World Series
Final
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WORLD SERIES - GAME 3 Kansas City leads series 2-1
Friday, October 24, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Royals use 5-run 6th inning to roar past Giants, even World Series
8:07 PM ET, October 22,2014
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Associated Press
Royals Roar Past Giants To Even World Series
The one thing that was clear? The World Series suddenly had some life.
Perez broke open Game 2 with a two-run double in a five-run sixth, and the Royals' cast of clutch relievers kept the Giants in check for a 7-2 victory that evened the Series and spiced things up as it shifts to San Francisco for three games.
More from ESPN.com
The
World Series is tied at a game apiece after Ned Yost pulled all the
right strings and Bruce Bochy didn't, Jayson Stark writes. Story
Billy
Butler, who will sit on the bench in San Francisco, had two key RBI
singles in what could be his final home game at Kauffman Stadium, Jerry
Crasnick writes. Story
After
he blew up in the sixth inning in every way you can, the question is
whether Giants rookie Hunter Strickland is ready, Jim Caple writes. StoryJeremy Guthrie will be on the mound Friday night for the Royals, who had won eight straight playoff games before a 7-1 loss in the opener. Tim Hudson will start for San Francisco.
"With their pitching and our pitching, and the way both teams play, we're going to have a fight, I think, every game," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
So much talk of fighting after the two teams nearly came to blows Wednesday.
The Royals had surged ahead on Butler's single when Perez followed with a double off Strickland into the left-field gap. Omar Infante then scorched a pitch into the bullpen in left, the fifth homer Strickland had allowed to 23 postseason batters.
Boiling over with anger, Strickland yelled into his glove, then got into a shouting match with Perez as the big, burly catcher headed for home. Players spilled out of both dugouts, and several Royals streamed in from the outfield bullpen before the umpires finally restored order.
"He started to look at me, so I asked him like, 'Hey, why you look at me?'" Perez said. "So he was telling me, 'Get out of here, whatever.' So I don't know. You don't have to treat me like that. Look at Omar. Omar hit a bomb. I didn't hit a bomb. I hit a double."
Strickland said he simply let his frustration get to him.
"I let the team down," he said. "My emotions got to me."
With his 100 mph fastball singeing the Giants' batters, Royals flamethrower Yordano Ventura allowed two runs while pitching into the sixth inning. The 23-year-old protege of Pedro Martinez hardly looked like the first rookie to make a World Series start for the Royals, calmly handling a lineup that had ravaged staff ace James Shields.
The dynamic trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland did the rest.
Herrera got the final two outs of the sixth to escape a jam, his first three pitches clocking at least 100 mph. He also survived a shaky seventh before Davis breezed through the eighth.
Holland, who saved each game in the Royals' sweep of Baltimore in the American League Championship Series, allowed a two-out single to Brandon Crawford before fanning Gregor Blanco to end the game.
The Giants' only runs came on a homer by Blanco and a double by Brandon Belt, their streak of seven straight World Series game wins ending on a crisp, breezy night.
"For us to leave here with a split, you like to get greedy," Bochy said, "but we know it's going to be a tough series."
Peavy's Postseason Pains
In
his eight career postseason starts, Jake Peavy has never made it
through six innings. That's the longest streak by any starter in
postseason history.| Jake Peavy | 8* |
| Bob Welch | 6 |
| 8 others | 5 |
| *Extended Wednesday | |
| -- ESPN Stats & Information | |
The fleet-footed Blanco silenced a rollicking sea of blue, becoming the 10th player to open a World Series game with a home run. He deposited Ventura's 98 mph fastball in the bullpen in right field, just his 17th home run in more than 2,300 at-bats.
The crowd, energized from the moment Hall of Famer George Brett delivered the ceremonial first pitch, was left waiting for something good to happen for the second straight night.
This time, the scrappy Royals gave it to them.
ALCS MVP Lorenzo Cain stretched a two-out double later in the first, and Eric Hosmer walked on four pitches. Butler, Giants starter Jake Peavy's longtime nemesis, then bounced a single past the outstretched glove of Crawford at shortstop to knot the game at 1-all.
The Royals kept the pressure on in second. Infante doubled over the head of Travis Ishikawa in left field, and Alcides Escobar sliced a two-out double down the right-field line to give Kansas City a 2-1 lead, its first in the World Series since Game 7 in 1985.
The Giants, so accustomed to October baseball, refused to back down.
Belt tied it in the fourth with a double that bounced off Nori Aoki's glove in right field.
The game was still knotted at 2 when the Royals got their first two batters aboard in the sixth. Bochy pulled the fiery Peavy. Butler promptly hit a go-ahead single off Jean Machi, and Strickland came in two batters later.
From there, well, the Royals showed they still had plenty of fight left.
PLENTY OF PITCHERS
The Giants matched a Series record by using five pitchers in one inning. The other teams to burn through as many pitchers did so in Game 7 losses: the Cardinals against the Royals in '85, and the Orioles against the Pirates in 1979, according to STATS.
UP NEXT
Giants: Hudson has appeared in 12 postseason games and started 11 of them, first with Oakland and then Atlanta. But he has never been on the mound in the World Series.
Royals: Guthrie, an 11-year veteran, did not pitch in the Royals' sweep of the Angels in the AL Division Series. He made his first career postseason start in the ALCS against the Orioles.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Game Information
| Stadium | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO |
| Attendance | 40,446 (106.7% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:25 |
| Weather | 67 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 8 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Eric Cooper, First Base - Jim Reynolds, Second Base - Ted Barrett, Third Base - Hunter Wendelstedt |
Research Notes
Jake Peavy
has never made it through six innings in all eight of his career
postseason starts. That's the longest streak by any starter in
postseason history.
[+] |
Hunter Strickland has now faced 23 batters this postseason and allowed 5 home runs.
He's only the second reliever in postseason history to allow 5 HR in a single postseason (Chris Narveson, 2011).
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The Giants are the 1st team in postseason history to have all 9 starters with exactly 1 hit in a game.
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From Elias: Billy Butler's
1st-inning RBI single was the Royals' first hit with a runner in
scoring position since Game 2 of the ALCS. They were hitless in their
previous 17 at-bats, the longest such streak in a single postseason
since the Phillies went 0-for-18 in 2010.
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Gregor Blanco hit the frst leadoff HR in a World Series since Dustin Pedroia in 2007 Game 1. It was the third leadoff homer in Giants postseason history (any series); the others were both by Angel Pagan in the 2012 season.
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From
Elias: The last team to use five different pitchers in the same inning
of a World Series game (as the Giants did in the 6th tonight) was the
Cardinals in Game 7 of the 1985 series... in Kansas City (that, of
course, was the Royals' last WS win).
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Jake Peavy
allowed a .197 batting average against his curveball in the regular
season, below the league average among qualified starters. The Royals
have a .593 OPS in plate appearances ending with a curveball in the
postseason, and they had a .503 OPS against the pitch in the regular
season, lowest in the AL.
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If
the Giants take a 2-0 lead over the Royals in the World Series, this
one could be over in a hurry. As a franchise, the Giants have been
impossible to beat with a 2-0 lead in the Fall Classic, with three
sweeps and two 4-1 wins in the five times they've gone up 2-0.
[+] |
Yordano Ventura
has averaged 96.8 MPH with his fastball this season (including the
playoffs), the highest among 90 qualified pitchers.
Bad news for the Royals - the Giants have a .284 BA vs pitches at least
95 MPH this season (including the playoffs), the best in MLB.
In the postseason, the Giants have a .377 BA against pitches at least 95
MPH, by far the best of any playoff team.
[+] |
Yordano Ventura's
fastball averaged 96.8 MPH in the regular season, highest among
qualified starters. The Giants had a .271 batting average against
fastballs with a velocity of at least 95 MPH this season, highest in the
NL. However, Brandon Crawford hit .189 against fastballs of at least 95 MPH in the regular season.
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Jake Peavy
allowed a .231 batting average on pitches on the outer half of the
plate or further away in the regular season, below league average. Billy Butler is 3-of-16 with three strikeouts against pitches on the outer half of the plate this postseason. Lorenzo Cain
is 7-of-15 with two doubles against pitches on the outer half or
further away in the postseason, with only a 16.7 percent miss rate.
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Between
the Giants' 7-1 win last night and the Royals' 7-2 win tonight, this is
just the second World Series where the first two games were both
decided by five runs or more. The other was in 1937 when the Yankees
beat the Giants by identical scores of 8-1 in Games 1 and 2.
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Yordano Ventura
allowed a .389 slugging percentage in at-bats to end on a fastball
along the horizontal-middle-third of the zone, the fifth-lowest rate
among qualified AL pitchers this season. The Giants slugged just .360 in
at-bats ending in that zone on a pitch of at least 95 mph during the
regular season, the fourth-lowest rate in baseball.
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From Elias: When the World Series is tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 goes on to win the series 70 percent of the time (38-16).
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In the regular season, Hunter Pence slugged .548 in at-bats to end in an offspeed pitch following another offspeed pitch, the fourth-best rate in baseball.
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If
the Giants win tonight to take a 2-0 lead on the road, it doesn't
exactly bode well for their chances. Since 1975, only 4 teams have won
Games 1 and 2 of the World Series on the road, and 3 of them went on to
lose the series.
[+] |
MLB 2014 World Series Scoreboard and Boxscore for Game 2 on October 22,2014 from ESPN.GO.COM
World Series
Final
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WORLD SERIES - GAME 2 Series tied 1-1
MLB 2014 World Series Scoreboard and Boxscore for Game 1 on October 21,2014 from ESPN.GO.COM
World Series
Final
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WORLD SERIES - GAME 1 San Francisco leads series 1-0
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Updated MLB Postseason Scoreboard for Game 1 of the 2014 World Series,for October 21,2014,from ESPN.GO.COM
As of 11PM,EDT/8PM,PDT
World Series
Friday, October 17, 2014
Buster Posey's 3 RBIs in Game 4 put Giants one win from Series
8:07 PM ET, October 15,2014
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Associated Press
Giants Take 3-1 Lead In NLCS
Strange as it might look sometimes, San Francisco finds a way to score just enough.
Posey drove in three runs and capped another unusual rally as the Giants took advantage of some clunky defense by first baseman Matt Adams in beating the Cardinals 6-4 on Wednesday night to move within one victory of the World Series.
More from ESPN.com
The Giants continue to find new and amazing ways to win postseason games, Jayson Stark writes. Story
The Cardinals made too many mistakes in Game 4, and now their backs are against the wall, Tim Keown writes. Story
In another exciting, back-and-forth game, the Giants did enough to get the win, David Schoenfield writes. StoryChasing their third title in five years, the Giants lead the best-of-seven National League Championship Series 3-1 after poor throws cost the Cardinals yet again.
October ace Madison Bumgarner can pitch San Francisco to another pennant Thursday at home in Game 5. Struggling All-Star Adam Wainwright starts for St. Louis, now facing the same daunting deficit the Giants overcame to beat the Cardinals in the 2012 NLCS.
Kansas City awaits the winner after completing its American League Championship Series sweep of Baltimore earlier in the day. The wild-card Royals will host Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night.
San Francisco climbed out of an early three-run hole Wednesday night, and back-to-back bad throws by Adams in the sixth inning helped the Giants rally -- one night after a wild toss by St. Louis reliever Randy Choate allowed the winning run to score in the 10th inning.
"I think any time you can put pressure on the defense, you've got the opportunity for good things to happen," Posey said. "We're able to come up with some big two-out RBIs to get back in the game."
Minus injured catcher Yadier Molina again, the Cardinals were clinging to a 4-3 lead when San Francisco put runners at second and third in the sixth. Playing in with one out, the lumbering Adams backhanded Gregor Blanco's bouncer and stumbled as he tried to set himself to throw home.
Adams had trouble with the transfer, and his toss short-hopped catcher Tony Cruz as Juan Perez slid across with the tying run.
Joe Panik then hit a grounder right to Adams, who stepped on first base before firing wildly to second in trying for a double play. Brandon Crawford stopped between third and home, yet was able to score easily when Adams threw wide of the bag.
"That's kind of fitting of how our postseason's been," Panik said. "It might not be the prettiest way of scoring runs."
Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta came way off the base to catch the ball but had no play at the plate.
Looking Ahead To Game 5
Prior
to this series, the Giants won all six best-of-seven series in which
they led 3-1, while the Cardinals lost all four best-of-seven series in
which they trailed 3-1.Trailed 3-1 In Best-of-7 Series
| Lost in 5 | 38 |
| Lost in 6 | 23 |
| Lost in 7 | 5 |
| Won in 7 | 12 |
| -- Elias Sports Bureau | |
Posey added an RBI single off Seth Maness to make it 6-4. The star catcher also had a sacrifice fly in the first and a run-scoring single in the third.
These wild-card Giants joke about not needing hits and home runs to win, and they're showing that with timely bunts, small ball and a few miscues from the opponent. The tying and go-ahead runs came home on balls that didn't leave the infield.
The Giants have scored 12 of their 22 runs over their past six postseason games without the batter getting a hit.
"If you're not hitting the long ball, you have to find ways to manufacture runs," manager Bruce Bochy said.
Yusmeiro Petit pitched three scoreless innings to win in relief of an ineffective Ryan Vogelsong. Petit has been a valuable long man -- he delivered six shutout innings in an 18-inning NL Division Series victory at Washington.
"He's been really good for us for a long time and he's finally getting some recognition. What a weapon to have," Posey said.
Sergio Romo worked the eighth, and Santiago Casilla finished for his second save of the series.
A total of six Giants relievers held St. Louis scoreless over the final six innings.
Marco Gonzales took the loss after issuing a leadoff walk to pinch hitter Perez in the sixth and giving up a single to Crawford.
The Giants haven't homered in six games since Belt connected in the 18th inning at Washington, but it hasn't mattered much.
"A lot of these innings are set up with good at-bats early in innings," said Hunter Pence, who had an RBI single in the third.
Cardinals rookie Kolten Wong showed off more postseason power, but his solo homer was wasted.
Vogelsong was the only pitcher in major league history to yield no more than one run in his first five postseason starts, but his streak ended when he gave up four in three innings. San Francisco still has won all six of the postseason games he has started.
SANDOVAL'S STREAK
Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval has reached base in 22 straight postseason games dating to Game 4 of the 2012 NLDS on Oct. 12, 2012. That breaks Barry Bonds' franchise record set from 2002 to '03. Bonds set down his crutches post-hip surgery to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Wainwright believes he has worked out some kinks in his delivery that have kept him from getting out of the fifth in his first two playoff starts this year. He has allowed eight earned runs and 17 hits in nine innings. "I just don't want to get a bad rap for not being a good playoff pitcher," Wainwright said. "That's the time I want to shine the most."
Giants: Bumgarner gave up four hits over 7 2/3 innings for a 3-0 win in Game 1. He pitched a four-hitter in San Francisco's 8-0 wild-card win at Pittsburgh before taking the loss in Game 3 of the NLDS against Washington.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Game Information
| Stadium | AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA |
| Attendance | 43,147 (102.9% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:53 |
| Weather | 66 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 6 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Mark Carlson, First Base - Greg Gibson, Second Base - Bill Miller, Third Base - Paul Emmel |
Research Notes
Wednesday's
NLCS game was the first in postseason history where each of the first
five leadoff batters (top 1st through top 3rd) all recorded base hits. Joaquin Arias
extended the string to six in the bottom of the 3rd. ... All three
Cardinals hits were doubles; they are the first team to hit leadoff doubles in each of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd innings since the Padres did so on May 14, 2007 (Marcus Giles, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Khalil Greene).
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Kolten Wong has seven extra-base hits this postsesaon, the fourth-most by a rookie in postseason history.
[+] |
From Elias: Kolten Wong has six extra-base hits this postseason, the most ever by a Cardinals rookie.
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From Elias: Kolten Wong
has seven hits this postseason, all of which have gone for extra bases.
That's tied for the most consecutive extra-base hits to start a
postseason in MLB history (Greg Gagne - 1987).
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Travis Ishikawa's 3-run walk-off HR sends Giants to World Series
8:07 PM ET, October 16,2014
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
ESPN.com news services
Ishikawa's Walk-Off HR Sends Giants To World Series
Travis Ishikawa hit the first homer to end an NL Championship Series, a three-run drive that sent San Francisco to a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 on Thursday night.
These every-other-year Giants will face the Royals in an all wild-card World Series that begins Tuesday night in Kansas City.
More from ESPN.com
Journeyman
Travis Ishikawa's walk-off home run in the ninth to seal their NLCS win
delivered perhaps the Giants' most surprising way to win yet, writes
Jayson Stark. StoryTravis Ishikawa's walk-off home run was a glorious ending to a great NLCS, writes David Schoenfield. StoryMichael
Wacha hadn't pitched in a game in nearly three weeks. So why was he on
the mound in the ninth inning of a tie game with the Cardinals' season
on the line? Story
"It's gratifying," Ishikawa said. "If there's an organization I'd want to do it for, it would be this one."
A role player during the Giants' World Series win in 2010, Ishikawa was with Milwaukee in 2012 when San Francisco won another championship.
Pablo Sandoval singled to start the ninth inning against Michael Wacha, making his first appearance of the postseason for the Cardinals. After an out, Brandon Belt walked to bring up Ishikawa, who drove a 2-0 pitch into the elevated seats in right field to set off an orange towel-waving frenzied celebration.
"These guys have been through it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "They have been battle-tested and they know how to handle themselves on this type of stage, and then add to that the kids that we brought up, and then Ishikawa."
"I mean, what a great story," Bochy said.
Ishikawa knew right away on his first career postseason homer, raising his right arm into the air as he watched his ball sail into the seats. He emphatically threw his helmet down to the dirt in triumph and joined his jubilant teammates at home plate as fireworks shot off from the center field scoreboard.
Pinch hitter Michael Morse homered leading off the eighth against Pat Neshek, who replaced Adam Wainwright to start the inning, to tie it 3-all.
Morse -- relegated to a reserve role because of a lengthy oblique injury -- was batting for Madison Bumgarner, crowned NLCS MVP.
"It's unbelievable," Morse said. "This team has been on the same page since the beginning."
After taking a 3-1 lead in the series on wild throws the past two days, the Giants used the long ball to advance to their third Series in five years by knocking out the defending NL champions.
Rookie Joe Panik hit a two-run drive in the third inning off Wainwright for the Giants' first homer in seven games.
Ishikawa's Lasting Mark
Travis
Ishikawa played the role of hero Thursday night for the Giants, and in
the process, became just the fourth player in MLB history to have his
first career walk-off HR come in a postseason clincher:
| Player | Team | Series |
|---|---|---|
| T. Ishikawa | '14 Giants | LCS vs STL |
| C. Burke | '05 Astros | LDS vs ATL |
| T. Pratt | '99 Mets | LDS vs ARI |
| B. Mazeroski | '60 Pirates | WS vs NYY |
| -- ESPN Stats & Information | ||
Ishikawa was the Pirates' Opening Day first baseman, but was soon cut. He re-signed with the Giants, his original team, on a minor league deal and went to Triple-A before making it back to the majors. He moved from his natural first base spot to play left field for the injured Morse.
"He signed a minor league contract, he more or less picked us," general manager Brian Sabean said. "I'm not surprised he hit a home run, I'm not. I'm surprised he's our starting left fielder. That's amazing to me. That's the kind of commitment he had to wanting to get on the field."
Ishikawa took a winding journey to his winning home run, too. Earlier in the game, he misplayed a flyball to left field that cost his team a run. He more than made up for it with his final swing.
"I think a lot of us forgot that we had to let him touch home plate," Bumgarner said. "We wanted to run and tackle him around second base. We were excited."
Bumgarner did not allow a hit after Tony Cruz homered to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead with two outs in the fourth, working eight efficient innings. Matt Adams also went deep in the fourth.
Santiago Casilla worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth.
Adams drew a one-out walk and Daniel Descalso entered to pinch run. Randal Grichuk singled and Descalso reached third on Kolten Wong's grounder.
Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford snagged the chopper that glanced off diving third baseman Sandoval's glove, then Crawford threw to second for the force.
Cruz walked to load the bases with two outs after consecutive pitches near his head, and Bochy lifted him for Jeremy Affeldt. Pitching for the fourth straight day, the lefty retired pinch-hitter Oscar Taveras on a grounder that Affeldt fielded and sprinted to first.
Affeldt earned the win.
Battle of the Bullpens - This Postseason
The
Giants head to the World Series thanks in large part to their bullpen.
The Giants' relievers aren't getting as much attention as the guys in
the Royals' pen, but they might be pitching better in the postseason.
| Giants | Royals | |
|---|---|---|
| ERA | 1.78 | 1.80 |
| WHIP | 0.88 | 1.00 |
| Opp BA | .164 | .179 |
| K/BB | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| -- ESPN Stats & Information | ||
Once Wainwright left the game, the Giants grabbed their chance.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny turned to Neshek after Wainwright reached 97 pitches and retired his final 10 batters.
"I was running low on gas," Wainwright said. "I think he made the right call."
For the bottom of the ninth, Matheny made a move that will be second-guessed all offseason. He went with Wacha, the hard-throwing MVP of the 2013 NLCS. But Wacha had missed much of the summer with an injury and last pitched on Sept. 26.
The Giants and Royals have played 12 times since interleague play began, with Kansas City winning nine -- including all three this season. Affeldt pitched for the Royals the last time they visited San Francisco -- that was in 2005, when Barry Bonds was still the giant name in orange and black.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Giants-Royals will mark the first World Series matchup in which neither team won 90 regular-season games. It also is one win shy (177) of being the lowest combined total ever.
HOME RUN HEROES
Three players have homered to end an AL Championship Series: Chris Chambliss (1976) and Aaron Boone (2003) did for the New York Yankees, and Magglio Ordonez (2006) for the Detroit Tigers.
Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski (1960) and Toronto's Joe Carter (1993) are the only players to win the World Series with a home run.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Game Information
| Stadium | AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA |
| Attendance | 43,217 (103.1% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:03 |
| Weather | 66 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 5 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Greg Gibson, First Base - Bill Miller, Second Base - Paul Emmel, Third Base - Bill Welke |
Research Notes
Michael Wacha
has been the losing pitcher in the game that eliminated the Cardinals
in each of the last 2 seasons (lost Game 6 of the WS against Boston).
|
Madison Bumgarner is the 1st Giants pitcher to win the NLCS MVP since the award was first given out in 1977.
[+] |
Travis Ishikawa (SF): 2nd walk-off HR in Giants postseason history (Dusty Rhodes in Game 1 of 1954 World Series vs Indians)
|
Madison Bumgarner
has lasted at least 7 IP and allowed no more than 3 runs in 5 straight
postseason starts, tied for the 2nd-longest in Giants postseason
history.
[+] |
Matt Adams
(STL): 3 HR in 130 PA vs left-handed pitchers during the regular
season. Now 2 HR in 18 PA vs left-handed pitchers during postseason.
|
The
Giants head to the World Series thanks in large part to their bullpen.
The Giants relievers aren't getting as much attention as the guys in the
Royals 'pen but they might be pitching better in the postseason.
[+] |
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