Postgame
The Kansas City Royals offense put up four runs in the bottom of the third inning of Game 4 and have been MIA ever since.
Meanwhile the Giants have piled on some 16 runs while receiving a historic performance from Madison Bumgarner, who now has a pair of big W’s in this Fall Classic, giving up just one run in 31 career World Series innings - and that was the garbage time homer to Perez in Game 1 - THAT’S IT!
Ken Rosenthal of FOX TV asked him the obvious question after the game:
If there is a Game 7 would you be available?
MadBum:
You know it. Always.
The obvious answer there from the ace. But hold everything - we’re heading back to Kansas City where their fans will be right behind their Royals as they bid to stretch this World Series to the max. It will be Jake Peavy for the Giants, and Yordano Ventura for the Royals. And we’ll be there, covering all the action for you live from 8:07EST and 12:07 UK time.
Until then, thanks for reading, and good morning, good afternoon and goodnight.
Royals 0-5 Giants, Final
It’s 1-2 and then Hosmer checks his swing on a ball high and away - he didn’t go.
It’s 2-2...
Deals..outside. Full count.
Ground ball to third - Sandoval has it - he throws over to Belt at first and the San Francisco Giants are one win away from a third World Series title in five seasons off the back of a complete game four-hit shutout by Madison Bumgarner!
He’s made four starts in the World Series, and has yet to give up more than a single run...historic stuff from the Giants ace.
Royals 0-5 Giants, top 9th
Gordon pops out to right. Cain grounds out to short.
Madison Bumgarner is one out away from a complete game shutout in Game 5 of the World Series...and he’s ahead 0-2 on Eric Hosmer.
That would make him worth approximately $4,624,800
Slow down...we’ve seen this show before and there’s still a Game 6 in KC...in addition to a ninth inning here!
Royals 0-5 Giants, bottom 8th
Blanco also goes down looking - side retired and here comes Madison Bumgarner looking to finish off the Royals!
Royals 0-5 Giants, bottom 8th
Bumgarner is going to hit, which means he will go for the complete game shutout. MadBum is struck out looking, and not happy about it.
The guy is a beast.
Here is Blanco now with Crawford on first with two outs.
Updated
RUN! Royals 0-5 Giants, bottom 8th
I don’t know where Juan Perez gets off doing that. FYI - it’s a double and an error on Escobar, not a triple.... but that’s just a footnote.
Brandon Crawford is in on it now! A softly hit ball finds space in left field and HERE COMES PEREZ!
It’s another big inning for these San Francisco Giants!!
RUNS! Royals 0-4 Giants, bottom 8th
Perez is in a 0-2 hole but is able to work the count even against Davis, who looks good.
Or does he...
Perez LAUNCHES ONE, AND I MEAN LAUNCHES ONE - DYSON IS BACK BUT IT’S OFF THE VERY TOP OF THE CENTER FIELD WALL!!!
HERE COMS SANDOVAL, HERE COMES PENCE - IT’S A TWO RUN TRIPLE FROM JUAN PEREZ!
WOW!
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 8th
So here’s Davis, who has himself a 0.79 ERA in the postseason - not too shabby himself. He’s facing Belt now with two on and nobody out, running the count full, and Davis paints to the outside corner with a fastball. Belt is none to happy with the call but that was strike three for sure.
Juan Perez heads to the plate now.
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 8th
Sandoval takes Herrera right up the middle - it’s a blistering base hit that gets the orange Pandas bouncing around AT&T Park.
Lead man on for Hunter Pence, who with two strikes, reaches down and takes a sinking pitch past Escobar at short and into left field.
Talk about bad-ball hitting...
So trouble now for Herrera - KC simply canot allow any more runs through here if they are to have any shot at all...obviously.
Yost is out to get Herrera and here comes Wade Davis in relief.
Cue the organ...
Bumgarner made just $3.75m, while Kershaw pulled in $4m. Next year however he gets $30m and MadBum gets $6.75m...
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 8th
Nix is ahead in the count, but then swings on 3-1 and skies it to left. Juan Perez is under it and makes the catch - that’s the second out and Bumgarner’s postseason ERA dips once more.
Escobar is up.
MadBum’s pitch count is over 100 now, and Santiago Casilla gets up in the Giants bullpen.
Escobar, a routine fly ball that lands in the safe hands of Blanco in center field.
Stand up and cheer for Madison Bumgarner - eight shutout innings in an enormous spot!
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 8th
Billy Butler is pinch hitting and can only shake his head after watching a 76 MPH curveball pass him by for strikeout number eight on the night.
Bumgarner is untouchable, and has been all game long.
Jayson Nix is next.
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 7th
Posey fouls a pitch back, right onto the chest protector of home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, which stops play momentarily.
Then Posey bounces to Nix (he just came into the game), and he throws to Escobar for one and to Hosmer to complete the double play - that’s 4-6-3, second base to shortstop to first base - two outs, one time!
Inning over!
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 7th
Herrera runs the count full on Panik on another stady diet of fastballs.
Pitch seven is high, which means we have a one-out baserunner and Buster Posey stepping in.
James Shields
He was much, much better, obviously - if he was pitching against anybody else besides MadBum he probably would have left in a much more favorable position.
6IP 8H 2R 2ER 1BB 4SO 0HR
Updated
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 7th
James Shields is done - Kelvin Herrera is in for the Royals trying to keep them close.
Blanco is leading off, as he does - it’s a bouncer to first, and Hosmer backhands it, flips to Herrera and one down after seven straight fastballs.
Panik is next.
Seventh inning stretch...
...and that can only mean this. Thanks to George Lavender for sending this our way.
George adds that “...the San Quentin Giants beat the San Quentin Athletics 9-7 that day.”
Updated
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 7th
The crowd are on their feet with the count even at 2-2 - Bumgarner deals and misses outside.
Hosmer will be runing with the count full - Infante grounds to third - he’s sprinting down the line but is out by a step!
Bumgarner through seven (95 pitches) and it’s stretch time in San Francisco...
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 7th
Moustakas hits a high drive that hangs up - Blanco runs it down in right-center field then guns it to first to try and get Hosmer - and he would have had the throw been on line.
Two down for Infante, trying to keep this inning alive as the Royals chances dwindle.
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 7th
He hits it hard to left - Perez heads back to the wall and is able to make the catch! It’s a tough play that Ishikawa would have more trouble with and that’s more baseball genius points in the pocket of Giants manager Bruce Bochy.
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 7th
Perez stays in to play left field.
More importantly, Hosmer has a leadoff hit to right field. Can the Royals get to Bumgarner? Here’s Perez, who we know can hit MadBum a little bit...
Big at-bat right here.
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 6th
Belt flies to left for the first out, but then Travis Ishikawa has a knock - it’s a base hit to right and that means Brandon Crawford comes to the plate with a man on. Juan Perez enters the game as a pinch runner. Crawford already has an RBI hit tonight...
Here he bounces to Shields who makes the throw to first base for the second out.
A runner in scoring position for Bumgarner - the Giants ace grounds out to third and Shields is now through six innings and has thrown 94 pitches.
Hosmer, Perez and Moustakas coming up...
Updated
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 6th
Here’s Cain’s chance to be the latest player to make a great play in the field and then come back with some kind of offense.
The count is 2-2 when Bumgarner misses high and tight. So now the count is full...
...he hits it very hard, but right at Travis Ishikawa, who doesn’t dive, rather, just makes the catch to retire the side.
That’s six shutout innings for MadBum - he’s thrown 80 pitches.
It certainly was...
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 6th
Gordon pops it up in the infield - Crawford is under it at shortstop, that’s two down.
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 6th
Top of the lineup - Escobar pops it up behind the plate and Posey has it for the first out. Here’s Gordon now...
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 5th
Pence lifts it towards the gap in right-center - that is hit very hard, very far - Cain is on his horse, running, running, running, reaching out and MAKING THE CATCH!
Two runs were coming home, definitely! That is the kind of play that could potentially save this game if KC can get anything going!
Instead, the inning is over - Shields and KC bite the bullet!
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 5th
The fans at AT&T Park are holding up orange panda heads to show their support.
It’s not enough - very high heat from Shields that Sandoval can’t resist and that’s a very very big out right there.
But he’s not out of trouble yet - here is Pence....
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 5th
Ball in the dirt - Panik takes off immediately! That’s more heads up baserunning from San Francisco. Very very strong fundamentals on display...
Now Shields loses Posey - runners on first and second now with one out after the walk and now Yost has some thinking to do.
Here comes Kung Fu Panda.
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 5th
Shields is down two runs but has pitched reasonably well. He’s got 70 pitches thus far through 4 1/3 innings after Blanco grounds to Infante at second.
Then Panik is on after hitting a hard hit ball up the middle with two strikes on him.
It’s one out for Posey - heart of the order now for San Francisco.
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 5th
Nothing doing...Shields goes down on strikes, the kind where the catcher throws to first.
Whatever, the inning is over.
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 5th
Dyson chases a curveball low, and that’s a big strikeout - the sixth by Bumgarner.
Now Shields has to bat because he’s pitching well. It’s gonna take a miracle to get Infante home here with two outs.
Royals 0-2 Giants, top 5th
Moustakas lines out to Crawford who is to the right of the second base bag because of the shift. Now here’s Infante who lifts a ball to left - Ishikawa is diving for it and he can’t get it!
It gets past the Giants left fielder and Infante has a double! Ishikawa should have played that more conservatively.
The Royals have a man in scoring position - I think that’s the first time tonight they’ve had such a luxury. Here’s light hitting center fielder Jarrod Dyson.
Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 4th
Bumgarner swings at a ball away and that’s strike three. The inning is over, but the Giants get a very big run right there.
RUN! Royals 0-2 Giants, bottom 4th
Crawford, a two out base hit to center field! Sandoval stops momentarily at third for reasons we may never discover - then heads home for the run!
Now MadBum has a two-run lead and can add to it himself - he’s batting with two on and two out.
Royals 0-1 Giants, bottom 4th
Shields answers the leadoff hit with back-to-back strikeouts! That leaves it to Travis Ishikawa.
He lines one under Escobar’s backhanded glove - that’s got to be an E-5, that being an error on the shortstop, but the official scorer is giving Ishikawa a single - somewhat generous.
Runners on first and second now for Brandon Crawford.
Royals 0-1 Giants, bottom 4th
The count is 2-2 when Hunter chases a ball away and looses his bat! Even his strikeouts are interesting.
One out, one on for Belt, who we now know can bunt...do it again Brandon, come on!
Royals 0-1 Giants, bottom 4th
Sandoval leads off with a base hit just past the outstretched glove of Moustakas who hits the dirt in pursuit. So Panda is on, and here comes Hunter!
Seems like a big at-bat, does it not?
Updated
Royals 0-1 Giants, top 4th
It’s not easy to transition to baseball after hearing something as terrible as that.
A quick catchup - Cain grounds out to Brandon Crawford at short, then Hosmer dos the same but to Sandoval at third. Then Perez is at the plate and he grounds to Belt at first - he’s got some ground to cover and slides, spikes first to get to the bag and he’s out!
Terrific play by belt there to and that’s nine straight retired by MadBum.
Updated
Oscar Taveras
Ken Rosenthal reports in-between innings that the Cardinals rookie outfielder Oscar Taveras has been killed in an automobile accident in the Dominican Republic, a shocking and awful bit of news.
That is horrible, Oscar Taveras was just 22 years old.
I know it’s hard to think this way, but if the Cardinals were still in the playoffs Taveras would still be with us. Extremely sad to get news like this.
Updated
Royals 0-1 Giants, bottom 3rd
Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti speaking to FOX TV here in the US about Madison Bumgarner:
...he’s a hell of a pitcher.
Uh, yah, I’d probably have to agree. Good to see Rags, who was pretty good himself.
Back to the game - Panik grounds to short, Posey to second, and that’s an easy inning for Shields who looks a lot better than he did in Game 1. If you believe the FOX boys, it’s because his changeup is sinking rather than staying up in the zone, which is sensible.
Royals 0-1 Giants, bottom 3rd
Blanco at the top of the order and he hits one towards the gap in left-center field that has the crowd excited...until Gordon tracks it down for the first out.
Here’s Panik.
Damn! He botched it and I missed it! You can’t beat up on somebody second hand - not nearly as fun!
Maybe Monday...
Royals 0-1 Giants, top 3rd
Escobar with a blooper to center that hangs up there just a bit too long and Blanco has it for the second out.
Hosmer is up and in the hole immediately, then he’s back in the dugout. It’s a big Unlce Charlie in the dirt that the Royals first baseman can’t resist.
Six straight retired by Bumgarner, and he has five strikeouts through three.
Royals 0-1 Giants, top 3rd
With two shutout innings, Bumgarner’s ERA sinks to 1.00 this postseason, and with James Shields at the plate, it’s set to dip some more.
The KC hurler lifts it to center - easy for Blanco, one away.
Top of the order now, Alcides Escobar at the plate.
Yes, but who was it? Somebody must know!
RUN! Royals 0-1 Giants, bottom 2nd
Crawford grounds out to second and that allows Pence to come home with the first run of the ballgame.
Oh, and that’s just the latest Giants run that came home without a hit.
Now here comes Babe R...I mean Madison Bumgarner with two down.
He hits it hard to third, but Moustakas has it. He fires over to first to retire the side.
Advantage Giants.
Royals 0-0 Giants, bottom 2nd
Ishikawa gives it a ride - a really long ride to center field. Dyson is under it, makes the catch and both Pence and Belt move up! More phenomenal baserunning by the Giants in this series.
One out, runners at second and third and here is Brandon Crawford with the pitcher hitting next.
Just in case you’re wondering, Bumgarner hit four bombs this year and hit .258. That is a lot higher than Mike Moustakas...
Royals 0-0 Giants, bottom 2nd
Hunter Pence leading off, which means I can post this...
Hey, if greenies are no longer an option....
Anyway, Pence wastes no time, drilling a base hit past Escobar at short! A leadoff baserunner.
Now Belt, a lefty, bunts to the left side of the infield, against the shift! Belt beats the throw from Escobar by a step! Finally! Hallelujah!
I love it - take that infield shift!!!!!!
So now it’s two on, no one out, and here’s Travis Ishikawa with James Shields entering the situation room. Is there any more magic in that bat?
Royals 0-0 Giants, top 2nd
A couple of foul balls, then Bumgarner takes just a little something off it - Hosmer is helpless, swinging through a cut fastball.
That’s the first out, here is Omar Infante, who had a big hit last night early, back when KC looked like Giant killers.
Infante chases a bugs-bunny-ish curve ball away and now he’s down on strikes.
So back-to-back strikeouts after the leadoff hit and now MadBum completes the trifecta!
Dyson is swinging at the high heat - side retired!
KC swallow hard.
Royals 0-0 Giants, top 2nd
Sweet Salvador Perez, who as we mentione, did have success against Bumgarner in Game 1, pokes a single to right for a lead off hit.
Now Moustakas is up, a lefty-on-lefty match-up and so San Francisco put on the shift.
MadBum, not messing around, throws a 94 MPH heater down the middle that Hosmer can’t touch, but then he’s high in the zone to run the count full...
Royals 0-0 Giants, bottom 1st
Posey tags one to center and it drops in for a base hit. So just like the Royals did in their half of the first, the Giants have a two-out runner.
Here is Sandoval, fresh off playing with flu-like symptoms.
I was going to play no matter what...
And so he did, delivering as he does, each and every postseason he plays in.
But here Panda grounds out to second, it’s easy for Omar Infante, side retired.
Pitching dual? That would seem to favor the Royals, but it’s way too early, right?
Royals 0-0 Giants, bottom 1st
So here is Big Game James and his big fat 7.11 postseason ERA.
Gregor Blanco, seemingly always in the middle of it all (a poor mans Hunter Pence?), leads off the game for the Giants and promptly grounds out to first, it’s easy for Hosmer.
Now Panik steps in - he had a couple of big hits, but here he lifts a ball to center that’s easy for Dyson. Two down, and here is Posey.
Royals 0-0 Giants, top 1st
Bumgarner throws over and has a look at Cain to keep him close. Then Hosmer waves at a cut-fastball away and now he’s in a 1-2 hole.
We know how that ends....yup. Hosmer goes fishing at a ball in the dirt and that’s strike three-inning over.
Royals 0-0 Giants, top 1st
Cain hits it where they ain’t, and not even Hunter Pence and his tongue can get to it out in shallow right field. We have a two out baserunner now and Hosmer steps in.
Will Cain ge the Royals speed game going?
Royals 0-0 Giants, top 1st
Gordon grounds to second, Panik has a ways to go but he slides to his left, has it, gets up and fires to first for the second out. Another solid play from Panik, who’s got plenty of range.
Now it’s Cain, who had a bit of an injury scare last night, but is OK. Let’s see how he does against the Giants’ ace.
First pitch
Alcides Escobar is first pitch swinging and pops to left where Travis Ishikawa puts it away. So the Royals want to be aggressive eh?
National Anthem
Did anyone see it? All we got was FOX NFL postgame. Great.
Match-ups
Here is a look at what James Shields has done against these Giants...
...and what KC’s hitters have done against MadBum. Good thing Nori Aoki is on the bence, he’s 0-16 vs Bumgarner. Billy Butler, also on the bench thanks to the DH rule in NL parks, is 3-6 with a home run off him
OK, now throw all that out the window.
And here they are, your San Francisco Giants!
- Gregor Blanco, CF
- Joe Panik, 2B
- Buster Posey, C
- Pablo Sandoval, 3B
- Hunter Pence, RF
- Brandon Belt, 1B
- Travis Ishikawa, LF
- Brandon Crawford, SS
- Madison Bumgarner, LHP
Giants manager Bruce Bochy flip-flops Pence and Sandoval and swaps Juan Pere for Travis Ishikawa. Pence has had the most at-bats (13), of any San Francisco starter against Shields, and is hitting just .154. That means a 4-4 evening is in store, of course...
Kansas City Royals
- Alcides Escobar, SS
- Alex Gordon, LF
- Lorenzo Cain, RF
- Eric Hosmer, 1B
- Salvador Perez, C
- Mike Moustakas, 3B
- Omar Infante, 2B
- Jarrod Dyson, CF
- James Shields, RHP
So KC manager Ned Yost like how Sweet Salvador is swinging the bat and moves him up to fifth...and because he hit a home run off Bumgarner in Game 1. Moustakas drops a slot, and so does Infante, who has also been indispensable. Otherwise, same as...
Madison Bumgarner
We’ve seen him chug, which made some of us believe that pitching was the second best thing he can do.
MadBum pours warm beer on that theory...
Ah, but he didn’t say anything about four at a time now did he...
Robin Williams
The comic/actor and sometimes Giants fan is being honored on the field at AT&T Park...
Which means we can have some pre-game fun with him as well.
When he was good, he was good.
Preamble
There’s a reason why the Kansas City Royals were clear about the importance of winning Game 4, and that’s because of who’s getting the ball in Game 5.
Madison Bumgarner, the San Francisco Giants’ soul-destroying ace, is heading to the hill at AT&T tonight, looking to shoot his team east with a 3-2 World Series lead. For KC, that’s a prospect as scary as MadBum’s 1.41 postseason ERA.
It didn’t have to be this way for the Royals – they were in control of Game 4, sticking it to the home team after a long, demoralizing third inning that sucked the life out of AT&T Park. KC were up 4-1, six outs away from reaching their stingy bullpen, daydreaming about a 3-1 series lead.
Then San Francisco switched the lights on, spring-boarding off the back of inspiring, shut-down relief work from pitcher Yusmeiro Petit to explode for 10 unanswered runs. The Royals may still be wondering what hit them, and now a road-weary KC have to regroup and show the kind of bounce back ability they displayed after losing Game 1 by six runs.
Except this time is that they’ll be facing Bumgarner, who took the starch out of the KC lineup in the opener. He allowed one, garbage-time home run in seven innings and just three hits while striking out five and walking just one.
It’s the kind of outing the Royals desperately need from their ace, Big Game James Shields, who has been anything but as of late. James was creamed by the Giants, possibly suffering after a long layoff following the ALCS, giving up five runs in three innings. Shields hasn’t pitched well since 5 October, when he beat the Angels in Game 3 of the ALDS – a long, long time ago, and confidence in his shutdown abilities is fading. If Shields is going to get his game back, well, what better time than tonight?
Game 5s are pivotal in any series and so tonight will go a long way to determining who will win the 2014 World Series. That means this is going to be a fun night of baseball, so settle in, get your bowl of corn nuts ready and stand by for first pitch. It’s coming at around 8:07 on the East Coast of the United States and 12:07 over in the UK.
In the meantime, why not drop us a line – will Shields return to form? Can KC get to Bumgarner? Tweet it out to:
or by email to:
david.lengel.freelance@theguardian.com
Stand by for Game 5 of the World Series!