Kansas City Royals’ balanced attack sinks San Francisco, 3-2
By Jake Misener
A balanced scoring attack and a solid start from Jeremy Guthrie was enough to lift the Kansas City Royals to a Game 3 win on the road Friday night as a late San Francisco Giants’ rally attempt fell short, with Bruce Bochy‘s club falling by a 3-2 final in front of a sellout crowd at AT&T Park.
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth, San Francisco looked to make inroads and did just that against the Kansas City starter, who had cruised to that point. Brandon Crawford led off the frame with a single to right and pinch-hitter Michael Morse delivered yet-another clutch base hit this postseason, plating the Giants’ shortstop with an RBI double down the left field line and cutting the deficit to 3-1.
That base hit spelled the end of the night for Guthrie, who gave way in favor of Ned Yost‘s typical seventh-inning man, Kelvin Herrera, who entered, promptly walking Gregor Blanco to put two on with no outs. A Joe Panik groundout advanced both runners 90 feet and a groundout by Buster Posey scored Morse and put the tying run at third base with two outs in the inning. However, the hard-throwing right-hander settled down, retiring Pablo Sandoval on a groundout to first to end the inning and preserve the 3-2 Royals’ advantage.
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Guthrie was charged with both runs in five-plus innings of work, scattering four hits on the night. His counterpart, veteran Tim Hudson, who was making his World Series debut at age 39 Friday night, matched him pitch-for-pitch, allowing three earned on just four hits, walking one and striking out a pair.
Alcides Escobar got things started early against Hudson, leading off the game with a double off the base of the left field wall. Two batters later, a slow roller to Crawford at shortstop off the bat of Lorenzo Cain gave Kansas City a lead it would never relinquish. In the top of the sixth, a pair of Kansas City mainstays, Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer, delivered RBI base hits adding the second and third runs, respectively, of the game for the Royals offense.
After Gordon’s RBI double that scored Escobar, Hosmer followed suit with an RBI single that scored the Kansas City left fielder. That base hit proved to be the game-winner, as the Giants tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.
The San Francisco offense struggled for the second-straight contest, managing just four base hits on the night, while drawing just two walks. Kansas City fared little better, tallying six hits and drawing just one walk, but clutch at-bats proved to be the difference in the contest.
The series continues on Saturday night with an 8 p.m. ET first pitch from AT&T Park in San Francisco. Jason Vargas will oppose veteran right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, who will look to even the series for the home team.