Brandon Finnegan gets 'kick in the guts' in Game 4

SAN FRANCISCO - Brandon Finnegan is just 21 years old, has just seven major league appearances to his credit, and will need several years to shake the tag as that pitcher who went straight from the College World Series to this chaotic, compelling major league World Series.

Yet it's evident that, in going from hero to goat in barely 24 hours, the Kansas City Royals' young left-hander already possesses a firm grasp on baseball's capricious nature.

"It will pick you up real quick," he said Saturday night, "and it will kick you in the guts real quick. Everybody knows how it is, and how to react to it.

"Sports, in general, are not for you if you can't handle it."

In this case, Finnegan is left to digest an outing that could shake even the hardiest baseball soul.

With Game 4 of the World Series tied in the bottom of the sixth inning, he was summoned and promptly poked into submission by the San Francisco Giants. Two singles, a sacrifice bunt, and then a pair of two-out singles - all while an AT&T Park overflow crowd roared with anticipation - plated three runs.

The Giants would go on to an 11-4 victory, squaring this World Series 2-2, as Finnegan and his young Royals teammates - most of their core players are 28 or younger - got another lesson in the emotional swings of baseball's biggest.

Saturday, Finnegan was standing in the exact spot where he was a night earlier, but the narrative had gone haywire. No longer was he the player months removed from Texas Christian University who played a key role in a typically gallant Royals bullpen effort in Game 3.

Now he was the guy with a crooked pitching line attached to his name - five hits, two walks, five earned runs, just three batters retired - on a night the Royals could have seized total control of this World Series.

Finnegan hardly saw it as a disaster, feeling he executed his pitches to the first two batters - pinch hitter Joaquin Arias and leadoff man Gregor Blanco.

"First hit off me was off the end of the bat, in the left-handed batter's box," he said of Arias' hit. "Second was a slider, down and away. They just threw the bat out there. Just soft enough, just hard enough to fall in. It's part of the game."

And Finnegan nearly escaped. A sacrifice and an intentional walk to Buster Posey put two runners on for Hunter Pence, who bounced to shortstop for a force at home. But with two out, Pablo Sandoval's two-run single gave the Giants the lead for good.

Brandon Belt followed with another RBI hit, and Finnegan started the seventh by giving up a isngle to Brandon Crawford and a walk to Michael Morse. Both eventually scored after Finnegan was mercifully removed from the game.

After, his tone was steadfast, almost defiant, that he'd bounce back. His teammates are inclined to agree, since his physical tools don't figure to desert him at this tender age.

"Finnegan is nasty," said fellow lefty Danny Duffy, who wanted the blame thrown his way for allowing two inherited runners to score in the fifth inning. "He's pitching beyond his years. Since he's been up here, he's been so fun to watch.

"I can't even remember what I was doing at 21, but I wasn't here. He's going to definitely pick himself back up, brush himself off. I'm really proud of that dude, and I can't wait to watch him get another shot."

Will it come in Game 5? Possibly. Finnegan threw 32 pitches Saturday, following his eight-pitch performance in Friday's Game 3. Royals manager Ned Yost held Kelvin Herrera back after a 27-pitch outing Friday, and may be averse to rolling Finnegan out three days in a row.

This much is clear, however: In a series where Royals starters have gotten exactly one out past the fifth inning, they probably don't win it without Finnegan getting it done in a big spot.

"We're 2-2," reliever Jason Frasor said of the series, "and we're gonna need him again."

Finnegan insisted his dorms-to-destiny narrative remains intact, particularly with another chance to be the hero likely in the offing.

"It's still a dream," he said. 'I'm still 21, three months out of college in the World Series. It's still part of the dream.

"You'll have times you get set back a bit. It's not something I can't handle."

GALLERY: Giants-Royals in the World Series