Giants Take the Fall Classic
The 2014 World Series has come to a close, and what a series it was. As the Giants and Royals won just 88 and 89 regular season games, respectively, many people dubbed this the most boring World Series ever, before it had even started. And how wrong they were. Though the series consisted of several blowouts in favor of both the Royals and the Giants, the pitching duel in Game 3 and the epic Game 7 made it one for the ages.
The Giants won Game 1 in Kansas City in blowout fashion, winning 7-1. Madison Bumgarner pitched a gem, continuing his dominance from the 2012 World Series, shutting Kansas City’s offense down through six innings before giving up a home run to Salvador Perez in the seventh, ending the second longest streak of consecutive scoreless innings pitched to start a career at 21 innings. On offense, the entire Giants lineup produced, as eight of the starters racked up hits, led by three hits and two RBIs from Pablo Sandoval, hammering Royals’ ace James Shields for five runs through three innings and two more off reliever Danny Duffy. Kansas City fans all over the country were nervous as their offense could not get going, and the Giants offense excelled against their best starting pitcher.
Come Game 2, the tides turned for the Royals as they were able to get after the Giants’ starting pitcher, Jake Peavy. Peavy pitched a solid five innings, allowing only one run apiece in the first two frames. In the sixth, the wheels came apart when he gave up two runs and failed to record an out. The Giants then had to go through four more pitchers and allowed three more runs before making it out of the inning. The sixth proved fateful for San Francisco, as they did not score after. Kansas City’s three-headed monster of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland shut down the Giants for the final three and two third innings to preserve the lead and secure the victory.
Game 3 proved to be one of the most closely contested games of the series with the Royals pulling out a 3-2 win in San Francisco. A leadoff double by Alcides Escobar and some small-ball by the Royals netted them a run in the top of the first, off Giants starter Tim Hudson. He settled down to hold the Royals scoreless over the next four innings. His counterpart, Jeremy Guthrie, kept the Giants’ bats rather quiet until the sixth. In that inning, the Royals put up two in their frame with the Giants matching the Royals with two runs of their own. Both starters exited that inning and both of the bullpens kept the other scoreless for the rest of the game, resulting in a Royals triumph.
The next three games were all blowouts with the home team coming out on top in each outing. The Giants won Games 4 and 5, 11-4 and 5-0 respectively, and the Royals took home Game 6, 10-0 to force the deciding Game 7.
Madison Bumgarner, once again, stole the show in Game 7. This time, however, he did not start the game. Instead, manager Bruce Bochy held him in his bullpen as a weapon to be used whenever he so chose. That time came in the fifth inning. After the Giants and Royals had both scored two runs in the second. The Giants got one run in the fourth off of a Michael Morse single. That was all the Giants needed as Bumgarner came into the game and held the Royals to two base runners over the final five innings to get the save, and more importantly the Giants’ third World Series title in five years.