Texas was not quite finished though. With one out in the seventh, Nelson Cruz gave the Ranger faithful hope as he blasted a homer of his own, a solo shot that cut the deficit to 3-1. Seeming rattled, Lincecum walked the next batter, Ian Kinsler, to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. However, the two-time Cy Young winner recovered his composure and struck out the next two Texas batters to end the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth Lincecum, now back in cruise control, pitched a scoreless inning. Rangers closer Neftali Feliz entered the game and pitched a scoreless top of the eighth and ninth, keeping the score 3-1. Brian Wilson, the Major League saves champion, relieved Lincecum in the bottom of the ninth. The heart of Texas' order batted in a last gasp for the Rangers. Wilson struck out Josh Hamilton looking, got Vladimir Guerrero to ground out to the shortstop, and finally struck out Nelson Cruz swinging to bring the Giants their first World Series in San Francisco and first for the franchise since 1954.

Giants bring first World Series title to S.F.

ARLINGTON, Texas – A sophisticated city by a magnificent bay parched for a baseball championship can pop corks and douse itself in bubbly. The San Francisco Giants won their first World Series since 1954 and first since moving from New York four years later Monday night with a 3-1 Game 5 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Giants shortstop Edgar Renteria, in the twilight of a career highlighted by the winning hit in the 1997 World Series, smacked a three-run home run in the seventh inning after telling a teammate he would do it, and Tim Lincecum and closer Brian Wilson made the lead stand up, the last out coming on a strikeout of Nelson Cruz at 9:30 p.m. CT at Rangers Ballpark. Wilson was embraced by rookie catcher Buster Posey and engulfed by teammates seconds later.

Willie Mays must have let out a joyous “Say hey!” Juan Marichal might have approximated his signature high leg kick. Barry Bonds might have allowed himself a smile. A proud franchise that has more victories than any other – yes, including the New York Yankees – finally delivered a championship to San Francisco.

Facing Cliff Lee, a pitcher who until this Series had been invincible in two consecutive postseasons, Renteria drove a 2-0 cut fastball over the fence in left-center field, silencing the sellout crowd of 52,045 and scoring Cody Ross and Juan Uribe(notes) ahead of him. Renteria, who batted .412 in the Series, was named Most Valuable Player.

The drought included Series losses in 1962, 1989 and 2002. It included the long and storied careers of Willie McCovey, Will Clark, Bobby Bonds and his more celebrated son. It included managers from Bill Rigney, Alvin Dark and Herman Franks in the 1960s to Dusty Baker and Felipe Alou in the 2000s. And it lingered through the Summer of Love, a major earthquake and the turn of a century.

“For us to win for our fans – it’s never been done there with all those great teams – that was a euphoric feeling,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “All those (former players) were in the clubhouse so many times and they were pulling for these guys to win. They helped us get here.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – So it was that the slightest and gamest of them all would also be the last to unclench his fists.

Built for piano lessons and bred for hard labor, Tim Lincecum on Monday night put a half-century’s torture on his shoulders, carried it eight more innings and finished the Texas Rangers.

He delivered this championship, pitching the San Francisco Giants past Roy Halladay once and Cliff Lee(not twice, past lineups thought greater than his own. From a mid-summer’s failure of mind and body – “I was a little lost out there emotionally and physically,” he said – Lincecum redirected both, won nine of his final 11 starts and broadened a legacy that, at 26, now holds a World Series trophy pedigree with two Cy Young awards.

By the time he’d handed off the ninth inning to closer Brian Wilson, Lincecum had allowed three hits – two singles and Nelson Cruz’s seventh-inning home run – and struck out 10. He’d hammered them with a slider he only picked up in September and feathered them with the best changeup in baseball. Most important, he’d outlasted Lee in a game where the first to falter would lose, and everybody knew it, them most of all. They’d lock-stepped into the seventh inning, the game scoreless, Lee pitching for World Series survival, Lincecum for the kill shot.

In the end, neither would retreat an inch, and that is the story of the Giants’ victory, and then of the Rangers’ defeat. Ultimately, it is what brought Lincecum to dash with joy onto a field of delirious brothers, and what sent Lee into a clubhouse of silence and regret.

They are of the same mind. Different frames. Different journeys. Same courage, same ideals, same relentless spirit.

And so when Lincecum was deep into the seventh, threw a slider Cruz hit for that home run, had the Rangers come to within a hopeful 3-1 and then walked the next batter, he knew only to get into the strike zone again and pitch straight into their hearts. He struck out David Murphy and Bengie Molina(notes), both on wicked sliders, and the Rangers never had another meaningful at-bat.

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