KANSAS CITY — Madison Bumgarner continued to ensure his place in baseball history, while the Giants kept pursuing theirs with a 7-1 triumph over the Kansas City Royals in Tuesday night’s World Series opener at Kauffman Stadium.
Hunter Pence‘s two-run homer fueled a three-run first inning in Game 1 as the Giants proceeded to complement Bumgarner’s seven-inning effort with their second-highest scoring total of the postseason.
“We had good at‑bats tonight,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. “It’s good to get those early runs, and we had some real nice at‑bats early in the game. [Gregor] Blanco got us going, Buster [Posey], and Pablo [Sandoval] hit a good pitch, and Pence. It’s good to give your guys some early runs there, and Bum was superb.”
| Date | Air time | First pitch | Matchup | Network | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 21 | SF 7, KC 1 |  |
||
| Gm 2 | Oct. 22 | 7:30 ET | 8:07 ET | SF vs. KC | FOX |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 24 | 7:30 ET | 8:07 ET | KC vs. SF | FOX |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 25 | 7:30 ET | 8:07 ET | KC vs. SF | FOX |
| Gm 5* | Oct. 26 | 7:30 ET | 8:07 ET | KC vs. SF | FOX |
| Gm 6* | Oct. 28 | 7 ET | 8:07 ET | SF vs. KC | FOX |
| Gm 7* | Oct. 29 | 7:30 ET | 8:07 ET | SF vs. KC | FOX |
Bumgarner put the “classic” in Fall Classic, blanking Kansas City until Salvador Perez homered with two outs in the seventh inning. That froze Bumgarner’s career-opening streak of World Series shutout innings to 21, second all-time only to Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson’s 28. Bumgarner also had lengthened his postseason road scoreless streak to 32 2/3 innings, extending his own Major League record.”It’s tough not to pay attention to a streak when you’ve got it going,” said Bumgarner. “I don’t care. I’m not here trying to set records and keep streaks going and whatever, but you do know about it. A World Series game is not something you exactly forget about. So you remember what they were. But tonight, that was the last thing on my mind. We’re up 7‑0, so I’m just trying to compete and go after guys and be aggressive.”
The left-hander, who allowed three hits, also earned his sixth postseason victory, breaking a tie with Mathewson and teammate Tim Lincecum for the franchise mark.
“[Bumgarner] was on top of his game, hitting spots, a good fastball going, but his secondary pitches were good, too, his slider, his curveball, changeup,” said Bochy. “He really did a nice job the one inning. We made an error, but he bowed his neck and made some great pitches to get out of that. I mean, they’re getting back in the game, but he kept them from scoring.
“Bum has great poise out there, and he showed it tonight. He doesn’t get flustered, and he keeps coming at you.”
By contrast, Royals starter James Shields lasted just three batters into the fourth inning, allowing five runs and seven hits. Pence doubled and scored to help chase Shields before Joe Panik‘s RBI triple prompted a two-run uprising in the seventh inning.
“You know, it’s definitely a good feeling to come out and play the way we did here, because we knew it was an intense atmosphere,” said Pence. “It was a lot of days before both teams played. So I think Blanco’s leadoff at‑bat really was amazing. Not only that first inning, but also the way Madison came out and pitched the way [he did], getting us in, pretty quick innings. It kind of settles you into the ballgame and makes it feel pretty good.”
San Francisco notched its 16th victory in 18 postseason games while handing the Royals, participating in their first Series since 1985, their initial loss after eight victories in their charmed postseason.
The Giants also took a clean first step toward posterity. With three more victories in their best-of-seven confrontation against Kansas City, they’ll become only the second National League team to capture three World Series trophies in five years, joining St. Louis (1942, 1944 and 1946).
The Giants have history as an ally. Winners of the first game eventually captured the Series 68 times, or 62.4 percent. Moreover, the first-game victor took the Series in 10 of the previous 11 years and 15 out of the last 17.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Sal goes deep: Salvador Perez finally found a way to break through against Madison Bumgarner, homering with two outs in the seventh inning to cut the Giants’ lead to 7-1. The hit was just Perez’s fifth in 37 at-bats this postseason.
For Bumgarner, the run was merely a blip on an otherwise stellar night. Perez’s homer broke a run of 12 straight outs for the San Francisco left-hander, snapping Bumgarner’s big league record streak of 32 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings on the road in postseason play. It also ended his World Series scoreless innings streak at 21, second all time to start a career.
Aoki’s misadventure: Nori Aoki has dazzled fans with an array of catches that capped adventurous routes throughout the postseason, but in the seventh, his exploits led to an RBI triple.
Aoki raced to the gap in right-center field, thinking he had a chance to snag Joe Panik’s liner on the fly. At the last minute, the Royals’ right fielder pulled up, slid on his knees, tried to trap the ball on a bounce and watched it dart past him, all the way to the wall as Panik raced to third base and the Giants increased their lead to 6-0.
That prompted Royals manager Ned Yost to replace Danny Duffy with Tim Collins, who gave up an RBI single to Pablo Sandoval two batters later.
Bumgarner cruising: As he did in National League Championship Series Game 5, Madison Bumgarner found a groove in the middle innings of World Series Game 1. After walking Lorenzo Cain to load the bases with two outs in the third, Bumgarner retired 10 in a row to cruise into the seventh. That also extended his scoreless-innings streak in World Series play to 21, second in history behind Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson (28 IP) to start a career.
Bumgarner revealed before Game 1 that he does not typically watch much scouting video, preferring to read hitters within games and adjust as he goes along. That strategy appeared to help him in Game 1, as the left-hander struck out five of the nine Royals he faced his second time through the lineup. He did not record a single strikeout the first time through.
‘Big Game James’ off his game: James Shields may have a hard time keeping his nickname after his performance to open the World Series.
The Royals’ ace, widely known as “Big Game James,” recorded only nine outs against the same Giants team he shut out Aug. 9, departing with two on, none out and a 4-0 deficit in the top of the fourth. Shields gave up seven hits and a walk, threw 71 pitches and was charged with five earned runs after Danny Duffy plated one of his inherited runners with a bases-loaded walk.
Shields’ postseason ERA is 7.11 in 19 innings.
The Kansas City righty gave up three runs in a 32-pitch first inning, on an RBI double by Pablo Sandoval and a two-run homer by Hunter Pence. The 32-year-old right-hander momentarily settled down, breezing through the next two frames with 25 pitches, but immediately got in trouble in the fourth. Pence hit a leadoff double, Brandon Belt walked and Michael Morse followed with an RBI single, prompting Shields to exit after his shortest start since Sept. 28, 2008.
Bumgarner bends, does not break: Giants starter Madison Bumgarner has looked immortal all postseason, so it was almost shocking to see him — due in large part to a Brandon Crawford fielding error — put two men in scoring position with no outs in the third inning.
The baseball world should have known better.
Bumgarner recovered by striking out Alcides Escobar and Nori Aoki, then — after a walk to Lorenzo Cain — induced a hard-hit groundout from Eric Hosmer. The Royals left the bases loaded.
Perhaps most impressive was Bumgarner’s whiff of Aoki for the inning’s second out. Only four big leaguers struck out less often in the regular season than Aoki, who whiffed in just 8.9 percent of his plate appearances. The Royals outfielder fouled off two straight fastballs up in the zone from Bumgarner, who put him away with a curveball in the dirt.
Bumgarner gave up several loud outs over the first three innings, also hitting a batter, walking another and allowing two hits. But he did not allow a run.
Giants strike big early: These aren’t the same Giants James Shields shut out Aug. 9. The Royals’ ace learned that in the very first inning of the World Series, as the Giants plated three runs to stun a sold-out Kauffman Stadium crowd and put the Royals in an early hole against October’s best pitcher.
Gregor Blanco started with a single, making leadoff hitters 9-for-18 against Shields in this postseason. Buster Posey singled two batters later, putting runners on the corners with one out. Pablo Sandoval followed with a liner down the right-field line, which scored a run and would’ve plated another if not for an Omar Infante relay throw that gunned down Posey at home.
Then Shields grooved a 3-2 fastball to Hunter Pence, and the Giants’ right fielder crushed it out to right-center field for his first postseason home run to give his team a 3-0 lead.
Shields threw 32 pitches, gave up five hits — more than he gave up in seven entire starts this season — and put his postseason ERA at 6.88 after that first inning.
Teams that score three runs or more in the first inning of Game 1 of the World Series are 10-0. The Giants had the comfort of giving that lead to Madison Bumgarner, who entered having given up six runs (five earned) in 31 2/3 innings in the postseason.
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Haft-Baked Ideas, and follow him on Twitter at @sfgiantsbeat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Streaky good: MadBum, Giants cruise in Game 1 ~ By Chris Haft / MLB.com added by John Hamilton on
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