Giants are one win from the World Series title

Reporting from Arlington, Texas â€”  These San Francisco Giants have not known the joy of clinching a postseason series at home, of prancing giddily around the field, of spraying their fans with assorted liquid substances.

They might never know that joy. They would happily pay that price, in order to win the World Series on Monday.

The Giants are one victory from a championship. Never have they won a World Series in San Francisco.

But never in their San Francisco history have they led a Series three games to one. They do now, thanks to an unlikely cast that led the Giants to a 4-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

Madison Bumgarner, at 21 the youngest pitcher to start a World Series game since Fernando Valenzuela, pitched eight shutout innings, allowing one runner beyond first base.

The only younger pitcher to throw at least eight scoreless innings in the World Series? Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, in shutting out Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers in 1966.

Aubrey Huff, who grew up rooting for the Rangers, wounded his hometown team with a two-run home run. Huff, who had not homered in 36 days, silenced the Texas crowd by launching an upper-deck blast in the third inning.

The Giants clinched the National League division series in Atlanta. They clinched the NL Championship Series in Philadelphia.

They can clinch the World Series on Monday in Texas, and they have the rotation aligned just the way they want. Their Game 5 starter is their ace, two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum.

At 26, Lincecum is an elder statesman. The Giants’ Game 4 braintrust -- Bumgarner and 23-year-old catcher Buster Posey -- became the first rookie battery to start a World Series game since 1947.

That rookie catcher was a kid named Yogi Berra.

Posey, who hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, has shepherded the Giants’ pitchers to two shutouts in the first four games of the series.

Bumgarner, starting for the first time in 11 days, chilled the Rangers on three hits -- all singles -- through eight innings.

The Giants turned two double plays behind him, Posey threw out Josh Hamilton trying to steal, outfielder Cody Ross made a fine sliding catch and second baseman Freddy Sanchez leaped to catch a line drive that knocked him off-balance.

Bumgarner got a little help from his friends, and a little challenge along the way. The Rangers tried to ice him in seventh inning, presumably not intentionally.

After a long rendition of “God Bless America� and an even longer introduction of various members of the U.S. military left Bumgarner marooned on the mound while waiting for the bottom of the seventh inning to start, he struck out two of the first three Texas batters, with Hamilton reaching on an error in between.

Nelson Cruz singled, putting a Texas runner in scoring position for the first time all night and bringing the potential tying run to the plate. Ian Kinsler struck out, and through seven innings Bumgarner still had not thrown 100 pitches.

He retired the Rangers in order in the eighth inning, his last. He had two walks and six strikeouts, including three strikeouts of Vladimir Guerrero.

Brian Wilson, the Giants’ closer, worked a 1-2-3 ninth by retiring the top of the Rangers’ order. The Giants could close out the season on Monday.

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