Giants 'scratch and claw' with unlikely heroes in another win | CBSSports.com

This is what playoff intensity is all about. Whether it's "scratch and claw" or "hunt and peck", it does describe both the persistence and dogged (sorry) determination that goes with what seems to be at times glaring futility.

Baseball is definitely a game of failure and a game of redemption, which is overcoming ones prior mistakes. The degree that you can continue to remain persistent in the face of futility often determines your fate.

Both teams have over the years exhibited a very high ability to continue to persevere and overcome anything the game throws at them.  That's why they have been two of the most successful franchises in baseball.

From the esoteric to the pragmatic:

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, in 86 previous instances when a Major League best-of-seven series was tied, 1-1, the Game 3 winner proceeded to capture the set 61 times, or 70.9 percent.

from CBSSports.com:
Giants 'scratch and claw' with unlikely heroes in another win - CBSSports.com:

"We didn't get the bunt down, (then) we got a hit, it seems like that's how postseason games go sometimes," reliever Jeremy Affeldt said. "It's getting the right hit at the right time, making the right pitch at the right time.

And sometimes, it's also getting a passed ball or throwing error or hit from an unlikely source to help you score.

"Somebody asked me earlier if there was a way, if there's any other way we can score a run other than a non-conventional way, and I said, 'If there is, we're going to find a way,'" Ishikawa said. "Just seems like, how you said, the resilience of this team. There's no quit, whether we're down or whether we've got the small lead. We're going to find a way to get it done."

"More often than not, they do find a way. "Scratch and claw" was a phrase specifically used by at least two different Giants players after the game.

 First up, Affeldt, who worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings himself to get the game to the ninth tied.

 "We've had to scratch and claw the entire year. We lost a nine-game lead and we had to claw back into the wild card spot. We've lost key components. We've lost [Marco] Scutaro, we've lost [Angel] Pagan, we lost [Brandon] Belt for most of the year. We had to scratch and claw and figure out ways to win games without those guys and we did it. And that's what we're having to do in the playoffs. The Cardinals have had to do the same thing. You have two teams with that same mentality and we both seem to have that mentality a lot this time of year."

 Next, it was Hudson:

 "That's our personality as a team. We have guys that scratch and claw and go out there and do whatever it takes to try to get some runs across and keep the game close at times and try to find ways to win it there at the end."

 It's a common theme when discussing both of these NLCS teams, actually. We often hear about how the Cardinals and Giants just find a way to get the job done in October. In a way, this is a "something's gotta give" series. The players definitely recognize it.

 "None of us -- or those guys on the other side of the field -- are going to take anything for granted," Affeldt said. "It's hard to get outs, it's hard to get hits. We take ours any way we can get them, and we happen to be in the right place at the right time, but that's what happens when you play well. I fully expect that in this series."

"It's kind of our style, we have that never-say-die mentality. We never quit," said Sergio Romo, who worked 2/3 scoreless innings as part of an excellent performance by the Giants' bullpen. "We never take our foot off the gas pedal. For us to be playing these tight games, these never-know-what's-gonna-happen next games, it's very fun and exciting to be a part of. But it's definitely not unexpected.""

'via Blog this'