San Francisco, CA – When the Dodgers come to town, it’s always a playoff atmosphere at the ballpark. But tonight, it was a bit more special when Angel Pagan’s eighth inning, tie-breaking home run brought the fans to their feet.

The Giants 3-2 victory over L.A. gave them the series win. Over the past three years this team had the pleasure of looking forward to the postseason rather than finishing strong in their division.

“It was pretty special. Just to be in that kind of situation today, you kind of really see what’s going on and the emotions that are tied with it,” said Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum.

But uncertainly of many players now becomes the priority as the Giants head into the offseason. One of the major decisions is whether Lincecum will return to San Francisco.

Despite a rough start the right-hander got back into a groove to strikeout the side in the fourth frame. The Dodgers took an early 2-0 lead but the Giants rallied back to tie the game in the fifth. Carl Crawford tripled in the first; Hanley Ramirez was hit by pitch, which put two on. Adrian Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to score in L.A.’s first run.

The Dodgers got a single from Tim Fedorowicz in the second who moved to second on pitcher’s Edison Volquez’s sacrifice fly. San Francisco’s next defensive play was the best maneuver of the game. Yasiel Puig hit a single to left-fielder Gregor Blanco who threw to catcher Buster Posey for the out at home plate.

“I think he was pretty amped up to start with,” Buster Posey said. “After the first couple of innings, he settled into a nice groove.”

The Giants scored two runs to tie the game. Nick Noon scored on Pagan’s ground out and Blanco scored on Brandon Belts double. But it was Lincecum’s sacrifice bunt in the fifth that brought the crowd to a roar; it set-up the tying runs on Belt’s hit.

“I thought that was one of the best sacrifice bunts I ever made in my life,” said Lincecum jokingly.

And a free agent the two-time Cy Young Award Winner left the mound to a standing ovation as the fans showed their appreciation, unsure if it would be the last time “Le Freak” dons the orange and black.

Although he deflected questions on if he’ll return next season, Lincecum explained that he intends on considering his options on what the Giants may propose.

In the meantime, the pitcher who wow’d a sellout crowd since 2010 will enjoy every moment of being around his teammates and fans.

“I’m just trying to be open-minded about what’s coming up,” he said. “I’m a product of familiarity. I like this team, so we’ll see what happens.”

“All those things are important to a franchise,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. “You get attached to a guy. Two World Series….Free agency makes it hard, it’s good to see fans appreciate things he’s done. That stuff is pretty good.”

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