With Cliff Lee on the hill, Game 1 of the World Series was almost a foregone conclusion: Rangers would win the opener and the Giants would have to try and even things up in Game 2.

Too bad the Giants had other plans.

In what had to be the most impressive feat of any team this postseason, the Giants crushed the Rangers 11-7 on Wednesday night to take a 1-0 lead in the Fall Classic. The previously unbeaten Lee went just 4.2 innings while yielding seven runs (six earned) on eight hits.

Freddy Sanchez did the most damage, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. He set a postseason record by hitting three doubles in his first three at bats, which all came off Lee. After Texas took a 2-0 lead after two innings of play, Sanchez’s first double scored Edgar Renteria to put the Giants on the board in the third inning. His second double to deep left-center scored Andres Torres in the fifth to give the Giants a 3-2 lead and they never looked back from there.

San Fran scored six runs in that fifth inning to break the game open. Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross had RBI singles, while Juan Uribe hit a towering three-run shot off reliever Darren O’Day to give the Giants an 8-2 lead. The expression on Lee’s face as he watched that inning from the dugout said it all: “How could this have happened?”

What’s interesting is that Lee wasn’t necessarily off his game. He struck out seven batters and showed some of the same mastery that he had in previous postseason starts, but the Giants just hit him – and hit him hard. The fact that Lee is a strike-thrower actually played right into the Giants’ free-swinging approach and they didn’t let up the entire night. It didn’t matter if it was Lee on the mound or Nolan Ryan in his prime – they were going to get hit.

Try as they did, the Rangers did score two runs in the top of the sixth and three runs in the top of the ninth to make it somewhat interesting, but the damage had already been done. The Giants’ offense, which everyone has written off several times this postseason (and for good reason given their shoddy performance at times), had once again came through in the clutch.

Lost in the offensive clinic the Giants put on was their ace Tim Lincecum, who picked up his second postseason win of his career. He certainly wasn’t dominant (5.2 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 strikeouts), but the Rangers’ offense has a way of humbling even the best pitchers. Simply put, he was good enough on a night where his offense did the talking for him. It was a rare role-switch for a pitcher that usually has to limit his opponent to only two or three runs because he knows his offense will struggle.

The Giants have been a streaky offensive team all year. Given their pitching, if their offense can stay hot then they’re going to be tough to beat. The series is far from over, but this is a picture-perfect start for the G-Men.

Top photo courtesy of AllPosters.com.

Like any red-blooded sports fan, there are players I root against. I’m supposed to be somewhat objective with in my job so I won’t list those players’ names, but I’m like most fans: I don’t mind seeing certain players fail.

Brooks Conrad isn’t one of those players.

I love self-made guys because they never have the best talent, they’re not flashy and they usually appreciate what they have. Conrad, the 30-year-old journeyman who was forced into regularly playing time because of injuries to Chipper Jones and Martin Prado, is a self-made player. He was a nobody until May 20, when hit his first career major league grand slam by helping the Braves beat the Reds, 10-9.

But because of his three errors in the Giants’ 3-2 come-from-behind win on Sunday in the NLDS, now Conrad is somebody. And unfortunately for him, he’s somebody for all the wrong reasons.

Conrad’s three errors tied a record for most errors in a single divisional series playoff game. Two of his errors led to Giants’ runs, including the eventual winning run when a Buster Posey routine ground ball traveled through his legs to score Aubrey Huff in the top of the ninth.

Of course, had Billy Wagner not gotten hurt in Game 2 of this series, Craig Kimbrel would have never pitched the top of the ninth on Sunday. And had Kimbrel gotten one more strike on Freddy Sanchez, the Giants’ second baseman wouldn’t have reached on a base-hit and Atlanta would be up 2-1 in the series.

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Before their sweep of the Braves this week, I would have said that the National League Wild Card is a three-team race. But now that the Rockies are putting together a very Rockie-like charge, this is definitely now a four-horse competition in the NL.

Let’s break down the contenders and make a prediction.

(Side Note: I’m fully aware that the Phillies and Cardinals still have a great chance of catching the Braves and Reds in their respective divisions, but I’m going by the standings as of Thursday, August 26. In a couple of weeks, I’ll update this list so for now, let’s just call this Version 1.0.)

Philadelphia Phillies
Games Remaining: 36
Games Back: 0
What I Like About Their Chances: I like the Phillies because quite frankly, they’ve been here before. They know what it takes to play good baseball in the month of September and their roster is chockfull of veteran players. Even though they haven’t shown it of late, the Phils also still have the best lineup 1-8 of any of the four Wild Card contenders and a three-headed monster in Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt (who has been outstanding in the month of August) and Cole Hamels. This is, by far, the most talented team of the four listed…

What I Don’t Like: …that said, this club isn’t playing very good baseball right now. In their last seven games, they’ve won only two and they were just swept at home by the Astros. Also, despite all of their offensive firepower, they’ve managed to score just 16 runs in those seven outings. They also have six more games against the Braves, who they are just 5-7 against this season. This is a club that seemingly can’t put it all together this season and you just get the sense that something’s missing.

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Jose Guillen can’t play defense, can’t get on base and he can’t hit for average.

So naturally Giants’ GM Brian Sabean had to have him.

On Friday, the Giants acquired the 34-year-old former Royal, who is well known for having a poor clubhouse reputation. That’s something the close-nit Giants don’t need right now heading into a huge weekend series with the first place Padres (the team the Giants are trailing by 2.5 games in the NL West).

Clearly hypnotized by his 16 homers this season, Sabean felt the need to add the outfielder despite the fact that Guillen is more useless than a chair with only two legs. Plus, his acquisition means that Aaron Rowand, Travis Ishikawa (assuming Aubrey Huff moves back to first base) and Nate Schierholtz will receive less playing time than they already are, which is befuddling when you consider that Guillen isn’t a better option than any of them.

If I punch myself in the side of the head enough times and squint hard enough, I might see the need for Guillen as a pinch hitter. But there’s no way that the Giants actually believe this schmuck is a starter. Do you know how much ground there is to cover in right field at AT&T Park? Guillen would be an absolute train wreck and for what? A couple of home runs down the stretch? I thought that’s what Pat Burrell was for? Didn’t Sabean already acquire Pat Burrell already? I’m confused.

The worst part is, Sabean traded away two capable outfielders earlier this season in Fred Lewis and John Bower – two homegrown players that were better defensively than Guillen and who came with zero baggage. How does trading Lewis and Bowker and trading for Guillen make any sense? Tell me what the difference is between those players, or how Guillen makes the Giants better than Lewis and Bowker? And what happens to Schierholtz? The kid entered spring training as the favorite to start in right field and after a poor couple of weeks at the plate, he became Lewis’d, Bowker’d and Kevin Frandsen’d in the blink of an eye. If I were a Giants’ farm player, I’d want to be dealt immediately because Sabean will eventually block my position with a crusty old vet. It’s only a matter of time.

Sabean doesn’t have the slightest clue what it takes to build an offense. For every Burrell, Huff and Juan Uribe, there’s a Rowand, Edgar Renteria and Mark DeRosa (who clearly wasn’t healthy when Sabean decided to hand him a two-year deal this past offseason). For every Bengie Molina trade, there’s a Guillen, Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez deal right around the corner.

I’ve never see a man make so many stupid decisions and yet retain his job for 14 years. If Brian Sabean were the President of the United States, half the nation would be underwater right now.