recap this with a review of the key players for each team:

Rangers

Elvis Andrus – .333/.379/.407, 2 RBI, 4 R, 4 SB, 2 BB/3 K
Nelson Cruz – .350/.435/.800, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB/6 K
Vlad Guerrero – .269/.269/.346, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0 BB/8 K
*Josh Hamilton – .350/.536/1.000, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R, 4 SB, 8 BB/4 K
Ian Kinsler – .250/.333/.400, 3 RBI, 1 R, 2 SB, 3 BB/3 K
Michael Young – .333/.357/.444, 4 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB/7 K
Cliff Lee – 8 IP, 1-0, 13 K/1 BB, 2 H, 0 ER, 0.375 WHIP, 0.00 ERA

Yankees

Robinson Cano – .348/.375/.913, 4 HR, 5 RBI, 5 R, 1 BB/3 K
Derek Jeter – .231/.286/.423, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB/7 K
Alex Rodriguez – .190/.320/.286, 2 RBI, 4 R, 1 SB, 3 BB/4 K 
#Mark Texeira – .000/.176/.000, 1 R, 3 BB/4 K
Phil Hughes – 8.2 IP, 0-2, 6 K/7 BB, 14 H, 11 ER, 2.423 WHIP, 11.42 ERA
Andy Pettitte – 7 IP, 0-1, 5 K/0 BB, 5 H, 2 ER, 0.714 WHIP, 2.57 ERA
CC Sabathia – 10 IP, 1-0, 10 K/4 BB, 17 H, 7 ER, 2.100 WHIP, 6.30 ERA

*Named ALCS MVP
#Injured in Game 4

As you can see, the Rangers came out and got the job done.  Some—Cruz, Hamilton and Lee—were nearly unstoppable, while the rest held their ground and came up big when it was most crucial.

The Yankees, on the other hand, got almost nothing out of their stars.  Cano was spectacular, but he got no help from the rest of the lineup and the only game the Yankees got good starting pitching (Pettitte in Game 3), they couldn’t muster up enough run support to pull out the victory.

Before I wrap this up, I want to note the stellar performances by Colby Lewis.  Lewis—who pitched in Japan the last two years—was dominant against a potent Yankees lineup, shutting them down to the tune of 9 hits and three earned runs over 13.2 innings, posting a 1.98 ERA and a 1.098 WHIP in two victories. 

Lewis’ ace-like performances took the pressure off Cliff Lee and the offense, and quite possibly was the key player in the series.

Now, the Rangers will rest, fine tune and prepare themselves for the biggest stage they’ve ever seen.  Their opponent in the World Series, be it the Giants or the Phillies, will have their hands full with this group.  It should be quite the spectacular sight to see the dominant rotation that comes out of the NL face off against this group of violent and deadly bats.

Baseball fans, we’re in for a treat.

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With Friday night’s Game 6 win by the Texas Rangers over the New York Yankees, half of the 2010 World Series is now set.

Texas right-hander Colby Lewis threw eight dominant innings and Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz came through with clutch hits in the fifth, as the Rangers dethroned the 2009 World Series champs with a 6-1 win at the Ballpark in Arlington.

The National League champion will be decided this weekend, as the Philadelphia Phillies play host to the San Francisco Giants, who lead the series three games to two. Game 6 of the NLCS is scheduled for Saturday night, while Game 7, if necessary, would be played on Sunday.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report all day for ongoing discussions and analysis of tonight’s NLCS Game 6 and the potential World Series matchups.

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There will much discussion in the coming days concerning the New York Yankees’ failing to reach their mission statement of defending their World Series title.

Their mission was no secret; it was even on their manager’s back. Title No. 28. If the Yankees had obtained the World Series victory, then and only then would their season have been considered a success.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, their season is now deemed a failure.

But this should not be the thinking.

The New York Yankees started their season on a hot streak like no other. They blew by teams through the entire month of April, mainly without the contributions of Mark Teixiera and Alex Rodriguez. Even Curtis Granderson was a no-show until the month of August.

This all fed into the belief that this Yankees team was head and shoulders above the competition, which was not the case. Last season, the Yankees were driven by the strength of their pitching staff, while having the resiliency to come from behind and win games behind their offense.

This season, there were not many of those dramatic wins. There was no sense of destiny for these Bombers. On most days, they just resembled the Yankees teams from the early part of this decade: old.

Their captain, Derek Jeter, had a season that showed his age. There is no telling what Jeter will contribute next year, but the Yankees are hoping a man of his great pride will perform to his previous levels.

Jorge Posada cannot be an every day catcher anymore. If people did not see this before the playoffs started, then now, after its completion, they must agree. The Yankees paid for Posada’s horrible defense and throwing arm as teams consistently stole bases off Yankees pitching.

A.J. Burnett pitched some clutch games last season, but this year, he reverted back to his head-case form. The good news for the Yankees is no matter how much he tries, he cannot be worse than he was this season.

Even Alex Rodriguez, the reason they won the championship last season, suffered a drop in production. Two times this season, Rodriguez went through droughts of over 100 at-bats without connecting for a home run. Yet, he was still able to drive in over 100 RBIs, for a bit of good news.

Javier Vazquez, a pitcher the Yankees expected big contributions out of this season, gave them nothing. He proved once again that he cannot pitch in the pressure cooker of N.Y.

With everything that surrounded these Yankees, it is actually a testament to their fortitude as players in going as far as they did. They could have just laid down on many occasions throughout their end-of-season funk, but they instead insisted they would turn it on when needed. 

To their credit, against the Twins, they did everything they needed to in order to win. A tidy three-game sweep over the Twins set them up for a date with the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series.

It was there that the Yankees met their match. The stories coming into the series concerned Cliff Lee and how he could dominate the Yankees. Turns out the Yankees shouldn’t have worried so much about him but, instead, the Rangers team as a whole.

The Rangers outplayed them in every facet of the game. They out-pitched them, out-hit them and you can even say out-managed them. The Rangers are younger, more athletic, more potent and have better pitching due to new team president Nolan Ryan.

Ryan made the Rangers staff in his image. He does not believe in pitch counts, and for this reason, the Rangers staff was stronger than the Yankees at this point of the season.

The Yankees season is not a failure by any stroke of the imagination. You cannot buy championships as people routinely complain the Yankees try to do. No, what they instead try to do is make the best team because they have an owner willing to spend the money.

You can bet the Yankees will be big players in free agency this offseason in an effort to get younger and more athletic to close the gap between them and the Rangers and Rays. Their owner would not have it any other way.

It’s unfortunate the Yankees lost, but they lost to the better team in every facet of the game. 

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