NL West

Jose Guillen, a midseason pickup by the National League champion San Francisco Giants, has been linked to a federal performance-enhancing drug investigation, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Last night's game was not the total shock many people think. I figured the San Francisco Giants would score a couple runs early against Lee, but was surprised the way they knocked him around.

The Giants pitchers also neutralized Mickey Mantle Jr, I mean, Josh Hamilton.

The Giants game plan with those two players were the key to winning Game 1. 

1) Cliff Lee vs. Giants Hitters

Expect a healthy dose of torture tonight. 

After last night’s offensive firestorm, where the San Francisco Giants ran up a week’s worth of runs in one game, tonight should be a nice reversion to the tense, nail-biting and familiar mean. 

Cue “The Machine” and bring on the thumbscrews. 

Getting an opportunity to play in Major League Baseball doesn’t come without sacrifice and hard work. Everyone that gets there goes a different route in realizing their dreams.

Some players have more obstacles in front of them than others, which make the success of San Francisco Giants’ second baseman Freddy Sanchez quite remarkable.

Before the 2010 World Series began last night, the common consensus was the San Francisco Giants had to score more to have a chance of winning the World Series.

The Giants pitching staff is excellent, but could they win a slugfest against the offensive prowess of the Texas Rangers?

Game 1 was labeled as an all-time pitching showdown. The matchup between Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee and the San Francisco Giants two-time defending NL Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum was billed as a classic to be.

There's something beautiful about the Giants.

More than the beards and the rally thongs, an intangible has sparked not only this team but an entire city. The Giants have been the underdog this entire season. But time and time again they have shown that they are a real championship contender.

With that, let's break down the Giants' Game 1 victory over Cliff Lee and the Rangers.

Begin Slideshow

Piece by piece, the 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers coaching staff is slowly coming together, and within the next few weeks, general manager Ned Colletti is expected to confirm all reports and make an official announcement about who will be working under new skipper Don Mattingly next season.

Ken Davidoff, a national baseball writer for Newsday, reported on Tuesday that pitching coach Rick Honeycutt has agreed to return to Los Angeles for a fifth season.

The San Francisco Giants are regarded more for their pitching than hitting—and for good reason. They ranked 15th in batting average and 17th in runs scored during the regular season.

But while their offense was mediocre then, their approach at the plate is one of the main reasons they've made it this far in the postseason.

NOTE: PLAY THE  BELOW MUSIC WHILE YOU READ THIS ARTICLE

The San Francisco Union-Giants marched onto the fields at AT&T Gettysburg under an orange and black sky on this day of 27 October 2010.

General Lee (Cliff) looked to continue his invasion northward after successful campaigns against Fort Tampa and the Yankee outpost in the Bronx.

Cliff Lee jogged off the field.

This is what Cliff Lee does.

But Cliff Lee jogging off the field in the bottom of the 5th inning in the World Series?

What happened?

The San Francisco Giants had scored more than four runs just once since September 24th. Lee had allowed just nine earned runs total in his previous 7 postseason starts, all of them wins.