There has to be a first time for everything.
San Francisco Giants fans most likely are holding on to that thought after watching their team beat St. Louis 6-1 Sunday night to force Game 7 in the National League Championship Series. Winner goes to the World Series; loser goes home. The game is set for 5 p.m. today at AT&T Park.
Game 7s have not been kind to the Giants. From the Sacramento Bee:
In 100 years of baseball, the Giants franchise has never won a Game 7 when it was a do-or-die game like the one today.
That's right. Before today, the Giants have reached a Game 7 five times between 1912 and 2002 – and lost every time. That includes four World Series heartbreakers and one gut-wrenching Game 7 defeat in the National League Championship Series against … the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987.
But the time does seem right for the Giants' first Game 7 win. After all, the team has won five straight games when facing elimination this postseason, including Sunday night's Game 6.
KQED's Scott Shafer was at AT&T Park for Game 6 and he sent along these photos.