Another Giant pennant
UNDATED (AP) — After a pair of playoff comebacks, the Giants are in the World Series.
San Francisco hammered visiting St. Louis 9-0 in last night’s seventh game of the National League Championship Series to earn a second trip to the Fall Classic in three years. Everybody in the Giants’ starting lineup had collected an RBI and/or scored a run by the end of the third inning.
Cards starting pitcher Kyle Lohse was chased in the third. He was charged with five runs and six hits.
Series MVP Marco Scutaro was the Giants’ offensive spark. The veteran second baseman went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Scutaro hit .500 in the series and had at least two hits in six of the seven games.
The Cardinals experienced an offensive meltdown over the last three games, scoring just once after averaging 5.6 runs during their first nine postseason games. The defending World Series champions went 1-4 in potential series clinchers.
It’s the 20th pennant for the Giants, who earned it by becoming only the seventh team to win a league championship series after trailing three games to one. San Francisco was down 2-0 in the best-of-five NLDS before winning three straight from the Reds in Cincinnati.
The Giants will host the AL champion Detroit Tigers for Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday.
Bears top Lions
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bears generated just enough offense to complement another outstanding defensive performance.
Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers and Zack Bowman each recovered one of Detroit’s six fumbles and the Bears improved to 5-1 by silencing the Lions 13-7. The Bears forced four turnovers to stop a Detroit team that actually outgained Chicago 340 yards to 296. D.J. Moore helped secure the victory by intercepting Matthew Stafford at the Chicago three yard line with 2:39 remaining.
The Lions never got into the end zone until the final minute. They also lost wide receiver Nate Burleson to a broken right leg.
The Bears were leading 10-0 when quarterback Jay Cutler suffered bruised ribs in the second quarter and had to leave the game. Cutler came back to start the second half and finished 16 of 31 for 150 yards and a touchdown as the Bears dropped the Lions to 2-4.
Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 81 yards and scored a touchdown on Chicago’s first possession. Matt Forte ran for 96 yards to lead the Bears’ ground game.
Miller sore but OK…Thompson done for the season
UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says star quarterback Braxton Miller has a sore neck yet is expected to return to practice on Tuesday.
Miller lay motionless for several minutes after being thrown to the turf by Purdue defensive back Josh Johnson late in the third quarter of the ninth-ranked Buckeyes’ dramatic 29-22 overtime win on Saturday. He was carted to the locker room and then taken to the hospital where he was treated and released.
Kenny Guiton came on for Miller and led Ohio State to its eighth victory in a row under first-year coach Meyer. Miller is listed as the starter at quarterback for Saturday’s game at Penn State.
In other college football news:
— Suspended defensive tackle Stacy McGee has been reinstated and should make his season debut for No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday night against fifth-ranked Notre Dame. Coach Bob Stoops says McGee has been practicing with the scout team during his suspension and there’s no reason he wouldn’t be ready to play against the Fighting Irish. McGee played in 12 games for the Sooners last season and started three times.
— Eleventh-ranked Florida State will play out the season with their leading rusher on the sidelines. The Seminoles say versatile running back Chris Thompson is out for the rest of the season after injuring his left knee in Saturday’s win over Miami. Thompson missed much of the 2011 season with two broken vertebrae.