Does Pitching (And Defense) Really Win Championships?

Petti comes up with the same answer that I've been seeing for a while. Even though the game is nicely balanced, it does seem to be ever so slightly better to prevent runs than to score them. Why? Maybe because playing longer, run-filled games is tiring. Maybe because you can't lose when you give up zero runs, but you can lose when you score 10 runs. Or maybe something else. Anyway, after the jump Petti reminds us (or me, anyway) that the Giants winning the World Series probably wasn't some crazy fluke ...

Think about 2010. Many prognosticators argued that the Giants were lucky to make it past the Phillies and win the World Series against the Rangers. Upon closer examination, this makes no sense.

The Giants scored only 697 runs all season, but they only allowed 583--for those counting at home, that's a run differential of 114. That differential was good for 4th in all of baseball and an expected record of 95-67. The Phillies, by contrast, scored 772 runs and allowed 640. They were expected win 96--only one more than the Giants. As for the Rangers, they scored 787 runs and allowed 687, good for the eighth best run differential in the majors. They were expected to win 92 games, four fewer than the Giants. All three teams had what could be considered elite pitching staffs, but the Giants had the best of the three.