The story of how this team wound up in the MLB playoffs should be familiar to you, as it was one of the only stories left over the final week of the regular season. The Giants were, for all intents and purposes, a .500 ballclub for the first half of the year. The entered the All-Star break in fourth place, four back of the first-place Padres. The race wasn't over, but things weren't looking good.
2010 MLB Playoffs: How The San Franciscio Giants Got To The NLDS
And things actually only got worse in the coming weeks, as the gap widened to as many as 6.5 games on August 25th. At that point, one figured the Giants were pretty much playing for the Wild Card. Then everything went San Francisco’s way. The Padres slumped like no team has ever slumped while the Giants allowed 64 runs in their last 31 games, and on the final Sunday of the regular season, San Francisco clinched first place and knocked the Padres out. Simple.
Their strength, naturally, is run prevention, as both their rotation and bullpen go four-deep with quality. Few teams compare to a top core of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla. And though the lineup's overall numbers aren't great, there's strength in there, thanks to rookie standout Buster Posey, the rejuvenated Pat Burrell, the rejuvenated Aubrey Huff, and the capable Andres Torres. There's no one guy in the order who can carry the team on his back, but there's also no one who's going to make the pitcher's job easy. This team is built for the playoffs.
Record
92-70
Key Players
Andres Torres (OF; .268 BA, .343 OBP, .479 SLG)
Aubrey Huff (1B; .290 BA, .385 OBP, .506 SLG)
Buster Posey (C; .305 BA, .357 OBP, .505 SLG)
Tim Lincecum (SP; 3.43 ERA, 3.0 K/BB)
Matt Cain (SP; 3.14 ERA, 2.9 K/BB)
Brian Wilson (RP; 1.81 ERA, 3.6 K/BB)
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