The Giants have taken game 1 from the Detroit Tigers in dominating fashion. It’s hard to even accept that they’re here, if you’re like me and figured that the Cardinals would easily take the Giants in the NLCS, then you weren’t expecting this.
The Giants hold homefield advantage in the best of seven series, and if game one is any indication, it’s quite the advantage. Both teams fought tooth and nail and put on legendary displays of prowess to be here now. The Tigers spent most of the regular season under performing only to get hot late and take that momentum into the playoffs where they swept the once mighty Yankees.
The Giants surged all year, but when playoffs came around, I and many others were skeptical of their run support. The Giants have won 6 must-win games, and took both playoff rounds to the end only to come out on top. So what we have here is a World Series which plays out like a battle of wills more than anything else.
I picked Giants skipper Bruce Bouchy for the manager of the Year, I was chastised for doing so, but the Giants performance proves why I was right. The Giants have rebounded strongly from last year’s sub-par season. They’ve shaken off all adversity that’s come their way and it’s led them right to the Fall classic. As for the Tigers, they came into 2012 with a payroll over $200 million with a lot to prove. The year was frustrating as they trailed the White Sox the majority of the time, but with their collapse down the stretch gave rise to the Tigers to show their true colors.
So without further ado, and with the slight advantage of already knowing the Giants have won I’ll get to my prediction. Give me the Giants in 6 games to win the series. Their dispatching of the Cardinals made me a believer in this scrappy bunch. The Tigers put their ace in Justin Verlander on the mound and he was out by the 5th inning after being tattooed having given up 4 runs. Unless the Tigers get tremendous efforts from Fielder, Avila and Cabrera night after night then I don’t see how they can beat a Giants team where everyone is chipping in. Again, Giants in 6.