Thursday, October 30, 2014

Game 7: An Ace in the Hole

The scoring in Game 7 ended early. In the second inning, Jeremy Guthrie plunked Pablo Sandoval, who went 3 for 3. Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt both singled, which loaded the bases. Michael Morse and Brandon Crawford hit sac flies to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Billy Butler singled off of Tim Hudson. Alex Gordon doubled him in. Salvador Perez was hit by a pitch. Gordon made it the third and Omar Infante his a sac fly tying the game at 2. Hudson was removed for Jeremy Affeldt, who pitched two and a third innings of scoreless ball.

In the third, the Giants went away softly, but the Royals continued to put pressure. Lorenzo Cain singled off of Affeldt. Eric Hosmer pulled a scorcher. Second baseman Joe Panik dove and started a memorable double play, which killed Kansas City's momentum.

After singled by Sandoval and Pence in the fourth, Guthrie was lifted for Kelvin Herrera with one out. Herrera pitched well, throwing two and two-thirds innings and striking out four, but a single to Michael Morse scored Sandoval in the fourth. The Giants led 3-2.

Madison Bumgarner entered for the Giants in the fifth. Most figured he'd give San Francisco about an inning or so. Instead, his performance was one of the most impressive and clutch in recent baseball history. In five innings, after a pitching a shutout in Game 5, he gave up two hits and struck out four.

Bumgarner won the World Series MVP and the Giants captured their third championship in five seasons.

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