The Kansas City Royals would not be here without James Shields. They bet big on him, in one of the most criticized trades in recent memory, and they won. No pitcher in the major leagues started more games this season, and the Royals got into the playoffs, for the first time in 29 years.
And then they got into the World Series, and then their ace failed them.
Maybe they would not have won anyway. Madison Bumgarner, who is carving himself a spot as an October legend, was on the mound for the San Francisco Giants.
Bumgarner scattered three hits over seven innings, leading the Giants to a 7-1 romp over the Royals in Game 1 of the World Series. In three career Series starts, he is 3-0 with an 0.41 earned-run average.
Hunter Pence hit a first-inning home run, one of the Giants’ four extra-base hits. The Royals had four hits in all, and they used four pitchers – none of them named Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, or Greg Holland, the late-inning shutdown specialists.
Bumgarner shut out the Royals for the first six innings, as San Francisco built leads of 3-0, 5-0 and 7-0. He extended his major league record of consecutive postseason road scoreless innings to 32 2/3 before Sal Perez homered in the seventh, and he lowered his career postseason ERA to 2.54.
Bumgarner has been what we expected Clayton Kershaw to be this October, and Jon Lester, and Max Scherzer, and Adam Wainwright, and David Price, and Stephen Strasburg.
And Shields.
His first three starts this postseason were mediocre. He passed a kidney stone last week. No matter, he was their guy.
The good people of Kansas City had waited 29 years for a World Series game. They pumped up Kauffman Stadium with noise, with drums, with hope.
Shields killed all three, in the very first inning.
He fooled no one. Gregor Blanco led off the game with a single. Joe Panik flied out, deep to left-center field. Buster Posey singled.
Pablo Sandoval doubled, with Blanco scoring and Posey getting out while trying to score. Pence homered, and the Giants led, 3-0, with hits from five of their first six batters.
Shields retired the Giants in order in the second and third innings, but all the outs in the third inning were hit hard. He did not retire anyone in the fourth inning, and he gave up two runs.
His ERA in four postseason starts: 7.11. Opponents are batting .346 against him.
That performance begs two concerns, one for the Royals and one for Shields.
For the Royals, do they dare start him in Game 5, assuming there is one? Danny Duffy, arguably the Royals’ best starter this season before a bout with shoulder soreness in September, relieved Shields and pitched three shutout innings before tiring. Duffy previously had pitched one inning this postseason.
For Shields, how many millions might he have cost himself in free agency? He was supposed to be the less glamorous, more durable alternative to Lester and Scherzer. He has pitched at least 200 innings for eight consecutive years.
However, he turns 33 in December. He has thrown 956 innings over the past four years. Is this October a blip, or a warning against guaranteeing him too many years?
That probably will not be a problem for the Royals, not with big-budget teams such as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees expected to enter the bidding for Shields.
The Royals have a more immediate dilemma. On the heels of their first World Series loss in 29 years, they must win Wednesday or go on the road, down two games to none.
They waited 29 years to get back to the World Series. They didn’t wait to go down in this series.
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
