*Photo from NBC Bay Area*
Continuing along with the champions of the 2010's, the 2014 San Francisco Giants are next up.
After a disappointing 2013 season in which the Giants finished under .500 and 3rd in the NL West, they were looking for a return to form in 2014. They still had mostly the same team from their world series runs in 2010 and 2012, so they were looking for the same spark again in 2014. They got that spark. The team wasn't even the best in their own division, they placed second in the NL West, but had a 88-74 record, which was good enough to make the playoffs, which was all they needed to get hot.
They started their journey in the newly created wild card game, where they squared off against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It wasn't even close, as Madison Bumgarner dominated all night long as the Giants blew away Pittsburgh 8-0. In the NLDS, they faced the NL East champions, the Washington Nationals. The Giants prevailed in a close game one, narrowly escaping with a 3-2 win. Game two was just as close, and the Giants came out on top again, winning 2-1. On the brink of elimination in game 3, Washington lived to fight another day with a 4-1 win. In game 4, the Giants finished them off with a 3-2 win at home to advance to the NLCS and shock Washington out of the postseason.
In the NLCS, the Giants squared off against the NL Central champs, the St.Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals wanted to get back to the world series after losing in 2013, but the Giants had other ideas. Game one was all about Bumgarner, as he dominated and led the Giants to a 3-0 win. The Cardinals quickly tied the series in game two with a 5-4 walkoff win. The series shifted to San Francisco for game 3, where the Giants came back with a walkoff of their own, winning 5-4 in 10 innings. In game 4, the Giants took a 3-1 series lead with a 6-4 win. In the pivotal game 5, the game was tied at 3 entering the bottom of the 9th, and Travis Ishikawa hit the walkoff 3 run homer to clinch the NL Pennant for the Giants, putting the dagger in St.Louis to advance to the world series.
In the 2014 World Series, it was the wild card Giants against the wild card Kansas City Royals, two of the last teams you would ever think to make it this far. This series didn't disappoint, it was all that it was hyped to be. Game one was all Giants, as Bumgarner continued his postseason dominance, leading the Giants to a 7-1 win. The Royals quickly bounced back in game 2, winning 7-2 thanks to a great game hitting wise. They then took the series lead in game 3 with a 3-2 win. The Giants responded by routing KC in game 4, winning by an 11-4 score. Bumgarner started game 5, which was all the Giants needed to win, blanking the Royals 5-0. The Royals had their backs against the wall in game 6, and forced a game 7 by blowing the Giants out of the water by an 10-0 score. In the do or die game 7, it was close all night, and with the Giants ahead by a run in the bottom of the 9th, Bumgarner came into the game in relief, same as he did in game 6. Bumgarner got the save, getting Salvador Perez to pop out to give the Giants a 3-2 win and their 3rd world series title in 5 years, becoming a dynasty of the 2010's.
The Giants got the spark they needed in 2014. Although their regular season wasn't anything to be amazed about, they did enough to get in the playoffs, which is where they went to work. They fought all the way for the 12 wins they needed to win the world series, with Bumgarner turning into iron man and pitching every chance he could get, even after starting the game before. The Giants were a team in every sense of the word. That's what got them their wins in 2010 and 2012, and that's what put them over the top in 2014 as well.
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