The Babe. Mr. October. El Hombre. And now Kung Fu Panda.
Marco Scutaro looked up through the pouring rain, caught Matt Holliday's popup for the final out and punched his ticket to the World Series for the first time at age 36.
Venezuelans are celebrating their homegrown baseball heroes as a record contingent of players from the country heads into the World Series with the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants.
Fans labeled Marco Scutaro a super-sub in Oakland for all his fill-in roles. Others called him a Colorado castoff in July, and his new San Francisco Giants teammates nicknamed him "Blockbuster" for the often overlooked trade-deadline move.
Way back in spring training, Hunter Pence hit a wicked grounder that smacked Miguel Cabrera in the face. A few months later, Pablo Sandoval launched a bases-loaded triple off Justin Verlander in the All-Star game.
San Francisco's players, soaked to the core in a driving rain, began running around the field slapping high-fives with fans. Sergio Romo danced through the raindrops and Angel Pagan waved a black Giants flag as he ran, then stayed outside with his daughter well after everyone else had taken the celebration indoors to the clubhouse.
Ryan Vogelsong and these San Francisco Giants sure have become adept at saving their season.
Ryan Vogelsong struck out six during a hitless start, and the San Francisco Giants took a 5-0 lead over the St. Louis Cardinals through three innings in Game 6 of the NL championship series Sunday night.
Jason Motte had a lot more time than usual to get ready, learning the plan before the grounds crew took the tarp off the field. It was nice to get some advance notice before going for the first two-inning save of his career under October pressure.
