8:07 PM ET, October 26,2014
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Associated Press
Bumgarner Pitches Giants To World Series Win
The long, tall lefty kept slinging away and put the San Francisco Giants just one win from yet another championship, throwing a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 Sunday night for a 3-2 Series edge.
More from ESPN.com
Madison
Bumgarner's complete-game shutout not only helped the Giants take a 3-2
lead, it also placed him among the all-time World Series legends. Story
After
falling behind the Giants three games to two in the World Series, the
Royals head back to Kansas City where they hope to rediscover their
winning brand of baseball. Story
After
finding out his friend Oscar Taveras had died, outfielder Juan Perez
came through with a clutch hit in the Giants' win in Game 5. Story"You know what? For some reason, I keep getting really lucky this time of year, so I'll take it," Bumgarner said.
It must be more than luck.
Because by the time the 25-year-old from Hickory, North Carolina, outdid his own winning performance in Game 1, he had evoked memories of Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Curt Schilling and the top October aces of all time.
"Very humbling," Bumgarner said.
He certainly joined those names, and maybe even exceeded them.
Who else has gone 4-0 in four World Series starts with a 0.29 ERA? Throw in only 12 hits in 31 innings, along with 27 strikeouts, and that math makes him the very definition of Big Game Pitcher.
"He's special, isn't he?" manager Bruce Bochy said during a quiet moment in his office eating dinner. "What a stud."
Giants Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal mingled in the clubhouse, too, waiting his turn to congratulate the guy with the curly, stringy hair.
"He's so smooth. I say that he's cold-blooded. When he's on the mound, he dominates everybody. Everybody," Marichal said.
On this evening, Bumgarner fanned eight without a walk and never was in trouble as he constantly changed speeds, with no runners reaching third base. There hadn't been a shutout in the Series since Josh Beckett's clinching gem for the Florida Marlins in 2003 at Yankee Stadium.
The Giants' work isn't done. To add to the crowns Bumgarner helped them take in 2010 and 2012, they'll need to win in Kansas City.
"We're looking forward to getting back to our home crowd, where it's going to be absolutely wild and crazy," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Jake Peavy gets the first chance to seal it for San Francisco when he starts Game 6 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night against rookie Yordano Ventura.
Bumgarner Dominating in Postseason
Madison Bumgarner has turned an already-impressive postseason ERA into a historic stat against the Royals.
MLB Career
| Regular season | Postseason | World Series |
|---|---|---|
| 3.06 | 2.27 | 0.29 |
| -- ESPN Stats & Information | ||
Hunter Pence once again was in the middle of things for the Giants. He singled off James Shields in the second and scored on a groundout by Brandon Crawford, who had three RBIs.
Later, the enigmatic Pence accidentally threw his bat past the mound while striking out, and appeared to apologize to Shields. Pence added another hit in a three-run eighth, making him 9-for-19 in the five games.
Postseason star Pablo Sandoval also singled twice. Juan Perez broke it open with a two-run double off the top of the center-field fence in the eighth against Wade Davis and scored on a single by Crawford.
Since trailing 4-1 in Game 4, the Giants have responded with 15 straight runs. San Francisco won that game, putting aside concern that Bumgarner should've been moved up to pitch on short rest.
Bumgarner won for the fourth time against one loss in this postseason, and this blanking bookended the four-hit shutout he threw at Pittsburgh in the NL wild-card game. Durable, he's thrown 47⅔ innings this October, trailing just Schilling's 48⅓ in 2001 for the most in a single postseason, with a 1.13 ERA.
As Bumgarner wrapped up the win, his name echoed around the ballpark.
"That was pretty cool, actually. It was really neat to hear," he said.
Toward the late innings, it appeared that only a lightning strike could rescue the Royals, perhaps a home run out of nowhere. Not happening -- this was the third straight game without either team hitting a homer, the longest streak in the World Series since 1948 when the Boston Braves and Cleveland began with a three-game drought, STATS said.
Royals Déjà Vu?
The last time the Royals won the World Series they trailed 3-2 after Game 5, only to come back and win Games 6 and 7 at home.
| Year | Trailed | Games 6-7 Home? | Series result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 3-2 | Yes | Won |
| 2014 | 3-2 | Yes | ? |
| -- ESPN Stats & Information | |||
The 6-foot-5 Bumgarner definitely has an impressive whip, along with an imposing WHIP in the World Series. His walks-plus-hits ratio per inning is incredible.
About the only thing Bumgarner didn't do well was get a hit. He takes pride in his plate prowess and launched four home runs this season, including two grand slams. Bumgarner went 0-for-4, leaving him hitless in 22 postseason at-bats.
Yep, he's still got some work to do.
UP NEXT
Royals: Ventura will become the fourth rookie to start twice in a Series since 2000, joining John Lackey, Justin Verlander and Michael Wacha.
Giants: Peavy started in the World Series last year for the champion Boston Red Sox. He took the loss last week in Game 2, and is 1-4 with a 7.05 ERA in eight career postseason starts.
STATS
Of the 41 previous instances the World Series was tied at 2 in the best-of-seven format, the Game 5 winner won the title 27 times. ... Bumgarner's ERA is the lowest in World Series history for pitchers with at least 25 innings. Jack Billingham is next at 0.36. Among the leaders are Babe Ruth (0.87) and Mariano Rivera (0.99). ... Since 1982, teams down 3-2 going home for Games 6 and 7 have won eight of 10 World Series -- including the Royals in 1985.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Game Information
| Stadium | AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA |
| Attendance | 43,087 (102.8% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:09 |
| Weather | 67 degrees, clear |
| Wind | 7 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Hunter Wendelstedt, First Base - Jeff Kellogg, Second Base - Jeff Nelson, Third Base - Eric Cooper |
Research Notes
Madison Bumgarner
did not allow a single home run on a slider on the outer half or
further out in the regular season. In at-bats ending with the pitch in
that location, he recorded 34 strikeouts and allowed 30 hits. Batters
are 4-for-37 against Bumgarner's fastball on the outer half or further
out in the postseason.
|
Among
left-handed starters in the NL, Bumgarner had the highest horizontal
velocity on his slider at the time the pitch crossed the plate. The
Royals had the third-lowest batting average against lefty sliders moving
that quickly horizontally in the AL (.091). The Royals struggle with
left-handers with fast, late-breaking sliders.
|
Opposing hitters are 1-for-9 against James Shields
this postseason when he gets his fastball down, as opposed to 8-of-24
when he leaves it up in the zone. The Giants are hitting 43 points lower
as a team against fastballs in the postseason when they are located in
the lower-third of the strike zone or below.
|
James Shields
threw his cutter on the outer third of the strike-zone 23.9 percent of
the time this season, sixth-most in MLB among qualified pitchers.
Shields' chase percentage on these pitches was 30.7, eighth-highest in
MLB. Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval
had respective swing-and-miss-percentages of 40 and 38.5 against
cutters on the outer third of the strike-zone during the second half of
the regular season.
|
James Shields
has allowed a 1.000 slugging percentage this postseason in at-bats to
end in a curveball. The Giants are slugging .444 in at-bats to end in a
curve this postseason; the regular season league average was .328.
|
According to Elias, when the World Series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 is 27-14 in a best-of-7 WS.
|
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