World Series 2012: San Francisco Giants beat Detroit Tigers in 10th inning of Game 4 to complete sweep

DETROIT — What happened here Sunday may not go down as a classic Fall Classic. But when Marco Scutaro’s ball settled into the wet grass in center field Sunday night at Comerica Park, the jumping, joyful crew in the San Francisco Giants’ dugout didn’t care one bit. Ignore them. Say they’re not as good as others. And watch them celebrate.

Scutaro’s two-out RBI single scored Ryan Theriot from second base in the top of the 10th inning Sunday night, and when Sergio Romo did what the Giants had done for four games — overwhelmed the Detroit Tigers’ hitters — the Giants had a 4-3 victory in Game 4 of the World Series. They had a sweep of the Tigers, who hadn’t been allowed to breathe from the first pitch. And they completed an unlikely postseason run that brought them their second unlikely championship in three years.

Gallery

2012 World Series: San Francisco Giants beat Detroit Tigers in 10th inning of Game 4.

Video

San Francisco turned into a big street party late Sunday after the Giants won their second World Series in three years. Some fans showed off their brand new Giants World Series Championship T-shirts.

“These guys made it easy,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. “They never complained. They just wanted to win.”

List the heroes: Scutaro, the midseason acquisition who drove in the winning run and scored another. Buster Posey, who crushed a two-run homer for his first big hit of the series. Matt Cain, the stalwart right-hander who was again a postseason pillar. Jeremy Affeldt, the veteran lefty who recorded five key outs — four by strikeout. And Romo, the setup man who became a closer, striking out the side in the 10th, finishing off the title by getting Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera to fish at strike three.

“Obviously, there was no doubt about it,” Detroit Manager Jim Leyland said. “They swept us. There was certainly no bad breaks, no fluke. I tip my hat to them.”

The winning rally fit the feel of the series: Nothing special, unless you were the Giants. It started with Theriot’s single off Phil Coke, continued with Brandon Crawford’s sacrifice bunt, and seemed to fizzle with Coke’s strikeout of Angel Pagan for the second out. But Scutaro, acquired in a July trade with Colorado, came through, sending a 3-1 offering from Coke into center for his 20th and final hit of the postseason. That it scored Theriot — the former starting second baseman who was replaced when Scutaro was acquired — seemed appropriate for the Giants’ all-hands-on-deck feel.

“It was one of the moments,” said third baseman Pablo Sandoval, the World Series MVP after his three-homer performance in Game 1. “He always be a clutch hitter in this postseason. I was waiting for that moment when he came to bat. . . . He earned this.”

A substandard, sometimes dull series? Not in San Francisco, not to these Giants. Twenty-four teams have taken a three-games-to-none lead. The Giants became the 21st to finish off the sweep, demoralizing the Tigers not only with quality pitching — as they had in the first three games — but with the only timely hits the series saw.

“A lot of guys are loose and relaxed, and it just seemed like all the pieces fit together,” Cain said. “A lot of us kind of had the same mentality about the game. Nobody stood out and wanted to steal the spotlight, and I think that’s what helped us.”