Once again, World Series turns into Sandoval classic

SAN FRANCISCO – Pablo Sandoval had a quick and slightly hyperbolic answer when asked if he considered sitting out Saturday, given that he was vomiting before the game.

"Not even dead,'' he said.

This being the World Series, of course, most players would have to be carried off the field on a stretcher before they begged out.

But for Sandoval the desire to play gets heightened because this is his time of year, the time when he can display his full array of skills on the game's biggest stage, the time when the stakes are highest.

In this increasingly intriguing World Series, the key moment of the pivotal Game 4 arrived in the sixth inning, with the score tied 4-4 and the San Francisco Giants desperately trying to go ahead and avoid facing the Kansas City Royals' overpowering trio of late-game relievers.

With the bases loaded, the Royals had just gotten the second out on a force at the plate when Sandoval stepped in to face lefty reliever Brandon Finnegan. The switch-hitting third baseman had batted only .199 right-handed this season, and looked bad in striking out his first two times up against left-handed starter Jason Vargas, although he did single in the fifth off fellow lefty Danny Duffy.

Sandoval didn't spend any time trying to figure out Finnegan, whom he'd never faced before, instead pouncing on a first-pitch sinker and ripping it into center field for a two-run single that put the Giants ahead 6-4 on the way to an 11-4 victory that tied the series 2-2.

Buster Posey, who scored the second run on that clutch hit, has seen these October heroics and has a full appreciation for them.

"He's a smart baseball player,'' said Posey, known as a cerebral type. "The pitch he hit wasn't that bad of a pitch, from what I saw on the replay. It looked like it was off the corner, if not off the plate a little bit, and he was able to go with it and hit a line drive.''

Hitting liners off tough, sometime barely reachable pitches is what separates Sandoval from so many other hitters, along with the ability to enjoy the moment instead of getting overwhelmed by it.

He first demonstrated that poise under pressure in the 2012 postseason, highlighted by the three-homer outburst in the World Series opener that led to him earning MVP honors.

Now he's back at it again. After going 2-for-5 Saturday, Sandoval is batting .333 in the current Fall Classic. This is his sixth postseason series in the last three years, and only in one of them has he failed to hit above .300. His batting average in nine career World Series games is .378, with three doubles, three homers, eight RBI and five runs scored.

"I'm enjoying it. It's a blessing from God to be in three World Series in five years,'' said Sandoval, who played in only one game in the 2010 edition. "It's incredible. You go through a lot of ups and downs in your career, and the important thing is learning how to deal with them and showing the team how you've matured through them.''

In his final year before free agency, Sandoval did not have a particularly productive year. His on-base plus slugging percentage of .739 was the second-lowest of his career, and he drove in just 73 runs in 157 games.

But, as he has demonstrated throughout the postseason, Sandoval has become a major contributor defensively, to the point he was named as a finalist for the Gold Glove.

And nobody ever questioned how much he wants to play. Sandoval certainly wasn't going to let a flu bug keep him out of the lineup, even if he felt lousy before and during the game.

"You couldn't tell, by the way, with his body language,'' said second baseman Joe Panik, who had two doubles and two RBI as the Giants poured it on with nine runs between the fifth and seventh innings against the underbelly of the Royals bullpen.

"If you didn't know he was sick, you couldn't tell. For him to come out the way he did was huge for us because he's one of the main guys on the team.''

A day after seeing the end of his streak of 25 postseason games reaching base, Sandoval was moved down a notch from the cleanup spot in the lineup because the Royals were starting a lefty.

Sandoval's splits have been getting more pronounced in recent years. For his career he bats .304 from the left side of the plate and .271 from the right side, but this season it was .317-.199. The year before, only one of his 14 home runs was right-handed.

Most players will tell you the postseason is a different animal, though, and the Panda turns ferocious when the calendar flips to October.

"He's a great hitter. He's made his living in the postseason,'' Duffy said. "The dude is just a stud. I definitely let that pitch catch too much of the plate. He was big for them tonight.''

GALLERY: Giants-Royals in the World Series