Trailing 4-1 in the third inning, the San Francisco Giants were off to another slow start against the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. Their bats woke up in a hurry, though, and the team rallied for an 11-4 win in Game 4 of the World Series.
San Francisco rallied against the Royals’ seemingly unhittable bullpen, scoring ten consecutive runs. After Game 3, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Kansas City’s relievers could be the best in baseball. That may be the case, but they didn’t look like it in Saturday’s Game 4.
Three of the four Royals relievers allowed at least one earned run. Brandon Finnegan was the goat, giving up five earned runs — including the ones that put San Francisco ahead — and two walks in only an inning of work. As a result, he took the loss – his first of the postseason.
Finnegan has been one of the few Kansas City relievers to have trouble in the postseason. He had back-to-back consecutive scoreless outings in his past two games, but blew a save in the ALDS with the Baltimore Orioles and also allowed a run in the Wild Card game with the Oakland Athletics. Saturday, however, was easily his worst performance.
Admittedly, the Royals had to go to their bullpen earlier than expected, and that’s often a recipe for disaster. Starting pitcher Jason Vargas was lackluster, allowing three earned runs in only four innings. He got the early hook and Kansas City was put into a bad position because of it. The Royals didn’t go to the strength of their pen, but after so many dominant performances by the relievers, giving up that many runs was unexpected.
Everyone contributed to San Francisco’s offensive outburst. Literally.
Every starting position player had at least one hit for the team, and Gregor Blanco, Joe Panik, Hunter Pence, and Pablo Sandoval all collected at least two. Pence led the team with three hits and three runs batted in.
Panik’s leadoff double in the fifth sent Vargas to the bench, but the bleeding didn’t stop there. An RBI single by Pence and a sacrifice fly by Juan Perez tied the game at 4-4. The Giants tacked on three more runs on RBI singles from Sandoval and Brandon Belt in the sixth. Four more runs in the seventh provided the final margin, tying the series.
As bad as Vargas was, Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong was worse. Vogelsong lasted just 2 2/3 innings and gave up four earned runs on a whopping seven hits. Unlike Kansas City, though, San Francisco got an excellent performance from their bullpen. Giants relievers combined for 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball after his departure as the team rolled offensively.
Giants long reliever Yusmeiro Petit pitched three innings for the win. Petit remained perfect in the postseason as he has yet to allow a run in 12 innings of work. The pitcher has also now won all three games in which he’s appeared in this year’s playoffs.
The teams will face off again on Sunday in Game 5 in San Francisco before the series heads back to Kansas City. The Giants’ ace Madison Bumgarner will pitch opposite the Royals’ James Shields.
