World Series Recap: Madison Bumgarner Wins The World Series

Giants Win World Series For Third Time In Five Years; Bumgarner Is MVP

By: Apurv Baichwal

The Giants have been known as the Torture since 2010. They always seem to string games and series out to the very end, and they possess an uncanny ability to put themselves in the worst positions yet still win. After being shutout and completely dominated 10-0 yesterday, the Giants came back strong to win this game, and the World Series, 3-2.

Simply making the World Series for the third time in five years proved the Giants’ skill, but winning the World Series for the third time in five years proves that they are a dominant team in baseball, and a perennial contender to win the Fall Classic. They also made themselves the second National League team to win three in five years, with only Stan Musial’s historic St. Louis Cardinals of the 40s. This year, they won in Game 7, after barely making the postseason from the wildcat position, but even so, they played amazingly in the postseason and showed everybody that they were meant to be there, and they were meant to win the World Series.

Madison Bumgarner was easily named World Series MVP, after having another stellar outing today. On only two day’s rest, Bumgarner entered the game in the fifth inning and pitched five stellar innings, and 68 pitches after his 117 on Monday, to earn himself a five inning save, the first save of his career, and give himself an ERA of .43 in this World Series. This relief appearance marked his first of the sorts since Game Six of the 2010 NLCS, and he made it a great appearance. In his five innings, he only allowed two hits, while recording four strikeouts in a stellar, almost perfect appearance. He finished the Fall Classic with a huge outing, and he cemented himself in World Series history with his great performance. He already had the record for the best career World Series ERA from his last outing, but he made this number almost visible, as he lowered it to .25, a number that looks more like a batting average than an ERA.

In this specific game, the pitching was really key, as Jeremy Affeldt and Madison Bumgarner combined for a 7.1 inning shutout. Affeldt pitched 2.1 innings, an extremely long outing for him, but he was great for the whole of it, as he only allowed one hit, although he did hit a batter. He picked up the Game Seven win with this stellar outing, although the MLB seemed confused about this fact, as they originally credited the win to Bumgarner. Fortunately, they corrected this mistake, as they properly assigned the win to Affeldt and the save to Bumgarner. After Affeldt’s great pitching, Bumgarner stole the show with his performance, as earlier noted, earning him the five inning save. Tim Hudson started this game, although he did not last long, and he was the only pitcher to struggle for the Giants. Although his outing was quite poor, he still earned himself a place in World Series history by being the oldest pitcher to ever start a World Series game at 39 years old. He also earned himself a more notorious spot, as his start was the shortest World Series Game Seven start in baseball since 1960, at only 1.2 innings. In these innings, Hudson gave up two runs on three hits and a walk, as he never really seemed to settle into the game. It is possible that he would have settled down later, but Bochy did not give him a chance, as he made the quick—and most likely correct— decision to go to the bullpen early.

Another smart Bochy decision was to start Juan Perez in left field instead of Travis Ishikawa. They both provide about the same offensive prowess, except that Ishikawa has been strong in clutch at bats, while Perez is a speedier runner. The main difference between the two is that Juan Perez is a much better left fielder, as he is actually an outfielder, unlike Ishikawa who is truly an infielder. This move paid off in multiple occurrences, especially when Perez made a catch running back towards the wall, that Ishikawa very probably would not have made. The other play was one where Perez sprinted to the left field line to catch a ball that would have dropped in fair if Ishikawa had been playing, due to the fact that he does not possess the same speed as Perez. So, Bochy’s managerial decisions were great today, both with his pitchers and his defense.

The scoring in this game all came early, and both offenses were quiet after the fourth inning, as the two bullpens, or really the Royals bullpen and Bumgarner, locked down the hitters. The Giants struck first in the top of a second with a strong rally, exactly what we predicted they would need to win the game today. Pablo Sandoval led off the inning by letting a pitch graze his elbow and give him a free pass to first base. Hunter Pence then followed with a single to left, advancing Sandoval to second, and Belt added a single of his own to load the bases. The Giants then scored two runs on two sacrifice flys, the first by Michael Morse and the second by Brandon Crawford. Although the Giants once again scored runs without a hit, they still managed to manufacture the runs, as both Morse and Crawford used their at bats well to knock in the runs.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the Royals responded in the bottom of the second with two runs of their own, chasing Tim Hudson from the game. This World Series Game Seven matchup remained tied until the fourth inning when the Giants added the decisive run in the game.

Back to the defense: in the third inning, Joe Panik converted a tremendous double play that went through a challenge process as Royals’ first baseman Eric Hosmer was originally ruled safe at first. This call was overruled after a long, long replay, and in addition to being a huge play, it was also a huge momentum boost, as the Giants really looked to have their “it” factor, something we predicted they would need to win before the World Series even started.

The situations in the second and the fourth inning were very similar, with the results being quite similar as well in an episode of deja vu. Pablo Sandoval once again led off the inning and got on base, although this time he did so with an infield single up the middle, that he managed to beat out because the second baseman slipped while trying to make the play. Hunter Pence then singled to center advancing Sandoval to second, in another eerily similar play. Brandon Belt, however, broke the pattern as he flew out to deep left field. This out was turned into a productive one, fortunately, as Sandoval realized that the Royals’ left fielder would be moving backwards to make the catch, and therefore in a poor position to make a throw. He used this knowledge as he tagged up from second and slid head-first into third ahead of the throw to get to third with one out. By advancing to third, he put himself in a great position, and that one base running play was the reason why the Giants scored. Right after this play, Michael Morse slapped a single to right field, easily scoring Sandoval and advancing Pence to third. Had Sandoval stayed at second on Belt’s flyout, the Giants very likely would have not scored the winning run. So, Sandoval’s base running, along with his hitting and fielding, was key to the Giants’ win.

In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, and Bumgarner still pitching, the Giants added to the Torture. Royals’ left fielder Alex Gordon hit a single to center, which alone would not have been very torturous. However, Blanco over ran the ball and allowed the ball to bounce under his glove. It then rolled to the wall where Juan Perez slipped and eventually picked up the ball, giving Gordon more than enough time to make it to third base. 

From here, the Royals’ star catcher Salvador Perez, who was injured earlier in the game when Hudson hit him right above the knee with a pitch, came to bat with a man on third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth in Game Seven of the World Series. Fortunately, Bumgarne stayed calm and collected as he forced Perez to pop out foul of the third base line, where Sandoval caught the ball easily, then collapsed with joy.

Overall, the Giants came together today to put together rallies, produce runs, and most importantly win. The heart of the order was great, led by Sandoval who went three for three with two runs scored. Pence and Belt also had great nights at the plate each going two for four, while Pence added a run. Michael Morse also picked up two RBI on one hit and a sacrifice fly in three at bats.

Bumgarner was stellar today. Pablo Sandoval made a statement that will be important this offseason as he is a  now technically a free agent. Hopefully the Giants retain him, as he proved himself to be a great asset the whole season, and especially this series, but there will definitely be multiple teams vying for him. The Giants have won the Fall Classic today, for the third time in five years, and they proved themselves to truly be the best team in baseball.

Follow Apurv on Twitter: @abaichwal

BASTA: Royals Slaughter Giants To Earn Game 7

((HT: BASTA/Apurv Baichwal))

Ouch.

Today’s game was bad, and there’s really not too much to be said about it. The Giants got shutout 10-0, in Game Six of the World Series. Fortunately, they were up 3-2 before today, so today’s game can simply be forgotten.

Peavy had a pretty awful day by statistics, as he only lasted 1.1 innings, and he gave up five earned runs on six hits and a walk. However, the only consolation to this awful stat line is that most of these hits were cheap, including a chopper to Brandon Belt that turned into an infield single. In the second inning, the Royals’ leadoff man, Alcides Escobar hit this chopper to Belt, who had to come off the line to field it. With runners at second and third, Belt took his time checking the runners to make sure they would not try to advance in this one out situation. He was then about to run to first to get the out, but then Peavy called for him to look home for some unknown reason, causing him to hesitate. Then, by the time Belt could run to the bag, the speedy Escobar had beat him there for an infield single. Although this hit was an extreme example, the idea was still there: the Royals got a lot of lucky hits, especially in the second inning.

In total, they scored ten runs, seven of which came in the fateful second inning. Generally, none of the Giants pitchers were on top of their stuff, although they got dined a lot worse than they should have been. For example, Peavy was actually not pitching too badly, and he only gave up five runs because he left the game with the bases loaded after giving up two runs. Since everyone who was on base scored, Peavy was charged with all of those runs, although Yusmerio Petit was the pitcher who actually gave them up.

Here's proof:
((HT: MLB.com))


Looking at Petit, he had a very poor outing today, giving up two runs on three hits in .2 innings pitched. He has been stellar in long relief situations through this postseason, besides today, and hopefully this game is just a hiccup. He has been great out of the bullpen, filling in the middle innings when the Giants’ starters get pulled early. He will most likely be vital tomorrow, in Game Seven of the World Series, the last game of the baseball season.

On a more negative note, Hunter Strickland pitched like Hunter Strickland again today, and he gave up a solo home run to Mike Moustakas in the seventh inning. Hopefully Bruce Bochy has realized that he is not a reliable pitcher to put out on the mound, and he will likely not be used tomorrow as long as the game is close, which it most likely will be.

Tomorrow’s game has the same start time of 5:07 PDT, in Kansas City, and it will be a showdown, as it is an elimination game for both teams. The winner will earn a ring; the loser will go home. So, the Giants really need to win this game.

The Giants hitters only mustered six hits today, and that number will most likely not be enough to win the game. Ten hits is probably the magic number that they will need to win, although that all depends on whether they are able to string their hits together into rallies. The Giants did have five walks today, which is a surprisingly good number, but most of that must be credited to the wild tendencies of the Royals’ starter Yordano Ventura, who gave up three walks in a row in the third inning.

Veteran right-hander Tim Hudson will start the game, facing off against the Royals’ veteran righty Jeremy Guthrie, in a repeat matchup from Game 3. Once again the Giants need to hope for a different outcome, as they lost last time 3-2. Hudson will have to manage his control like he always does and keep the ball low so that he can get groundouts. If he can keep the ball mainly on the ground, he should be able to have a solid outing and hopefully prevent the Royals from starting any big rallies. Petit may also have a role tomorrow in long relief, especially if Bruce Bochy decides to make a pitching change early. Finally, Madison Bumgarner may even see some action tomorrow if the situation of the game deems it necessary. Seeing as this game is the final one of the season, Bumgarner may come out of the bullpen in key situations in Bochy feels that he can help the Giants win.

The Giants need a win tomorrow (obviously), and they will do anything necessary to win it (obviously). So, Bumgarner may see action, Lincecum may see action, and anyone could be coming off the bench to pinch run or pinch hit in seemingly unusual situations, as the Giants will need to manufacture runs in anyway they can. To do so, they will need to maximize their potential to score, meaning that they need faster runners on the bases whenever possible, and with runners in scoring position they do not want to be wasting at bats on weaker hitters.

Unlike today, where the Giants got shutout, tomorrow San Francisco needs to score some runs if they want to win. If the offense can click and come up with a couple strong rallies to put four or five runs on the board, the Giants will have a quite decent chance of winning the Fall Classic. Hudson will have to be a workhorse, and the bullpen will have to be locked in on the pitching side, and with these two aspects together the Giants have a very high chance at winning. Finally, San Francisco has made itself famous for the “it” factor, where they always seem to get good bounces, great rolls, and the benefit of all coincidence. We wrote about this “it” factor in our World Series preview, and the notes still ring true. The Giants need the baseball gods to be on their side if they want to win, as today the baseball gods sided with the Royals making the Giants lose. Finally, the Giants can win tomorrow, but only if they string hits together, lock their bullpen in, and have the benefits of the baseball gods on their side, providing them the final spark that they need to finish October with a ring.

Follow Apurv on Twitter: @abaichwal

BASTA Breaks Down SF Giants Win: Bumgarner Masterful As Giants Capitalize on Royals’ Miscue

By: Apurv Baichwal

Madison Bumgarner has carried the Giants through this season, and he has been especially essential during this postseason. He has risen through the ranks of Cy Young winners Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy, and Matt Cain to feature himself as the ace of the rotation. He is only 25 years old, yet he is pitching in his third World Series already. His composure and poise on the mound are exquisite, and so far this postseason he has been all but perfect. Through the postseason, Bumgarner has started a whopping six games, and Bochy has mentioned that he “may have to use him again,” meaning that Bumgarner may see action if there is a Game Seven to this World Series.

Through the postseason, Bumgarner has pitched 47.2 innings, as many as some relief pitchers might pitch during an entire season. Although the sheer volume of Bumgarner’s work is impressive, he has been masterful through these innings as he has only allowed seven runs, six earned through the postseason. He has also only allowed 26 hits and six walks making his WHIP a stellar .678. Also his ERA for this postseason is minuscule at 1.14, while he has recorded 41 huge strikeouts as Bumgarner has dominated all the lineups he has faced. Also, he has dominated in the World Series especially, with a truly microscopic career .29 ERA that gives him the record for lowest ERA in the World Series. He also threw two complete game shutouts just this postseason, one in the wildcard game and one today, and he has picked up four wins. Overall, Bumgarner has truly been an ace through the postseason, and he has been so great that it is almost a given that the Giants will win when he starts the game.

Today, this assumption was proven true, as he threw nine scoreless innings for an complete game shutout win where he absolutely baffled and dominated the entire Royals’ lineup. This shutout win marks him as the first pitcher since Josh Beckett in 2003 to throw a shutout in the World Series. He only gave up four hits through the game, and his command was so perfect that he did not give up a single walk. He also struck out eight batters as he completely confounded the Royals. He threw 117 pitches through this outing, and he threw 84 of those pitches for strikes, a hugely impressive clip of 71.8%.



While Bumgarner dominated the game, the Giants’ hitters did have a pretty good night as well, although their achievements pale in the face of Bumgarner’s.

Early in the game, the Giants capitalized on the miscues of the Royals’ fielders to go up early, 2-0. In the second inning, Hunter Pence led off with a single to left, one that slid right under the Royals’ shortstop’s glove. He moved to the right to backhand the ball, but it sped up on the infield dirt, and slid under his glove for a base hit to left. Brandon Belt then wowed both the Royals and the crowd as he laid down a perfect push bunt to the shortstop, which he beat out to first, putting runners on first and second. With the Royals playing the lefty Belt to pull the ball, and shifting their infield to reflect this expectation, Belt saw an opportunity to advance Pence, and possibly even get on base, and he executed perfectly, capitalizing on the Royals’ shift, and the fact that the Royals’ shortstop is not used to fielding bunts, to make it to first and extend the inning. Travis Ishikawa then flew out to deep left-centerfield, but Pence and Belt both managed to advance on this productive out, as Pence advanced first, then Belt read the throw from center going up the line, and he capitalized on the poor throw to advance as well. Brandon Crawford then got his first RBI of the night on a groundout to second base, where the Royals chose to get the out and allow the run, rather than allow the bases to be loaded with one out against Bumgarner. In classic San Francisco style, the Giants knocked their first run in without a hit, something that they have a penchant for.

The Giants struck again in the fourth inning with some more small ball as Pablo Sandoval led off the inning with a single to left that shot down the line past the Royals’ third baseman.  Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt each struck out bringing Travis Ishikawa up with two outs, but this time he was even more productive than the last. He singled to left, on ball that once again shot under the shortstop’s glove in a very similar manner to Pence’s hit, advancing Sandoval to second. Brandon Crawford then singled to center, and this ball was bobbled by the center fielder, allowing Pablo Sandoval to score for Crawford’s second RBI, even though Sandoval hesitated rounding third. You can view this sequence, including Ishikawa’s and Crawford’s hits and the Royals’ fielding miscues here.


The game was quiet after this score, until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Giants struck once again. Sandoval and Pence led off the inning with singles, to right and left respectively. After Brandon Belt struck out, Juan Perez made his mark in the World Series with a huge hit. Even though he was brought into the game for defensive help, as he has been all postseason with Ishikawa being a subpar left fielder, Perez still managed to drive in two runs as he hit a huge double off the centerfield wall that literally could not have been hit any harder without leaving the park. This double easily scored both Sandoval and Pence, and the speedy Perez even advanced to third on the throw home. You can view this hit, and see how close Perez was to having his first career home run, even though he has only had one hit all season with runners in scoring position, right here. Brandon Crawford then picked up his third RBI of the game with a bloop single to left, giving the Giants’ their final score of 5-0.



If Madison Bumgarner had not pitched as amazingly as he did, Brandon Crawford’s three RBI night would have been much more widely talked about, and it was still a great feat, but with Bumgarner’s stellar pitching, the runs were not even necessary.

With this win, the Giants go up 3-2 over the Royals in the World Series. They split the first two games in Kansas City, then went 2-1 in the three games at home, exactly what they needed to do to put themselves into position to win it all. Now, they must win one out of the next two games in Missouri, as one more win will give them the World Series. Tomorrow is an off-day for travel, and then the Fall Classic will resume on Tuesday with a 5:07 PDT start time, showcasing right-hander Jake Peavy against the Royals’ right-handed flame-thrower Yordano Ventura. As of today’s game, repeats of matchups have begun. Bumgarner beat “Not So Big Game” James Shields today, just like he did in Game One. Tomorrow’s game will be a rematch from Game Two, but it will hopefully have some better results, as although Peavy pitched alright, the bullpen was awful last time. Hopefully Jake Peavy can be the guy who ends the World Series, and gives the Giants their third ring in five years, but if not, the Giants will have to rely on the final game on Wednesday, where it would hypothetically be win or go home for both teams.

The bullpen was able to rest today as Bumgarner pitched the whole game, and they will gain an extra day of rest tomorrow, so hopefully they can be strong Wednesday to backup Jake Peavy. If the offense can continue to produce any way they can, and the bullpen can pitch well, like they usually do, the Giants have a good chance of ending the Fall Classic with Jake Peavy at the helm.

Stats Courtesy of SanFrancisco.Giants.MLB.com

Follow me on Twitter: @abaichwal

Morning Roundup: Brian Stow Says Play Ball as Giants Rout Royals

((ht: mlb.com))

With all the college football action Saturday, you may have missed game 4 of the World Series.

And if you did, you missed another great game in a series that may not be highly rated on TV, but has been genuinely fun to watch.

The San Francisco Giants rallied from an early 4-1 deficit, to come back and beat the Kansas City Royals 11-4.

The game featured the Giants hammering the seemingly invulnerable Royals bullpen for 8 runs without hitting a home run the entire game.

Hunter Pence had 3 hits and 3 RBI's and Pablo Sandoval and Joe Panik drove in 2 runs apiece.

But perhaps the biggest highlight of the night came before the game started. Brian Stow, a Giants fan seriously injured and nearly killed a couple of years ago after being attacked by a couple of Los Angeles Dodger fans in L.A, surprised Giants fans by rolling out in a wheelchair and telling everyone it was time to "Play Ball"



Game 5 is Sunday night in the city by the Bay. It looks like this may very well be a 7 game series.

Here are Saturday nights highlights---or at least some of them starting with the 5 runs they got off Royals rookie reliever Brandon Finnegan:

Marlins Man Gives Up World Series Seat to God Bless America Singer

((ht: ftw.usatoday.com))

Nice....

If you've been watching this years World Series, chances are you've seen "Marlins Man" aka attorney Laurence Leavy sitting behind home plate in his orange Miami Marlins gear.

Mind you the Marlins are not playing in said World Series.

Leavy has been taking heat for sitting behind home plate with the Kansas City Royals going so far as to offer him Royals swag and a different seat to watch the game.

But Leavy has declined, drawing attention to the Marlins and himself just by sitting there.

Well "Marlins Man" did something Friday night that he'll be remembered even more for.

After hearing Steven Powell of the U.S Navy battle a bad microphone while singing "God Bless America" at ATT Park in San Francisco, he offered up his seat to the sailor.

We had a GREAT TIME ladt night. Thats what life is about. And.... paying it forward every single day pic.twitter.com/yyC0TS4zB0
— Marlins Man (@Marlins_Man) October 25, 2014

Well played Marlins Man, well played---

Here's some Vine Video of Powell struggling with the mic:

BASTA Sports: World Series Breakdown: The Royals Tie Things Up

By: Apurv Baichwal

Talk about reversing trends. After everything went so well yesterday for the Giants, they had the exact opposite results today. Instead of winning 7-1, like they did yesterday, they instead lost 7-2 today, mainly due to rookie Hunter Strickland not being able to pitch well. This loss also marked the Giants first World Series loss in seven games. The game also was the second World Series where the first two games were decided by five runs or more; the only other time this happened was when the Yankees beat the giants 8-1 in each of the first two Fall Classic games way back in 1937. The Giants offense that looked so prolific yesterday actually managed to get hits today as well, but they could not turn these hits into runs. Also, the Giants pitching was not nearly as stellar, from the starters to the relievers.

The game actually started off better than Tuesday, though. Gregor Blanco led off the game by lacing a 97 MPH fastball to right field for a home run, putting the Giants immediately up 1-0. The game looked like it would go pretty well for the Giants after this solo shot, as they went up early, something that has been key to their success all year. This leadoff home run marked the first one of its type in Giants’ World Seres history, and the 10th leadoff man in all of World Series history to knock a leadoff home run.

The Royals responded though very quickly, scoring a run in the first and second innings, bringing the score to 2-1 Royals. The Giants fought back to a tie game in the fourth, in what looked to be a pitchers duel at the time.

Pablo Sandoval led off the fourth inning with a double to center that just bounced off the Royals’ center fielder, Lorenzo Cain’s, glove and squirted to the left, allowing Sandoval to easily make it to second. Hunter Pence was unable to advance Sandoval as he grounded out, but Brandon Belt was still able to knock him in with a double to deep right field, off the wall.

Unfortunately, after the fourth inning, the Giants were unable to muster any runs, and their offense was quite quiet for the rest of the game. One interesting note for the Giants hitters is that every single starter got exactly one hit each; nobody had a multi-hit game, but everyone at least produced a small amount of offense. This should be considered a positive, as although the Giants were not able to string together their hits to score runs, they were still able to gain nine of them.


 On the other side of the game, Jake Peavy looked to be having a pretty good outing until the sixth inning. Through five innings he had only given up five hits and a walk and had only given up two runs. However, after allowing a single followed by a walk that included some very questionable command, Peavy was pulled from the game, and Jean Machi replaced him. Peavy’s final line was five plus innings with six hits, two walks, four earned runs (although two of them came after he left), and two strikeouts.

The next few pitchers didn’t do much better either, as a string of relievers all gave up hits. Machi was unable to record an out as he gave up an RBI single. Javier Lopez was the only bright spot of this bullpen as he completed his assignment and recorded on out. Hard-throwing rookie right-hander Hunter Strickland then earned the award for worst pitcher of the night as he allowed two huge hits, a two-run double and a two-run home run. Although he really gave up four runs, because of the rule about runs being assigned to whichever pitcher placed the runners on base, he was only tagged with two earned runs. Even so, he goes down in history as the second reliever in postseason history to allow five home runs in a single postseason. Strickland also managed to get into an argument with the Royals’ catcher Salvador Perez after giving up the home run due to some miscommunication about where his shouting was aimed. After Strickland was finally taken out of the game, the always trusty Jeremy Affeldt managed to record the final two outs to end the dreadful sixth inning. In total, in a single inning, five Giants pitchers combined to give up five runs on five hits and a walk, all while only recording three outs total. Basically, this inning sealed the game, as the Royals went up 7-1 and held onto this lead for the rest of the game.



Notably, however, Tim Lincecum made his first appearance of the postseason in the eighth inning. He looked great with stellar command of his pitches and pretty decent velocity. He pitched the seventh and was pitching the eighth until he left with two outs after landing awkwardly following a pitch to the plate. According to Bruce Bochy the Lincecum left with back tightness, and the injury should not be a big deal. So, he will hopefully be okay by Friday, as his 1.2 perfect innings with two strikeouts were enough to establish him as a reliable reliever for the Giants in this series even in future leverage situations, possibly instead of the extremely volatile and unreliable Hunter Strickland.



Overall, not much changed on the batting side of the game, as the Giants still got hits; they just were not able to convert them. Gregor Blanco has been heating up as well over this series, and he can hopefully continue his hot streak for the rest of the series to provide a spark at the top of the lineup. The main difference today was the Giants’ usually dominant bullpen that essentially gave up five runs all within an inning. They need to clean up their act and get back to being the dominant force that they usually are, so that Bochy can be confident that the back end of games will be safe in their hands.

This loss evens the series, and although morale may be low, the Giants are coming back to the Bay Area for three games that should be extremely exciting. They managed to split the games in Kansas City, which is exactly what they needed to do, and if they are able to take two of three at home, they should have a really good shot at taking the series. Friday’s game, at 5:07 PDT, will be a showdown between two veteran right handers: Tim Hudson for the Giants and Jeremy Guthrie for the Royals. If Tim Hudson can keep control over his pitches, the offense can string their hits together to score runs, and the bullpen can forget today’s game and be a solid force to close out game, the Giants are more than capable of winning Game 3 of the World Series and putting themselves back up on top.

-Follow me on Twitter: @abaichwal

B.A.S.T.A World Series Game 1 Breakdown: Giants Feast on Royals Pitching

By: Apurv Baichwal

Today’s game marked the beginning of a World Series that should be a close one, filled with long, gruesome, nail-biters. This series is supposed to be a battle between the two best teams in baseball, and for this reason the games should be tight to the very end. This year, the World Series should be even more legendary, because both of the teams came into the postseason from the Wild Card position; the only other time that this has ever happened was in 1989 during the Bay Bridge Series when the Giants lost to the A’s. These teams had to fight from the lowest spots in the postseason, playing without any home field advantage, to make the World Series. So, one would expect these feats to be a testament to both the Royals’ and the Giants’ strength. Therefore, this series—on paper—should be close; every game should go down to the wire.

However, today’s game looked like a regular season game. The Royals could not pitch for their lives, as they gave up seven runs through the game. Even more surprisingly, the Royals’ starting pitcher and their supposed ace, James Shields, was atrocious today, as he was chased after three innings. As we predicted, “Big Game” James Shields really isn’t all that good in the postseason. In fact, he is actually pretty bad, as coming into the World Series he had a 5.63 ERA this postseason, and after this game, it rose even higher. Today he went 3+ innings, allowing a whopping five earned runs and seven hits, along with a walk. Another part of our prediction from yesterday was that Ned Yost is a pretty pathetic excuse for a baseball manager. Ned Yost definitely lived up to that prediction today, as he was obstinate in not pulling out his starting pitcher, even after he allowed three runs in the first. He only finally pulled his pitcher out in the fourth, after he allowed a run and left runners on first and second.

From the Giants’ perspective, the first, fourth, and seventh innings were their best. In the first, the top of the lineup produced, and the whole lineup clicked together to produce three beautiful runs. Gregor Blanco, who struggled earlier in the postseason, opened up the game with a single to shallow right centerfield. Rookie second baseman Joe Panik then advanced him to second with a deep flyout to left centerfield. Blanco exhibited some stellar base running here, realizing that the ball was going to be caught, then deciding to tag up at first, then sprinting over to second before the throw could get there. Buster Posey, showing off his great bat control, then slapped a single to left advancing Blanco to third. With runners at the corner, power-hitting third baseman Pablo Sandoval hit a ball hard down the right field line, a shot that bounced off the right field wall. Blanco easily scored on this one-out double, but Posey was easily called out at home after trying to stretch his way home. Third base coach Tim Flannery made a rare mistake here, as he is usually really good at deciding whether runners should go home, but after the ball took a funny bounce off the wall, Flannery expected the Royals’ left fielder to have a harder time tracking it down. Fortunately, even though Posey caused the second out, usually a no-no when you could instead be at third with one out, Hunter Pence was ready to hit when he came to bat. Hunter Pence absolutely destroyed a fastball to center, as somehow Shields thought it would be a good idea to throw fastballs to a fastball hitter. Pence barely missed one fastball, fouling it straight back, then Shields immediately threw him another one right down the middle that he smashed 421 feet directly into centerfield for a two-run home run.

In case their 3-0 lead wasn’t enough, the Giants heart of the lineup tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning. Hunter Pence led off with a low, hard line drive right near the left field line that barely slid under the Royals’ third baseman’s glove for a double. During first baseman Brandon Belt’s at bat, Hunter Pence advanced to third on a wild changeup that took a bad bounce in the dirt. Belt then walked after five pitches, putting runners on the corner and highlighting the fact that James Shields had no control all game, missing his targets by multiple feet many times and leaving pitches out over the middle of the plate. Michael Morse then came to the plate and singled to right, scoring Pence and advancing Belt to second. Manager Ned Yost, finally pulled out his starter here, but the Giants were not fazed as they added another run in the inning.

Bruce Bochy showed some real managerial skill, contrarily to the Royals’ manager, pinch hitting the speedy Juan Perez for NLCS hero Travis Ishikawa, who won the final game of the series. Although fans may not have appreciated the decision, it was effective, as Perez laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt down the third base line, advancing Belt to third and Morse to second. Brandon Crawford then walked, after a hard-fought at bat, bringing the top of the lineup, and Gregor Blanco to the plate. Now, the Giants’ scored their fifth run with a walk, a laughable play that pretty much summed up the game: the Giants dominated the Royals. In summary, Blanco walked, advancing each runner one base and scoring Brandon Belt, and giving himself a quite ironic RBI.

The Giants still did not stop; however, as they added a final two runs in the seventh. Here, Gregor Blanco led off the inning with another walk, followed by a huge triple to deep right field by Joe Panik. This ball bounced over the Royals’ sliding right fielder and rolled to the wall. By the time the center fielder picked the ball up and relayed it in, Panik had a standup triple and Blanco had scored without difficulty. Pablo Sandoval then scored Panik with a single to short left, giving the Giants seven runs, and more than enough to win the game.

With their huge first inning, the Giants went up 3-0 before the Royals could even come to bat. Although it was only the first inning, the game looked to be almost done, as the Royals and their fans were extremely dejected, and morale was really low. The fact that Bumgarner was stellar through seven innings, overpowering the Royals lineup, definitely did not help this low morale. Bumgarner, who has been the Giants’ ace in the rotation, and the star of their postseason threw his fifth seven plus inning start of this postseason. For comparison, no other pitcher has thrown more than two seven plus inning starts. The point is: Bumgarner has been really, really good this postseason, and he continued his great pitching today.

Bumgarner went seven strong innings, and he shutout the Royals through the first six. He only allowed three hits and one walk, but he gave up one earned run on a seventh inning home run. He threw 106 pitches today, and he threw 71 of them, or 69% of his total pitches, for strikes, recording five strikeouts through his win. This win also marked his third World Series win, in his third World Series start, as he has always been stellar in the Fall Classic. This Giants’ win also caused the Royals to suffer their first loss of the postseason, as they had won eight games in a row, and it truly brought them back to Earth and grounded them, showing that the Giants have come to play and win.  The always trusty Javier Lopez then pitched a scoreless eighth, only allowing one hit, and then the hard-throwing Hunter Strickland managed to close out the game without a blemish, not allowing a baserunner as he recorded two strikeouts.

Back to our prediction of this World Series from yesterday, much of it came true this game.

1. Ned Yost really proved himself to be an awful manager by not pulling his starting pitcher out early enough when the Royals still may have had a chance to win.

2. “Big Game” did not live up to his billing as he allowed five earned runs over three plus innings.

3. The Royals did regress, as was inevitable, as they had almost no offensive production combined with terrible pitching, forcing their first loss of the postseason.

4. The Giants held runners as the Royals did not manage a single stolen base all game. Bumgarner looked sharp holding runners on, with looks and quick throws, and his being a lefty gave him a definite advantage as he was facing first base before every pitch.

5. The San Francisco Giants possessed their “it” factor today, as balls fell in marvelous ways for them, including great bounces and some great plays on their end. The Giants always seem to have the baseball gods on their side in the postseason, as they looked like they were destined to win the game.

Overall, the Giants completely annihilated the Royals with a 7-1 win, and they put themselves ahead in the World Series, with a 1-0 lead. Even if they lose tomorrow, they will have still achieved their goal, as all they needed to do was split the first two games in Kansas. Tomorrow’s game will probably be much harder than today, with control specialist Jake Peavy squaring off against the Royals fire-throwing, 23 year old Yordano Ventura at 5:07 PDT. Hopefully the Giants can continue the hitting prowess they displayed today, as with today’s offensive production they could sweep the Series. Unfortunately, the Giants probably will not get this much production tomorrow, but they could still manage a win if Peavy is able to bear down and use his control to force the Royals’ hitters to chase as they are prone to do. Today’s Giants’ win was stellar, and hopefully tomorrow’s game can be great as well.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com

BASTA: Five Reasons the Royals Have No Chance in the Fall Classic

((HT: BASTA/Ben Leonard))

The Giants and Royals meet in the 110th edition of the Fall Classic, with Game One starting at 5:07 PST on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The recent legacies of these two franchises could not be any more different. The Giants are in their third World Series in five years, while Kansas City has been a marker of futility, with this year marking their first trip to the postseason in twenty-nine years. With the Royals being labeled as the favorites in the series, riding an eleven game postseason winning streak and home field advantage, there would seem little reason to give the Giants a chance. However, the Royals are not as infallible as they might seem:

1. Ned Yost is an awful manager

Ned Yost, the Royals’ oft-criticized manager, deserves his share of censure. He insists on bunting, sabermetrically: the worst thing a team can do to consistently score more runs, unless the pitcher is “hitting”. Yost does not have this excuse, as he manages in the American League. He also hits Alcides Escobar in the leadoff spot, who is a great defensive shortstop and basestealer, but holds a career .286 wOBA. Would you rather have the light-hitting, low on-base skilled Escobar get extra at-bats, or have unknown superstar Alex Gordon take them? Clearly, Yost lives in the past as a manager, and is infatuated with traditional baseball ideology, not what will win games.

Managers ultimately do not have much influence in the postseason or the regular season, but he almost cost his team the wild card game against Oakland. He pulled James Shields in the sixth, which was justified, but for reasons unknown, put in Yordano Ventura, who was battling elbow problems, and is not accustomed to pitching in relief. Yost’s move backfired when Ventura immediatly gave up a three-run homer to Brandon Moss, at the time essentially ending Kansas City’s hopes to win. Only a miraculous rally, coming independently from Yost’s decisions, let them advance. Yost is average at best as a manager, and his mediocrity will come to haunt Kansas City at some point in the series.

2. “Big Game” James Shields does not live up to his billing

James Shields, who has been hyped as “Big Game” James Shields by the national media, has been a far cry from that in his postseason career. He deceptively pitched well in the playoffs for the Rays in 2008, posting a 2.88 ERA in four starts, but was the beneficiary of good luck, as evidenced by his 4.43 xFIP. Here are the rest of his unimpressive postseason numbers:

Year Team G GS IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BABIP LOB% GB% HR/FB ERA FIP xFIP
2010 Rays 1 1 4.1 4.15 0.00 2.08 0.214 43.5% 57.1% 16.7% 8.31 6.54 5.23
2011 Rays 1 1 5.0 10.80 0.00 0.00 0.471 30.0% 47.1% 0.0% 12.60 1.83 2.83
2014 Royals 3 3 16.0 8.44 2.81 1.69 0.360 74.6% 34.0% 15.8% 5.63 4.82 3.85


The first cousin of ex-Giant Aaron Rowand seems to share the set of genes for mediocrity, especially when it comes to meeting high expectations. The Royals need an ace to compete against Madison Bumgarner in this series, who has been absolutely filthy this October.

Bumgarner will be too much for “Big Game” James Shields to handle, and the Giants will take Game One of the series handily, swinging the series in their favor.

3. Inevitable regression

The fact that the Royals have won eight straight postseason games ironically makes them all the more susceptible to regression, as their fluky streak cannot continue forever, especially with a long break in between series. Contributing to this inevitability is that six of eight games they have played this postseason have been decided by two runs or fewer. This may be a testament to Kansas City’s stellar outfield defense or dominant bullpen, but it can also be used to show that the Orioles, Angels, and Athletics have been perennial chokers when it comes to the postseason, as they (besides Oakland) don’t have the pitching to succeed in the postseason. The Royals have had advantageous opponents and have played outside of their usual selves, hitting eight home runs in eight games when they were last in the majors in home runs in the regular season. Among these eight homers, four came from Mike Moustakas, a once highly-touted prospect who was sent to Triple-A earlier in the season because he was below replacement-level. The Royals are clearly due to regress, and the Giants will play them at just the right time to meet this regression.

4. The Giants hold runners (unlike Jon Lester)

Buster Posey throws out runners exceptionally well, fifth in the major leagues among qualified players in throwing out 29.8% of potential base stealers. The Royals have rode small ball, including thirteen stolen bases in their road to postseason dominance. They ran all over Jon Lester in the Wild Card Game, who has not picked off a runner at first base since June of 2013 (This is not a joke). Chris Iannetta, the Angels’ catcher, was 38th among non-qualified catchers in stolen base percentage. Madison Bumgarner, the Giants’ Game One starter, allowed just seven base runners to steal on him in seventeen attempts, a measly total for an entire regular season, a testament to his ability to hold on runners. The Royals’ prowess on the base paths is real, but has been greatly accentuated by weak competition. The Giants will be able to ground the Royals’ running game, limiting their firepower, coupled with the aforementioned foreseeable power outage.

5. San Francisco’s “it” factor

The Giants simply have the magic touch when it comes to the playoffs. Every ball seems to bounce their way, including this incredible bunt from Gregor Blanco in 2012.
((HT: MLB.com))


The Giants know how to overcome adversity when it matters, contributing to their title runs in 2010 and 2012. San Francisco has become legendary in the postseason, and they simply have more experience than Kansas City. The little things always seem go their way, including how Matt Adams and the Cardinals forgot how to play defense in the NLCS. The Giants are seemingly the team of destiny once October comes around, and there is no reason for that to change any time soon.

For all of these reasons, the Giants will take the series with relative ease despite playing in tight games, the trademark of their torturous postseason success. Madison Bumgarner will give the Giants an easy win in Game One, and Jake Peavy will cruise take Game Two, helping to steal two games in Kansas City, giving the Giants an easy road to the title.

OSG NAIA: Southern Poly Is Still At It

One of the HQ's favorite movies is "The Replacements"- the football movie where Shane Falco and the Washington Sentinels

try to make the playoffs with a bunch of players pulled off the streets.

For their Thanksgiving night game with Dallas, some of the Ropers players crossed the picket line for the big game to play the squad of replacements.

Head Coach Jimmy McGinty is anything but a conventional coach and a conventional guy. Here was a bit of his last on-field speech:

"Listen up! This time tomorrow, the strike will be officially over. Now Dallas has made a big mistake out there tonight. They haven't been afraid of you, and they should be, because you have a powerful weapon working for you tonight: There is no tomorrow for you... and that makes you all VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE!"

Southern Poly's baseball team is in that spot the Sentinels are in... no future after their last loss- whenever that is.

They went through the SSAC tournament in Montgomery last week- fighting weather in both extremes and now get to head to Regionals. The Hornets are making their seventh appearance in the last eight years at the NAIA national tournament.

With the win over top-five Faulkner (who was playing their second game of the day to get to the title tilt in the first place), SPSU captured its fourth SSAC Tournament crown in the last 11 seasons and third in the past eight.

The crowds...??? No, they weren't the biggest...

But that doesn't really matter... the crowds are supporting the teams they follow all through the year...

Those brackets come out Friday and gives the teams that head to the next step in the process a weekend to flock to wherever they need to go next. The HQ wonders if they get to travel all the way across town and play at Georgia Gwinnett College or around the world in any one of these places...

Kingsport, Tenn. Kingsport Bracket
Jackson, Miss. Jackson Bracket
Marion, Ind. Marion Bracket
Daytona Beach, Fla. Daytona Beach Bracket
Montgomery, Ala. Montgomery Bracket
Lawrenceville, Ga. Lawrenceville Bracket
Shawnee, Okla. Shawnee Bracket
Hutchinson, Kan. Hutchninson Bracket
Santa Clarita, Calif. Santa Clarita Bracket

And a lot of people are looking for an ending like this when it comes to Poly...
((HT: Warner Brothers Pictures))


And we'll keep you up to date when we know where they're heading...

ICYMI: Cards Win Game 3 Of World Series on Obstruction Call

Okay, we kind of wish we stayed up or at least had the World Series on the television last night after reading about this.

Game 3 of the World Series ended Saturday night in a way unlike any other---ever.

The St. Louis Cardinals walked away with a 5-4, bottom of the 9th victory, when Allen Craig was awarded home plate after 3rd base umpire Jim Joyce ruled he was obstructed.

Ironically, he may very well have scored when Jarrod Saltalamacchia's throw sailed over 3rd baseman Will Middlebrooks head, but Craig and Middlebrooks got tangled up as Craig slid to beat the throw.

That's when the chaos ensued. Craig (who's fighting a foot injury), limped towards home plate as fast as he could, but didn't beat the throw home.

It didn't matter. Joyce had made his call, and according to the MLB Rule Book as long as he made a concerted effort to advance, he would be ruled safte.

That's what happened.

We'd show you the highlights, but really, this was the only highlight that mattered:

So, Did Jon Lester Do Something Or Not...???

((HT: Dennis Paruch via Vine))

Here's the event in question...


Cards minor leaguer Tyler Melling insinuated the following on his Twitter account:

Jon Lester using a little Vaseline inside the glove tonight?

MLB has responded:

"We cannot draw any conclusions from this video. There were no complaints from the Cardinals and the umpires never detected anything indicating a foreign substance throughout the game."

So, now we have a talking point for Game 5, don't we...???

ICYMI: TV Anchor gets pooped on during World Series live shot

Ooops. Missed this story this morning...and it's pretty damn funny. Although probably not so much if you are the pooped upon anchor.

Fox 40 Sacramento News Anchor Paul Robins got a bit of a surprise during his live shot Thursday at the World Series. And yes, in a bit of seeing the future, he recognized he was heading to YouTube fame and glory.

That glory came in the form of Seagull poop. Live and on TV for the folks in Sac town. Well, at least the folks watching his TV station. Or now on the Interwebs.

Enjoy and regale in the laughter that ensues.

Ian Mendes: Real Pro!

((HT: Sportsnet))

Ian Mendes gets the HQ's MVP for today...
Why, you may ask...???

He's this/close to being live when the evidence below happened...
State your case, counselor...

See...???
See...???

Real pro!!!

He took the shot a lot better than a lot of us would have...

Your Earthquake Anniversary: The Greatest Open In The History Of Television...

((HT: ABC Sports/MLB))

#barnone...

It's the 23rd anniversary of the deadly Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco, and it was a chance for sports people to turn into news people and make sure that the word got out on a day where a lot of people needed to know about a dangerous situation...

First clip... when it happened...


And then when the four-letter made some big in-roads as a news organization...
Just a part...
((HT: ESPN/youtube))

That's A World Series Winner For The Cardinals

Sorry I had to steal Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck's call when the St. Louis Cardinals won the 1982 World Series.

Riding the momentum from Game 6 the Cardinals took Game 7 6-2.

Until it gets pulled here's the final out of Game 7. (Thanks Fox Sports)



Here's the celebration on the field. (Thanks KSDK-TV)



World Series MVP David Freese stops by to chat with KSDK's Rene Knott.

How Can Game 7 Top That!!!!

How many are you are dragging to work because you couldn't break away from Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.

The St. Louis Cardinals were down by two runs twice, down to their last strike twice and cameback to tie and extend the game.

Then in the bottom of the 11th St. Louis native David Freese launched a shot to center field winning it for the Cardinals and if the Redbirds win etching his moment into Cardinal lore.

Here's the game winning home run (Thanks Fox Sports.)



Love Joe Buck using his father Jack's famous call when Kirby Puckett hit the walk-off home-run in Game 6 of the World Series 20 years ago.

Here's Tony LaRussa's post game presser. (Thanks KSDK-TV St. Louis)



Game 6 Cardinal heros Lance Berkman and David Freese talk to the media after the game.