67°Scattered Clouds
8:07 PM ET, October 24, 2014
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Associated Press
Royals Edge Giants To Take Series Lead
Jeremy Guthrie outpitched fellow World Series newcomer Tim Hudson, four Royals relievers combined on four hitless innings and Kansas City beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic.
"This is the way our games have gone all year," said Royals manager Ned Yost, who made several lineup changes that paid off. "I'm getting really good at protecting a one-run lead because a lot of times that's exactly what we have to deal with.
"But I have the necessary tools to be able to do that. It's not me doing it. It's the guys that we put out there that are doing it. We have the type of pitchers in our bullpen that can accomplish that," he said.
More from ESPN.com
The Royals' vaunted bullpen showed its might again as K.C. grabbed a 2-1 lead in the World Series. StoryEric Hosmer had a sixth-inning RBI single in an 11-pitch at-bat against lefty Javier Lopez for his first World Series hit -- on his 25th birthday.
Cain drove in the first run with a groundout after Alcides Escobar's leadoff double in the first.
Game 4 is Saturday night, with right-hander Ryan Vogelsong trying to get the Giants even against Kansas City lefty Jason Vargas.
"We've got to keep grinding. It's going to be a tough series," said Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson, added to the starting lineup in Game 3.
Yost moved Cain from center field to right in place of Norichika Aoki for a defensive boost in the expansive outfield at AT&T Park. Cain chased down Buster Posey's slicing line drive in the first for a pretty catch from his knees, then snagged Travis Ishikawa's sinking liner in the second.
Gordon was moved up from sixth to second in the lineup and came through with his RBI double following Escobar's single in the sixth.
On a night that began with a remembrance of late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, Kansas City produced just enough run support even without designated hitter Billy Butler. The Series shifted to AT&T Park and National League rules for three games.
The Giants had their six-game home winning streak in the World Series snapped. The unbeaten run dated to the 2002 wild-card club of Barry Bonds and Co. that lost in seven games to the Angels.
The Royals seemed unfazed by the fanfare and tough conditions in improving to 5-0 on the road this postseason. Of the first 56 times the World Series was tied 1-all, the Game 3 winner went on to win in 37 of those instances and four of the last five.
A cast of Giants Hall of Famers were celebrated on the field in a star-studded pregame featuring a "Play Ball!" chant by Huey Lewis.
Pinch hitter Michael Morse hit an RBI double with none out in the sixth to chase Guthrie. Yost turned it over to his fantastic bullpen, and Kelvin Herrera immediately walked Gregor Blanco.
A Wild, Wild Run
Kansas City has one of the highest winning percentages in a single postseason since the start of the wild-card era in 1995.| Team | Win Pct. | W-L |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 White Sox | .917 | 11-1 |
| 1999 Yankees | .917 | 11-1 |
| 2014 Royals | .909 | 10-1 |
| 1998 Yankees | .846 | 11-2 |
| -- ESPN Stats & Information | ||
Then, the Royals shut down San Francisco the rest of the way.
"I don't know if there's a better bullpen, because that seventh, eighth and ninth inning, and you get a tough go when you're facing those guys,'' Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Hopefully you get some runs early, but Guthrie did a great job on us.''
Herrera worked 1 1/3 innings, rookie Brandon Finnegan got two outs in his World Series debut, and Wade Davis pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. Greg Holland got three outs for a save.
The four hitless innings of relief were the most in the World Series in 22 years.
"Our bullpen's been lights out. We've got 100 percent confidence in (those) guys getting their job done,'' Dyson said. "From an offensive standpoint, we're just trying to put runs on the board and get them in position.''
Guthrie, who attended nearby Stanford, retired 10 straight during one stretch and combined with Hudson to retire 20 in a row. That was the longest Series streak since the Yankees' Don Larsen and the Brooklyn Dodgers' Sal Maglie retired the first 23 batters during Larsen's perfect game in 1956, according to STATS.
"What a gutsy performance, and that's one of the performances we needed right now, to be able to take this first one here," Royals teammate James Shields said. "He went out there and pitched his heart out. He did a phenomenal job tonight."
As a gorgeous Bay Area afternoon turned into a breezy night along the water, the 39-year-old Hudson left in the sixth to a rousing ovation from the orange towel-twirling sellout crowd.
Hudson waited 16 years for his first World Series chance only to watch Alcides Escobar hit the game's first pitch for a double. Escobar scored on Cain's groundout, and Hudson settled in nicely after the second. The right-hander retired 12 in a row before Escobar's one-out single through Hudson's legs in the sixth. Gordon followed with an RBI double.
GUTHRIE'S MARK
In a quirky stat, Guthrie became the fifth starting pitcher in World Series history to not record a walk or a strikeout through five innings and the first since Hall of Famer Greg Maddux in Game 2 of the 1996 Series for Atlanta against the Yankees.
UP NEXT
Royals: Vargas, an 11-game winner who pitched the ALCS clincher against Baltimore, attended Game 1 of the Giants' 2010 World Series at AT&T Park against Texas with his wife as a fan.
Giants: Vogelsong is the only pitcher to yield no more than one run in his first five postseason starts. That run ended in the NL Championship Series when Vogelsong allowed four runs in three innings of a no-decision against St. Louis. ... San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said he and pitching coach Dave Righetti discussed going with ace lefty Madison Bumgarner in Game 4 on short rest if trailing -- something they know he can handle physically despite his heavy workload.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Photo Wire
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - OCTOBER 24: Bruce Bochy #15 of the San Francisco Giants looks on during batting practice...
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Game Information
| Stadium | AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA |
| Attendance | 43,020 (102.6% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:15 |
| Weather | 67 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 8 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Jim Reynolds, First Base - Ted Barrett, Second Base - Hunter Wendelstedt, Third Base - Jeff Kellogg |
Research Notes
Greg Holland has 7 saves this postseason, tied for the most in a single postseason in MLB History.
[+] |
Buster Posey slugged .516 in at-bats ending in a breaking ball in the lower third of the zone or below, second best in the NL (Hanley Ramirez - .527). Jeremy Guthrie allowed a .457 slugging percentage in the regular season in such at-bats, fourth-highest in baseball.
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Tim Hudson recorded 44 of his 120 regular-season strikeouts (36.7 percent) with his slider. Alex Gordon struck out 30 times in 79 at-bats to end with a slider, his most against any non-fastball.
|
Over the last two seasons, Hunter Pence
hit nine home runs in at-bats to end in a changeup in the strike zone,
tied for fifth most in baseball. Among pitchers to throw at least 300
changeups this season, Jeremy Guthrie threw the third-highest percent in the zone (53.5).
|
Hunter Pence hit .154 in at-bats to end in a changeup when the previous pitch was a fastball this season, well-below league average (.235).
|
The
Royals are 9-1 to start this postseason. Yost can become just the 2nd
manager in MLB history to win 10 of his 1st 11 postseason games.
[+] |
Non-pitcher
Giants are hitting .226 in at-bats to end in a two-strike offspeed
pitch this postseason; league average during the regular season was
.164. Jeremy Guthrie
allowed a .184 batting average in at-bats to end in a two-strike
fastball and a .232 average in at-bats to end in a two-strike offspeed
pitch.
|
Pablo Sandoval is 5-for-12 with two doubles this postseason in at-bats to end on the inner-third of the zone or closer. Jeremy Guthrie allowed a .294 average when at-bats ended on a pitch inside; his average allowed was .266 on the outer two thirds.
|
In
at-bats to end in a fastball from a right-handed pitcher that rose at
least nine inches from release trajectory, Crawford hit .200, tied for
123 of 147 qualified hitters. Jeremy Guthrie's average fastball elevated 9.9 inches from its trajectory at release.
|
The Giants have won 6 straight World Series home games, tied for the 6th-longest streak all-time.
[+] |
Tim Hudson
is expected to make his first career World Series start in Game 3
against the Royals. Hudson has won 214 regular season games in his
career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he'll be the
6th-winningest pitcher in MLB history before making his first World
Series start. And among pitchers who played their entire careers in the
Live Ball Era (since 1920), only Jamie Moyer won more regular season games before starting his first World Series game.
[+] |
In the regular season, opposing hitters had a slash line of .288/.315/.416 against Tim Hudson's
sinker when he threw it in the middle of the strike zone or higher.
When he kept it down or lower, opponents hit .234/.298/.305 against the
pitch. Opponents had a .478 batting average against Tim Hudson's
curveball in 117 instances where he left the pitch in the middle of the
zone or higher up. In the 126 instances where he threw it down in the
zone or lower, they hit .190.
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Eric Hosmer has 10 hits in 20 at-bats ending in a fastball this postseason, including a triple, two home runs, and five walks.
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Alcides Escobar's leadoff double was the first in a World Series game since Jimmy Rollins opened the Phillies' half of Game 4 against Tampa Bay in 2008. It was the first base hit on the first pitch
of a World Series game since... Jimmy Rollins had an infield single to
begin Game 3 of the 2009 series. Rollins was on the field at AT&T
Park before tonight's game to accept one of this year's Roberto Clemente
Awards.
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