ANAHEIM, CA - Much like Game 6, the Padres were forced to remove a starting pitcher far earlier than expected in Game 7 of the 2010 World Series. Rookie David Price lost control of all his pitches before recording an out in the third. His wildness left Padres manager Tim Stoops with little choice but to pull him and turn yet again to an overworked bullpen. A home run from Troy Tulowitzki added to the early pitching woes, putting the Padres in a 5 to 2 hole. For the second day in a row, the Padres bullpen held. Sean White, Craig Breslow, Nick Masset, Luke Gregerson and Joe Thatcher allowed only one more Angel run to cross the plate from the third to the eighth inning. For the Angels, starter Dan Haren pitched into the eighth while giving up only 3 runs. Starting the ninth with a two-run lead, Angels manager Dave Berks let Matt Thornton record the first out before turning the game over to closer Jonathan Papelbon. He retired Raul Ibanez, leaving the Angels one out away from winning the series. Juan Uribe, who had homered earlier, managed a single up the middle to prolong the inning, bringing the tying run to the plate. Will Venable (above) then hit one of the most dramatic home runs in Padres history, silencing more than 50,000 fans packed into Angel Stadium, tying Game 7 of the World Series. Thatcher returned to the mound and finished off the ninth. After a scoreless 10th inning, Adam Jones (right) stepped up to face Papelbon in the 11th with one goal in mind. "Home run. I wanted to break the tie," Jones said. "I knew our bullpen was getting thin, and if the game went much longer the odds of our winning would go steadily down." Jones succeeded by sending a Papelbon fastball deep over the left field fence. Needing only 3 more outs to steal the World Series, Stoops turned to closer Chad Qualls, though he had been shaky all postseason for the Padres. Qualls immediately let the tying run get aboard, and when he got to third with two down, the game was in the hands of Tulowitzki. The Angels shortstop swung and missed three times, striking out against Qualls, giving the San Diego Padres the World Series Championship by a final score of 6 to 5. "What an incredible ending to the most exciting season I can remember as manager of the Padres," Stoops exclaimed.
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