’Frisco faith pays for jubilant Giants

EDGAR RENTERIA paid tribute to the San Francisco Giants for keeping faith with him after his home run led the franchise to their first World Series title in over half a century on Monday night.

The 35-year-old shortstop belted a three-run homer in the top of the seventh to give the Giants’ impressive starter Tim Lincecum a 3-1 win over Cliff Lee and the Texas Rangers, sealing a 4-1 series victory.

For Renteria it capped a fine post-season turnaround after a tough year – his two World Series homers came close to matching the three he hit in the whole of the regular season and, along with a .412 average and six RBIs, earned him the Most Valuable Player award.

For the Giants, it meant a first World Series crown since 1954 and since moving from New York to San Francisco in 1958.

“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 said.

“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.”

Lincecum out-duelled Lee as he surrendered just three hits and a single run in eight innings, before closer Brian Wilson took over to close things out.

There were other notable performances too – 33-year-old Aubrey Huff’s first ever career sacrifice bunt, for example, which helped set up Renteria in the seventh.

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.”