Giants' outpouring of runs keeps Royals' Big 3 on bench
Published 10:35 pm, Saturday, October 25, 2014
Up three runs in the third inning, all the Royals had to do, in theory, was hold things there - or at least keep a lead - through the sixth, and let the killer K.C. relief trio take over.
Kansas City did not make it that far, enduring a particularly suspect muddle in the fifth and sixth innings. The Giants emerged with five runs in that stretch and went on to an 11-4 victory in Game 4 of the World Series to even the series at two games apiece.
With that, the series will return to Kansas City. And the Royals, who looked in the early going Saturday as if they might be taking a firm hold of the series, now must face Madison Bumgarner - tremendous in Game 1 - on Sunday. James Shields, shaky all postseason, is on the mound for the Royals.
That means that there is a very real chance Kansas City could be playing a must-win game on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.
'We all know what's at stake,' Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. 'This is the final push.'
The non- Kelvin Herrera/ Wade Davis/ Greg Holland crew did not get the job done, and the biggest failings came with lefties Danny Duffy (fifth inning) and Brandon Finnegan (sixth) facing switch-hitter Pablo Sandoval, who'd looked dreadful in striking out twice against lefty starter Jason Vargas.
'He's made his living in the postseason,' Duffy said. 'The dude is just a stud.'
Batting right-handed again, Sandoval singled off Duffy to keep a rally going in the fifth, setting up a pivotal dash home by Hunter Pence on a shallow sacrifice fly-liner by Juan Perez to tie the game.
'I wasn't surprised he went. Pence is pretty fast,' Duffy said. 'He's a sneaky athlete.'
In the sixth, Sandoval whacked a two-run single off Finnegan, a 21-year-old rookie who'd turned in nice work the night before. He'd even given his cap from Game 3 to the Hall of Fame because he was the first player ever to pitch in the College World Series and the World Series in the same year.
'I don't think anyone goes without losing a game - if they did, they'd put them in the Hall of Fame right now,' said Finnegan, who allowed five runs. 'That's how baseball is, it will pick you up real quick and it will kick you in the guts real quick, too. It's nothing I can't handle. ... If you can't handle losing, this sport and sports in general isn't for you.'
'If I didn't give up the inherited runner, he doesn't even have to come in in a situation like that,' Duffy said of Finnegan. 'It would have set us up to get our Big Three out there, so I'll totally take that. Put the blame on me for that.'
Yost said he did not entertain the idea of going to any of his big guns early. 'I've been going to the whip on those guys,' he said. 'I've got to have them for three more games. So they've got to be at their best.'
Now it's Bumgarner, but the Royals are not shrinking in fear - they've at least seen him once in this series.
'Any time you get at-bats off a guy and turn around and see him a couple of days later, it definitely helps,' Hosmer said. 'Last time, we just couldn't capitalize with guys in scoring position, but at the same time, we saw how he attacked us and we'll have a better game plan going in.'
Playing in their first postseason since 1989, the Royals are enjoying everything, even a loss like Saturday's.
'We got our tails whipped today, but it's Game 4 of the World Series,' Yost said. 'We're tied 2-2, how much more fun can that be? There is nothing better in the world. I've never felt so good about getting my tail whooped in my life, because I'm sitting here thinking it's Game 4. It's tied 2-2. This is a phenomenal series.'
Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: sslusser@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @susanslusser
Post a Comment for "Giants' outpouring of runs keeps Royals' Big 3 on bench"