Working on nine days' rest and trying to extend the Tigers' season, Scherzer kept them close into the seventh. Often recognized for his eyes — one is light blue, the other is brown — he's also known as a solid postseason pitcher.

Ditto-plus for Matt Cain, who was working on a nearly perfect year.

The Giants' ace threw a perfect game in June, was the winning pitcher in the All-Star game in July, beat Cincinnati to clinch the division series and topped St. Louis in Game 7 of the NL championship series.

After they left, the relievers decided it.

Octavio Dotel shouted, "Yeah! Let's go!" toward his dugout after striking out Posey to end the eighth. In the bottom half, winning pitcher Jeremy Affeldt got around a leadoff walk when he struck out Cabrera, a flinching Fielder and Young.

Coke returned the favor in the top of the ninth, fanning the side. With Jose Valverde having lost his closer role during a shaky month, Coke stayed in for the 10th and faltered.

The Giants became the first champion that hit the fewest home runs in the majors since St. Louis in 1982. Sandoval's three drives in Game 1 started San Francisco's romp, and its dominant pitching took over from there.

The parade to a sweep masked the problems San Francisco overcame to get this far.

Closer Brian Wilson pitched only two innings before an elbow injury ended his year. All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera was suspended 50 games for a positive testosterone test, and not welcomed back when the ban ended. Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum struggled and wound up in the bullpen.

Swept in a three-game set at Arizona to start the season, the Giants were floundering under .500 in mid-May. They soon hit their stride and, boosted by trade deadline deals for Scutaro and Pence, passed the Dodgers in the NL West for good in late August and posted 94 wins.

Getting past Cincinnati and St. Louis in the playoffs presented challenges. Down 2-0 in the best-of-five division series, they rallied for three straight victories in Cincinnati. Trailing the defending champion Cardinals 3-1 in the NLCS, they again took three in a row to advance, clinching in a driving rainstorm.

Six elimination games, six wins. Facing the Tigers, San Francisco proved it could play with a lead, too.

The Giants became the first NL team since the Big Red Machine in the mid-1970s to win two titles in a three-year span. Shut out for 56 years — Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey and Barry Bonds never won it all — their self-described "misfits" captured that elusive crown in 2010.

The Tigers' flop finished off a season in which Cabrera became baseball's first Triple Crown winner since 1967. Detroit overtook the White Sox in the final week to win the AL Central and wound up 88-74, the AL's seventh-best record.

Notes: Detroit 2B Omar Infante broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch from Santiago Casilla in the ninth. ... Theriot and Laird had a nice reunion at the plate. They were St. Louis teammates last year when the Cardinals won the title. ... Laird started after Alex Avila was scratched. Avila's right arm was still sore after being hit by a foul tip in the opener. ... Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was at the game. ... Cabrera has reached base in all 24 of his postseason games with Detroit. ... Only two of the last nine World Series have gone longer than five games.

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