SAN FRANCISCO -- There's something about elimination games that manages to condense the air in a ballpark. Each pitch carries the potential to change the game, and wild mood swings are possible in a single at-bat. The world shrinks, and for a few hours it can feel like the only thing that matters.
And this game -- Game 5 of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and Giants -- began to feel inevitable sometime around August. After a regular season that saw the Giants win 107 games and the Dodgers 106, after a series that saw each team win two of the first four games, there was little doubt this game would do its best to measure up to its considerable hype.