Baseball:Edgar Renteria's three-run homer sent the San Francisco Giants to their first World Series crown since 1954. Renteria connected in the top of the seventh, giving impressive starter Tim Lincecum all the support he needed for a 3-1 win over the Texas Rangers.
That gave the Giants a 4-1 series win and their first World Series title since the franchise moved from New York to San Francisco back in 1958.
Renteria's hit broke open a pitching duel which had seen Lincecum and Rangers starter Cliff Lee, unbeaten in post-season play before this year, go toe-to-toe for six innings.
There was little doing for either offense until the Giants got something going in the top of the seventh. Cody Ross singled to lead off the inning and Juan Uribe followed suit, bringing Aubrey Huff to the plate.
Extraordinarily, the 33-year-old slugger laid down the first sacrifice bunt of his career, putting the go-ahead run on third. Lee recovered to strike out Pat Burrell, but he could not thwart Renteria, who took him deep to centre field to put the Giants 3-0 ahead.
Renteria hit three homers in the whole of the regular season. This was his second of the series and, with a .412 average and six RBIs, he was elected Most Valuable Player.
Nelson Cruz responded for Texas with a one-out homer in the bottom of the inning to raise hopes of a rally, and Ian Kinsler drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. But Lincecum registered back-to-back strikeouts, sending down David Murphy and Bengie Molina to end the inning.
Lincecum recorded his 10th strikeout as he continued his dominance in the eighth before, having surrendered just three hits and an earned run, he tossed the ball to Brian Wilson for the ninth.
The closer duly produced a one-two-three inning to hand San Francisco the victory.
Renteria paid tribute to the Giants for keeping faith with him after his heroics.
"It was a tough year for me, and I appreciate everyone in the organisation because they had patience with me - the general manager (Brian Sabean), the manager (Bruce Bochy)," Renteria told the official Major League Baseball website. "So they gave me the chance to play and thank God everything went well.
"And the home run? I don't know, I saw the ball well, put a good swing on the ball and it went out."
Bochy paid tribute to the whole squad, saying: "They did all right. I couldn't be prouder of the group. It just goes to show you what a team can do when they play with heart and determination. They just couldn't be denied."