SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner was fuming. Someone had reported the ace of the San Francisco Giants had demanded the ball in Game 4.
“It sounds like I’m trying to run the team,” he said, “which I’m certainly not.”
The Giants run themselves, with self-described karma, a crusty good manager, and the power of one player nickamed “Kung Fu Panda” and another who rides his scooter to the ballpark. Whatever works.
They put on a deliciously entertaining Saturday night show in San Francisco. The home team survived an incredibly ugly inning, then scored 10 unanswered runs, deflating the Kansas City Royals en route to an 11-4 victory in Game 4 of the World Series.
The series is tied at two games apiece.
The Giants can look forward to Bumgarner in Game 5. The Royals can look back with regret. They blew a three-run lead, a golden chance to win a game that ended without them using any of their three blessed relievers.
That could be bad baseball, or good karma, or both. Consider these at-bats from the Giants’ No. 9 spot, on a night starter Ryan Vogelsong did not last long enough to bat: pinch-hit single from Matt Duffy, single from pitcher Yusmeiro Petit (a career .049 hitter), pinch-hit single from Joaquin Arias, pinch-hit walk from Michael Morse.
Oh, the stars? Pablo Sandoval, a.k.a. “Kung Fu Panda,” batted .199 from the left side during the regular season but had two hits from the left side Saturday, and drove in two runs. Hunter Pence, the wild-eyed motivational speaker who doubles as the Giants’ scooter-riding right fielder, doubled, singled twice, and drove in three runs.
And the Royals’ bullpen, which had given up nine runs in 11 postseason games, gave up eight in one.
Brandon Finnegan, the prodigy who started this season at Texas Christian and went from the College World Series to this series, might finally be showing his fatigue. Finnegan, who made his season debut Feb. 14 against Jacksonville University, faced 10 batters and gave up five runs.
Finnegan was on the mound in the sixth inning, trying to get the Royals to Kelvin Herrera for the seventh, Wade Davis for the eighth and Greg Holland for the ninth. The Royals had worked Herrera hard Friday, so he was unavailable for two innings Saturday.
The score was tied, 4-4, with two out in the sixth. The Giants had the bases loaded, but one more out, and the Royals would get the game to Herrera.
Finnegan is left-handed. Sandoval, a switch-hitter whom the Royals wanted batting against a left-hander, singled home two runs. Brandon Belt, a left-handed hitter, singled home one.
The Giants led, 7-4, and poured it on from there.
That appeared a highly improbable outcome in the third inning, when the Royals silenced the crowd by sending 10 men to the plate, as the Giants did their best to self-destruct.
First came the omen. Vogelsong needed nine pitches to retire Jason Vargas, the Royals’ pitcher.
Then came the onslaught. Alcides Escobar singled and Alex Gordon forced him. Two out.
Lorenzo Cain hit an infield single. Then Eric Hosmer grounded to first baseman Brandon Belt, for what should have been the third out. Belt looked at second base, then decided to flip to Vogelsong for the out at first.
Vogelsong caught the toss, but his foot landed short of the base. That left Hosmer safe, and the Royals had tied the score, 1-1.
Manager Bruce Bochy, usually stoic within camera range, slammed his cap to the ground.
In quick order, Mike Moustakas walked, Omar Infante singled home two runs, and Salvador Perez singled home one. The Royals led, 4-1, and Vogelsong was done. He got eight outs and gave up seven hits.
As Petit saved the Giants with three scoreless relief innings — that’s 12 innings and no runs this postseason — his team chipped away.
The Giants got one run in the third, on a single by Pence, and tied the score in the fifth, on another run-scoring single from Pence and a sacrifice fly from Juan Perez.
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
