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Giants 2, Cardinals 1

By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The scoreboard flashed ``The Giants Win the Pennant!'' The crowd chanted ``Beat L.A.!'' The sound system played ``I Left My Heart in San Francisco.''

Inside the clubhouse, Giants players shouted and sprayed champagne. All except one.

Because off in a corner and away from the bedlam, Barry Bonds stayed dry until his 12-year-old son, Nikolai, poured water over his head.

``When we win the World Series, I'll celebrate,'' Bonds said.

Bonds will get a chance to capture the one prize that has eluded him, thanks to Kenny Lofton's RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning that sent the Giants over the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Monday night to win the NL championship series in five games.

The first all wild-card World Series will start Saturday night at Anaheim when the Angels take on the Giants.

His postseason failures now in the past, baseball's biggest star will get his first opportunity to play on baseball's biggest stage. Bonds made it at age 38, in his 17th major league season.

``It's a feeling I can't explain. Maybe in a few days I'll be able to tell someone how I feel,'' he said.

Often criticized for being selfish and not interacting with his teammates, Bonds led the rush from the Giants' third-base dugout to congratulate Lofton. The four-time MVP and five-time playoff series loser was the first player off the bench to reach him.

``I'm just so glad I'm going to the World Series,'' Bonds said. ``For me, it's a long time coming.''

Bonds did his part in Game 5, hitting a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth off a determined Matt Morris that tied it at 1.

Before this year, Bonds had hit only .196 with one homer and six RBIs in 97 postseason at-bats. But he hit three home runs against Atlanta in the opening round and kept coming through against the Cardinals.

``Once I got past the ghosts of my past, I just played baseball,'' he said.

There was a good omen before this game started, too. His father, former big league star Bobby Bonds, threw out the first ball.

The Giants and Angels did not meet in interleague play this season, but they've seen each other. They both hold spring training in the Phoenix area and hook up in exhibition games.

Giants manager Dusty Baker and Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia were teammates on the Dodgers from 1980-83, and helped lead Los Angeles to the 1981 World Series title.

Though the Giants' biggest rivals are the Dodgers, Baker was already looking forward to this all-California matchup against Anaheim.

``Southern L.A. It's Orange County, but let's beat L.A.,'' he said.

The Cardinals, playing on emotion since the death of Darryl Kile in June, once again could not get a big hit when it counted. They finished 3-for-39 with runners in scoring position in the series.

``It was a storybook season,'' said reliever Steve Kline, who gave up the game-winning hit. ``It just didn't have the right ending.''

Morris retired the first two batters in the ninth before David Bell and Shawon Dunston singled.

At that point, Kline relieved and Lofton pulled the first pitch into right field. Bell scored easily, sending the Giants to their first World Series since 1989 as the sellout crowd of 42,673 erupted at Pacific Bell Park.

Lofton especially enjoyed the party, having been booed at Busch Stadium in Game 1 when his objection to an inside pitch triggered a bench-clearing skirmish. He had been in an 0-for-16 rut before hitting singles in his final three at-bats.

``It's an awesome feeling at this point,'' said Lofton, acquired July 28 from the Chicago White Sox for two minor leaguers. ``I wanted to get to the playoffs, I wanted to get a ring, and the opportunity came up.''

Bonds jumped up and down with the NLCS MVP, 37-year-old catcher Benito Santiago. It was Santiago's home run in Game 4 that gave the Giants a 3-1 lead in this series.

``This is a dream come true,'' Santiago said. ``I can't be happier than this.''

Bonds got the chance of a lifetime in the eighth, coming up with the bases loaded, one out and the Giants down 1-0. The home-run king and first-time batting champion delivered sort of with a fly ball that evened it.

Tim Worrell, the third Giants reliever, wound up with the win. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa stuck with Morris until the final batter, letting him pitch in a game that honored his mentor Kile.

``I think he was giving me the opportunity to win or lose it,'' Morris said. ``I ended up losing it.''

After sweeping the defending champion Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round, St. Louis stopped hitting. All-Star third baseman Scott Rolen did not play in the series after injuring his left shoulder against Arizona.

The Cardinals were blanked for six innings by Kirk Rueter, then broke a scoreless tie in the seventh when Morris' sacrifice bunt set up Fernando Vina's sacrifice fly.

Morris held San Francisco hitless until two outs in the fifth, when a double by Bell wound up bringing a howl from Baker and the crowd.

Santiago drew a leadoff walk and was still at first base with two outs when Bell blooped an opposite-field double to right. With third-base coach Sonny Jackson putting up a two-handed stop sign, Santiago bumped into third baseman Miguel Cairo as he rounded the bag and stayed put.

The fans wanted an obstruction call to send Santiago home, and so did Baker as he sprung out of the dugout to discuss it with third-base umpire Jeff Nelson. But Nelson's call was absolutely correct, according to Rule 7.06.

The rule states that it's the umpire's judgment on whether a runner would have advanced without the interference. Since right fielder Eduardo Perez was already making an accurate relay throw as Santiago was reaching third base, it was clear he would not have scored.

``Even looking at the replay again, I'm 1,000 percent convinced of that,'' Nelson said.< ^Notes:@ Morris raised the ire of fans when he hit Lofton in the back with his pitch in the fourth. Plate umpire Tim Welke immediately stepped in front of Lofton, who took his time getting down to first base. ... Perez started while Tino Martinez, stuck in a 2-for-25 postseason slump, was benched. ... There have been three previous all-California World Series: Giants-Athletics in 1989, Dodgers-A's in 1988 and Dodgers-A's in 1974.

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