Second verse same as the first.
The Kansas City Royals faced San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner for the second time in the World Series on Sunday night. Unfortunately for them, the result was the same — another dominant start and another Kansas City loss.
In Game 1 against the Royals, Bumgarner pitched seven innings, giving up only one earned run as the Giants cruised to a 7-1 victory. Bumgarner was even better in Sunday’s Game 5, tossing a complete game four-hit shutout as San Francisco won 5-0. He also added eight strikeouts without allowing even a single walk on the night and was flat-out too good for the Royals’ hitters.
Not only did Bumgarner shut out Kansas City, but the Royals didn’t really threaten to even score. Only one baserunner reached second base all night — Omar Infante, who had a fifth-inning double. The few times Kansas City had a man on base, they couldn’t move him over.
The win gives the Giants a 3-2 series lead, pushing Kansas City to the brink of elimination.
The effort from Royals starter James Shields was considerably better than his last two outings and he arguably had his best game in this postseason. Shields gave up only two earned runs through his six innings of work, but it wasn’t enough as he didn’t receive any run support. For the second consecutive game, Kansas City’s bullpen was also tagged for some runs.
In relief of Shields, Kelvin Herrera gave up back-to-back singles in the eighth. He was pulled for Wade Davis, who allowed three runs on an RBI double to Juan Perez and an RBI single to Brandon Crawford.
Crawford was the offensive star for San Francisco on the night, going 2-4 with three RBI. In addition to his eighth inning RBI, Crawford also drove in runs in the second and fourth. Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, and Travis Ishikawa all also collected two hits apiece in the team’s win.
Kansas City is in a tough spot, but not out of things just yet. The Royals need to win both Games 6 and 7 to capture the World Series title, but they get both games at home. It also doesn’t hurt that they won’t see Bumgarner again. Like just about everyone else, Kansas City found hitting the pitcher virtually impossible. Having pitched in Game 5, however, the Royals won’t see him starting again in the series.
The Giants will try to close out the series in Tuesday’s Game 6 in Kansas City. San Francisco will start Jake Peavy opposite the Royals’ Yordano Ventura.
