Make no mistake: Nobody was touching the Giants' pitching. Starters Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner and closer Brian Wilson put on a show at the highest level, combining for a 1.41 World Series ERA and making the explosive Rangers look like a dud, like the Braves and Phillies before them.

It was an all-time pitching performance as the Giants went 11-4 in the postseason to win it all. The defense peaked at the right time, too, with Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe contributing key moments in the field as much as at the plate. Of course, the Giants got every clutch hit - take a bow, Cody Ross - that the Braves, Phillies and Rangers didn't.

Credit Lincecum and Co.

But it usually takes more to become World Series champs. It usually takes a few breaks, and the Giants enjoyed a bunch in these playoffs, from costly errors to backfiring managerial decisions to just plain luck.

In short, the ball bounced the Giants' way. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Unless you steamroll teams like the 1989 A's, 1984 Tigers, 1976 Reds, 1970 Orioles or Yankees of '27, '61 and '98, it helps to get help. From Game 1 of Series 1, the Giants never lost momentum.

Behind Tim Lincecum's 14-strikeout gem, the Giants beat the Braves 1-0 on a gift run in the Division Series opener. On a busted hit-and-run play, Buster Posey seemed to be wrongly called safe at second by umpire Paul Emmel. Posey scored when Cody Ross bounced a grounder under the glove of third baseman Omar Infante, who was playing out of position.

The Braves' defense was shoddy in Games 3 and 4, both 3-2 Giants victories, as poor Brooks Conrad did little to help Bobby Cox go out on top. The second baseman's three errors in Game 3, including the one on Posey's grounder that put the Giants ahead in the ninth, got him benched for Game 4.

The Giants closed out the series thanks in part to a decisive rally that included misplays by third baseman Troy Glaus and shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

The Giants had no complaints.

Ditto in the National League Championship Series, where Chase Utley made a couple of Conrad-type plays, and Phillies manager Charlie Manuel used Game 2 and 6 starter Roy Oswalt in the ninth inning of Game 4, a move that flopped when Juan Uribe hit a game-ending sacrifice fly.

In Game 6 in Philly, the Giants tied the score 2-2 on Placido Polanco's error, setting up Uribe's eighth-inning homer that made it 3-2. After two Phillies reached off "reliever" Lincecum with one out in the eighth, Wilson entered and Carlos Ruiz lined to Aubrey Huff for a critical double play. A few feet either way, it's an RBI single with the go-ahead run at third and one out, putting the Phillies in grand position for the win.

Didn't happen. Ryan Howard admired a Wilson slider with two aboard in the ninth, and the Giants won the pennant.

On the subject of breaks, the Giants opened the World Series at home because Brian McCann hit a three-run double in the All-Star Game (still hard to explain that one) and had an edge the moment Ron Washington decided to play Vladimir Guerrero, who butchered two plays in right field in Game 1.

The Rangers led 2-zip, but Michael Young booted Edgar Renteria's grounder and Cliff Lee plunked Andres Torres on 0-2. Both scored for a tie game, and the Giants put it away with six runs in the fifth.

In Game 2, Ian Kinsler broke a scoreless tie with a fifth-inning homer - actually, no. The ball peculiarly bounced atop the padded outfield wall and back on the field. It was a double, and Kinsler was stranded. The Giants led 2-0 in the eighth, then they took advantage of the Rangers' wild relief pitchers - including Derek Holland, who walked three batters on 13 pitches - to make it a laugher.

In the seventh inning of Game 5, Bengie Molina wouldn't have minded if Lee had walked Edgar Renteria with first base open and Aaron Rowand on deck. But that's not Lee's style. So he served a 2-0 cutter to Renteria, who hit a three-run homer for the Giants' first San Francisco championship.

Other examples of good fortune for the Giants included in-game injuries to key opposing relievers Billy Wagner and Alexi Ogando and managers' decisions to leave pitchers in the game too long (Derek Lowe for Cox, Holland for Washington) while Bruce Bochy continued to have the golden touch.

The Giants weren't lucky as much as good. But to get this far, it can help to get a few breaks along the way.