The San Francisco Giants rode left-hander Madison Bumgarner to their third World Series title in five years with a 3-2, Game 7 victory Wednesday night over the Royals in Kansas City.
Bumgarner, normally a starter, came out of the bullpen to throw five shutout innings and earn the save.
It was the eighth World Series title for the Giants and third in five seasons after victories in 2010 and 2012.
Michael Morse drove in a pair of runs and Bumgarner, named Most Valuable Player of the World Series, baffled the Royals hitters again despite pitching on two days rest. He threw 117 pitches Sunday en route to a four-hit shutout in Game 5.
"I was just thinking about getting outs until I couldn't get them anymore," the Giants' 25-year-old ace said. "Fortunately I was able to get some quick innings and I was able to stay in there."
San Francisco's starting pitcher, Tim Hudson, said there was no way Bumgarner was leaving until he got the job done.
"You couldn't have pried the ball out of his hands," Hudson said.
A raucous Kauffman Stadium and history were on the Royals' side heading into the game, as the home team had won each of the past nine World Series that went to a Game 7, including the 1985 Royals.
But the Giants, who were hammered 10-0 Tuesday night in Game 6, bounced back to become the first road team to win a World Series Game 7 since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
San Francisco drew first blood, loading the bases in the top of the second and pushing across a pair of runs on sacrifice flies from Morse and Brandon Crawford.
The Royals answered in the bottom of the inning; Billy Butler hit a leadoff single and scored on Alex Gordon's line-drive double to the wall in right-center.
With the capacity crowd on its feet, Omar Infante kept the celebration going with a sacrifice fly that tied the score at 2.
A single by Alcides Escobar marked the end of a short night's work for Hudson.
Hudson, at 39 the oldest pitcher to start a World Series Game 7, surrendered two runs on three hits in 1-2/3 innings before Giants manager Bruce Bochy made the call to the bullpen for Jeremy Affeldt.
The San Francisco bats were buzzing again in the fourth with Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence leading off with singles before Morse drove in his second run of the night on a broken bat fly that landed in right field for a single.
With Bumgarner on the hill, the one-run cushion was all the Giants would need.
The Royals threatened in the bottom of the ninth with two outs when Gordon lined a shot into center that fell in front of Gregor Blanco and skipped past him to the fence for a two-base error that allowed Gordon to reach third.
But Bumgarner would not be denied, getting Salvador Perez to pop out to third baseman Sandoval, who collapsed onto his back in foul territory after securing the ball for the final out.
Bumgarner, who won two games in the Series before his save in the finale, was agitating to pitch in Game 7.
"He kept telling me 'I'm ready to go,' he said just put me in anytime and it couldn't have worked out better," Bochy said.
"We just got on this horse and rode it."
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.