Giants rout Royals in Game 4, World Series tied
SAN FRANCISCO – Breaking down Game 4 of the World Series from AT&T Park:
Box score: Giants 11, Royals 4; Series tied, 2-2.
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The final: The Giants took advantage of a thinned-out Royals bullpen, scoring eight runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to turn a close game into a blowout.
Hunter Pence went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and Joe Panik and Pablo Sandoval drove in two runs apiece to lead the Giants offense as they rallied from an early three-run deficit to pull even in what's turned out to be a back-and-forth World Series.
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State of the Series: The third and final game at AT&T Park will be a rematch of the series opener with Giants ace Madison Bumgarner facing off against James Shields of the Royals.
The Giants won that game 7-1 as Bumgarner allowed only one run and three hits over seven innings. He's been the true ace the Giants have needed in the postseason, going 3-1 in five starts with a 1.40 ERA and 0.72 WHIP.
Shields, on the other hand, gave up five runs on seven hits in just three innings – the shortest outing from a Game 1 pitcher in the World Series since Roger Clemens in 2005. It also raised his career playoff ERA to 5.74 over 53 1/3 innings.
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Man of the moment: For the third time this postseason, Giants reliever Yusmeiro Petit pitched multiple scoreless innings in a crucial situation. Coming in after the Royals had taken a 4-1 lead, Petit held them scoreless in the fourth, fifth and sixth as the Giants rallied not only to tie the game, but also take the lead.
To go those three innings, Petit also had to hit for himself in the bottom of the fourth inning. With only five hits in 105 career at-bats (.048) in the regular season, he blooped the first pitch into short center field for a hit.
Petit was the winning pitcher Saturday night -- just as he was in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series when he tossed three scoreless innings and beat the St. Louis Cardinals … and six shutout innings to get the win in an 18-inning Division Series marathon against the Washington Nationals.
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Game 4 pivot point: Talk about working without a net, rookie Brandon Finnegan had to face the heart of the Giants lineup in the bottom of the sixth inning with the score tied … and no one warming in the Royals bullpen.
The echoes of manager Ned Yost's fateful quote from earlier in the season had to be reverberating throughout Royals nation as Kansas City was "one out away from getting to Kelvin Herrera."
Except in this case, Herrera had just thrown 27 pitches a day earlier and Yost said he wasn't coming into the game until the seventh.
Finnegan gave up consecutive singles to Joaquin Arias and Gregor Blanco to lead off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk to Buster Posey, Finnegan got Hunter Pence to ground into a forceout at the plate to preserve the tie.
But the 21-year-old, who earlier this year pitched in the College World Series, couldn't close out the inning as Pablo Sandoval singled in two runs and Brandon Belt tacked on another with a single to score Pence to put the Giants up 7-4.
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Needing a mulligan: Kansas City rebounded from a 1-0 deficit in the top of the third inning on this postseason's prototypical "Royals run." Alcides Escobar had a one-out single but was erased on a force out that could have been a double play if not for a slightly high throw to second by first baseman Brandon Belt that disrupted the timing.
Alex Gordon then stole second base and Lorenzo Cain legged out an infield hit to put runners on the corners with two outs. Eric Hosmer hit another slow grounder to Belt, but pitcher Ryan Vogelsong was slow to cover first. He couldn't grab the ball and step on the bag in time to beat Hosmer, which allowed Gordon to score the tying run.
Although neither play at first was ruled an error, they could – and probably should – have been made.
To make matters worse, Vogelsong failed to retire any of the next three batters he faced and the Royals jumped out to a 4-1 lead.
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Manager's special: Most of the postgame attention will likely focus on the way Yost used his bullpen, particularly leaving Finnegan in long enough to give up five runs in one inning of work.
However, he had to factor in Herrera's workload from not only the night before, but also from the 32 pitches he threw three days earlier in Game 2.
Unlike in those games, Yost had to be concerned about not only the innings already thrown, but the potential innings his top relievers could be asked to throw in Game 5 tomorrow night.
Finnegan and Tim Collins bore the brunt of the Giants' offensive explosion – and it may have ended up costing the Royals a chance to win. However, it also meant that Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland will all be available to pitch at least an inning and maybe more in Game 5 with an off day before the series resumes in Kansas City.
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What you missed on TV: Little League World Series star Mo'ne Davis received the royal treatment at AT&T Park during Game 4, participating in pregame ceremonies on the field and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch as MLB honored the 75th anniversary of Little League Baseball.
And of course, she climbed all the way to the pitcher's mound and threw a strike.
Afterward, she got a tour of the stadium, complete with a visit to the main press box. Hopefully, her time with the seasoned scribes didn't ruin the entire evening for her.
GALLERY: WORLD SERIES -- ROYALS vs. GIANTS