Posted by Sabrina B.  @gametimegirl

One day after the World Series was beaten in the ratings for the first time by a regular-season NFL game, Fox’s 2010 World Series coverage bounced back to beat ESPN’s Monday Night Football in the TV ratings race Monday.

Fox’s telecast of the San Francisco Giants’ series-clinching 3-1 win over the Texas Rangers drew a 10.6 overnight rating, according to Dan Bell of Fox. That’s 23% higher than the 8.6 rating for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts’ 30-17 victory against the Houston Texans on ESPN.

Still, the lack of teams with national followings such as the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox hurt Major League Baseball’s showcase postseason event. The 10.6 rating for Monday’s Game 5 was down 17% from Game 5 of last year’s Yankees-Philadelphia Phillies series — and off 5% from Game 5 of the Phillies-Tampa Bay Rays series in 2008, which started on a Monday and concluded on a Wednesday. The 2008 series ranks as the lowest-rated yet.

NBC’s New Orleans Saints-Pittsburgh Steelers game Sunday night drew an 11.8 rating vs. a 10.4 rating for Fox’s coverage of the Giants’ Game 4 victory.

–Michael McCarthy