Jonathan Sanchez pitched the San Francisco Giants back into the playoffs after a six-year absence and also provided a clutch hit, beating the San Diego Padres 3-0 Sunday to win the NL West title.

Buster Posey homered and the Giants beat the Padres after losing the first two games of the weekend series.

8th Inning Weirdness: SF 3, SD 0: NL West Champs

But on Sunday, Jonathan Sanchez got it done and he was magnificent. Yes, this game was a classic Giants game: great pitching and just enough offense. It's fitting that the Giants would make us go through the torture til the very end.

Bay City Ball: Magic Happens, Giants Win NL West

If this season was a candy bar, it would be dark chocolate with a creamy torturous filling. And peanuts, it would have peanuts for some reason. In handing the Padres a 3-0 defeat today, the Giants are your official 2010 champs on the National League West. It wasn’t always pretty but the Giants made it. This might be the most genuinely likable Giants’ team I’ve seen in awhile.

Croix De Candlestick: It's Postseason Inside

The bearded closer stares intently towards the plate, looking in for the sign.  The rookie catcher puts down one finger, and the closer comes set.  He goes into his delivery as time slows down.  Through all the disappointment marred by double plays, crippling defeat at the hands of the Padres, and the torture that is Giants baseball, it has all culminated in this one, final pitch of the regular season.  The mohawked flamethrower rears back and delivers.  One 98 mph fastball and a swing-through later, the Giants are the champions of the National League West.

El Lefty Malo: Giants Baseball: Playoff Torture!

I don't make a habit of watching baseball teams clinch division titles on their home fields, but I have to wonder how often a team takes time from the dog-piling and ass-grabbing and champagne-spraying to take a long giddy lap around the field to high-five every fan they can reach. If it's a common occurrence, please don't tell me because I love the illusion that this team, these Giants, knew how much we fans suffered and soiled ourselves this year and made that lap, led of course by a skipping, jiggling Panda, to thank us. It was sweet.

Fire Sabean: It's Playoff Beard Time

Calling all men… and probably some women, IT’S PLAYOFF BEARD TIME! And we here at Firesabean want you to…SHOW US YOUR BEARD

Frisco Fastball: Giants Capture National League West Crown

They stretched it to the final day. The final hours. The final moments. Torture? Yeah, you could say that. But winning the NL West crown sure tastes that much sweeter with the unique struggle.

Giatns Win: At Last

I've gotta say that it's appropriate that Will Venable, son of Giant Max Venable, made the last out of the season on a Brian Wilson heater -- and that it occurred on the 59th anniversary of Bobby Thomson's Miracle of Coogan's Bluff.

Golden Gate Giants: Your San Francisco Giants: 2010 NL West Champions

What a way to end it.


The Giants, the team that’s tortured us all year long, clinched their first division title since 2003 with a 3-0 win over the Padres today. And they won it the Giants way: just enough offense coupled with dominant pitching.

In the Shadow of Bonds: Giants get the last laugh. Padres go home losers!

So Giants fans get out your champagne, your beer, or whatever your poison is. Kick back and celebrate the Giants first postseason since 2003!


Playoffs baby!

McCovey Chronicles: Giants win the National League West

Man, this team, this disparate collection of personalities, has been absolutely amazing to watch.

Only Baseball Matters: ...Yes They Can!!!!

The Giants win the NL West!!!

Raising Matt Cain: Triumph! Torture! Triumph!

The Giants take the Long & Agonizing Road to the West title, but that matters not after today's tortuous 3-0 triumph over the team's nemesis, the San Diego Padres. The 2010 Giants do what I did not believe they were capable of--going to the playoffs. It's a fantastic feeling to be wrong! Nothing but zeros by the pitching staff, just enough offense by Freddy Sanchez, Aubrey Huff, and Rookie of the Year Buster Posey.

Remember '51: The 2010 San Francisco Giants, NL West Champions

Those eight words haunt me. They give me shivers. In June, if you would have told me the Giants would be NL West Champs, I would have laughed. Not because I didn't believe, but because it just didn't seem possible. Not with Aaron Rowand patrolling center field. Not with Bengie Molina playing catcher. Not with Freddy Sanchez on the disabled list and Edgar Renteria rotating between shortstop and the disabled list.

But it happened...and what can I say. I couldn't be more shocked and happy as a Giants fan.

Splashing Pumpkins: Magic

In what's been the 2010 tradition, the Giants waited till the last minute to succeed, taking the National League West division title in game #162.

Triples Alley: How the West was Won: Magic

So yes, there is indeed magic inside the 2010 Giants. I think. I’m not sure.

When the Giants Come to Town: Game Wrap: Giants 3 Padres 0 Giants Win the NL West!!

Given the history of the San Francisco Giants, and the failure of the Giants to clinch the NL West Championship when they had a chance in the first two games of this series, a Giants fan could very reasonably have had their doubts going into today's final game of the regular season. On the other hand, some of the greatest moments in this franchise's history have come when things looked the bleakest. Jonathan Sanchez pitched the game of his life, yes, I know he has pitched a no-hitter, but this one was for a championship. The offense, frustrated at seemingly every turn, kept hitting the ball hard and a few finally found some gaps to give them just enough runs to finally make them NL West Champions, holding off those Pesky, Pesky Padres!

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