Giants Surprise Even Themselves With Suddenly Potent Offense

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hensley Meulens, who now looks like he has raised the dead, swore he wasn't surprised.

But other Giants admitted to being as stunned as the rest of the world at scoring 20 runs in the first two games of the World Series -- more than they managed in six NLCS games.

"I can't say I'm not surprised," second baseman Freddy Sanchez said. "Definitely you've got to be a little bit surprised that we were able to put up those runs. But we'll take it."

The Giants are the second team ever to open the World Series with at least nine runs in each of the first two games. The other was the 1998 Yankees, who swept the Padres (managed by current San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy).

But that Yankees team was a juggernaut from April on. These Giants scored a total of 30 runs in their 10 postseason games before the World Series. They scored six or more runs in an inning five times in the regular season, fewer than once a month.

WORLD SERIES COVERAGE

Game 2: Giants 9, Rangers 0 | Box
Hickey: Texas Awesomely Awful
Fletcher: Cain Blossoms in October
Price: Giants Surprise Themselves
Krasovic: Your Move, Texas
Olson: Giant Sense of Moment
Moore: Resilient Rangers Done
FanHouse TV: Phillips | Analysis
They have two such innings in the World Series.

Here are the Giants' runs scored in the postseason: 1, 4, 3, 3, 4, 1, 3, 6, 2, 3 ... 11, 9.

Helped by the Texas pitchers, San Francisco has a .314 average through two World Series games, with a .543 slugging percentage. The Giants slugged .330 over the first two rounds of the postseason.

For all the talk about Giants baseball being "torture," it's the Rangers pitchers who have been tormented.

"Well, it's nice to do it a little bit easier," Bochy said. "As you know, we don't do things easy."

The 9-0 victory in Game 2 was the largest shutout win in a World Series game since 1985's Game 7 (Royals 11, Cardinals 0).

Meulens, San Francisco's first-year hitting coach, figured his guys were due.

"They scored just enough runs all year," Meulens said. "It's nice to see them break loose like this on the biggest stage in the world.

"At some point, I thought they were all going to get together and put up some runs on the board. And there's no better time than now."

Not that the Giants can assume it will continue.

"We're so used to playing close games and nail-biters throughout the course of the season," Aaron Rowand said. "When something like this happens, it's nice, don't get me wrong. But we're not going into the next game looking or thinking that we're going to throw up another 10 runs."

FanHouse TV's Steve Phillips and Dan Graziano break down the Giants' win in Game 2.