Giants Win Game 3 of NLCS; Lead Phillies 2-1

And God said let his name be Cody Ross.

He wasn’t expected to be a major factor and in fact most people doubted he would be starting in the postseason.  There were guys who had experience in front of him, postseason experience.  Maybe he would get a pinch hit here and there but no one expected him to be the RBI leader of the Giants in the postseason or lead them in batting average or homeruns.

Cody Ross has been everything he wasn’t supposed to be.  And for those very reasons, his new name is God.

In what has now been expected, Cody Ross led the San Francisco Giants to another win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.  No, it wasn’t a homerun but we’re not greedy, a RBI single is good enough for Giants fans.

Ross’ fourth inning RBI single gave the Giants their first run of the game and got them on their way to a 3-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Phillies and now they lead the series 2-1.  The Giants went on to score one more run in the fourth inning on an Aubrey Huff single and later added another run in the fifth inning when Freddy Sanchez singled in Aaron Rowand.  That’s all the Giants needed as Matt Cain and the bullpen pitched a spectacular game.

If not for Cody Ross, everyone would be talking about Matt Cain.  In the biggest game of his career he pitched like he had done it before.  Cain threw seven innings of shutout ball and only gave up two hits while striking out five batters.

Just as impressive as what Ross and Cain did was the contribution the Giants got from Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria.  Both players struggled earlier in the year and lost their starting jobs and there were even some questions about the chance of them making the postseason roster.  But both guys have been to the postseason and with a struggling Andres Torres and an injured Juan Uribe, Bochy called their number. 

Renteria’s who largest contribution came in the fourth when he hit a leadoff single and later scored on Cody Ross’ RBI single.  What makes Renteria’s contribution all the more impressive is the fact that he is playing with a torn left bicep tendon.  Basically, the tendon is barely hanging on.

Aaron Rowand, who lost his starting job when Pat Burrell joined the club, had not started a game since September 16th.  In the first inning, he looked like the Rowand that lost his starting job but then in the fifth inning he hit a leadoff double and later scored on Freddy Sanchez’ RBI single.

This game was the epitome of what the Giants have done all season, great pitching and contributions from every player.  The Giants don’t have the roster like the Phillies where have the roster is a All-Star.  But they do have “gamers” and as they say “There’s Magic Inside.”