Giants rout Royals 7-1 in World Series opener

MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer

Madison Bumgarner goes eight innings, and rookie Hunter Strickland closes it out in the ninth for San Francisco.

The Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 in the World Series opener. Game 2 is Wednesday night.

___

Two impressive streaks end for Bumgarner on one swing by Salvador Perez.

The big lefty gives up a solo homer to Perez with two outs in the seventh inning, trimming San Francisco’s lead to 7-1. Bumgarner had thrown 21 2-3 shutout innings in World Series play, the second-best streak to start a career in major league history behind New York Giants great Christy Mathewson (28 innings), according to STATS.

Mathewson pitched three shutouts in the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics. His streak ended in 1911.

Bumgarner also had tossed 33 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings on the road in postseason play, a major league record.

___

Bumgarner settling into a groove.

Nice and easy, rock and fire, plenty of cushion with that comfortable lead. And even the balls Kansas City hits hard are turning into outs.

Giants increase the margin to 6-0 with an RBI triple by Joe Panik in the seventh inning, misplayed by Royals right fielder Nori Aoki. Pablo Sandoval’s run-scoring single makes it 7-0.

The rout is on.

Royals look as though they haven’t been to the World Series in 29 years. Giants look like October regulars.

___

If nothing else, long man Danny Duffy managed to get the Royals through the middle innings, saving the rest of the bullpen from getting taxed too much tonight.

___

Hunter Pence doubles to start the fourth, extending his early lead in the World Series MVP race. RBI single by designated hitter Michael Morse makes it 4-0.

Morse is a nice boost for the Giants’ lineup after he was sidelined for a long stretch with an oblique injury.

James Shields is done after three-plus innings. Rough night. Never really found it. Even some of San Francisco’s outs were hit hard.

Shields hasn’t been very effective at all this postseason, sort of a surprise. Pretty heavy workload during the season (227 innings). Maybe that has something to do with it.

Long man Danny Duffy is on for the Royals, trying to keep them within striking distance. But it’s 5-0 after a bases-loaded walk to Gregor Blanco, who has been doing good things for the Giants all night.

Kansas City became the first team to open a postseason with eight straight wins, but that streak is in serious jeopardy.

___

Bumgarner gets out of a major jam in the third and bails out Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, who committed an error to start the inning.

Mike Moustakas doubles to put runners on second and third with none out, bringing the crowd to its feet. Bumgarner, however, struck out the top two hitters in Kansas City’s lineup, Alcides Escobar and Nori Aoki.

After a walk to Lorenzo Cain loads the bases, Eric Hosmer goes after the first pitch and hits an easy bouncer to second.

Giants still lead 3-0, and Kauffman Stadium is hushed.

That was a big sequence — and the fans know it. A big hit there and the crowd is right back into it the rest of the way.

___

Lorenzo Cain runs down a long drive by Pablo Sandoval in deep right-center to end the top of the third. Big ballpark out there in Kansas City.

Royals cleanup hitter Eric Hosmer hammered a ball in the first inning, but Gregor Blanco ran it down in deep right-center.

___

Bumgarner shatters Perez’s bat on a double-play grounder to end the second. Bumgarner doesn’t seem to have his best stuff, at least not early in the game.

___

And there it is: The first Derek Jeter sighting of this World Series — in that “My Way” commercial.

He’s not on the field this October, but still on TV.

___

What a start for the Giants!

Five batters into the game they take a 3-0 lead at Kansas City in the World Series opener. Pretty nice gift for ace Madison Bumgarner before he even takes the mound.

Pablo Sandoval hits an RBI double into the right-field corner. An accurate relay by the Royals cuts down Buster Posey at the plate for the second out of the first inning, but San Francisco isn’t done.

Hunter Pence hammers a full-count fastball from James Shields to center for a two-run homer. Pence had been 0 for 11 against Shields, but “Big Game James” is really struggling.

Let’s see if that fast start takes the starch out of the revved-up crowd in KC.

The inning began with a single by slumping Gregor Blanco that dropped in front of center fielder Lorenzo Cain, the ALCS MVP.

Imagine that — a ball that Cain couldn’t get to. The Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles must be thinking, hey, wait a minute. …

Leadoff hitters are now 9 for 18 against Shields in this postseason. The right-hander gave up five hits in a 32-pitch first inning and yelled into his glove while walking back to the dugout.

__

Pretty striking commercial starring Little League World Series star Mo’ne Davis. Not sure what it had to do with cars, but it definitely an attention-grabber.

___

It’s an absolutely perfect fall night for the Fall Classic as the World Series returns to Kansas City for the first time since 1985.

Forget the sleet in Detroit, the rain in Philadelphia, the chill at Fenway Park. Temperatures at Kauffman Stadium are in the upper 60s, the skies are clear and the foliage beyond the outfield walls is gorgeous.

The fans here are dressed head-to-toe in blue, and they’re ready to rock. It’s been a long time since they hosted a Series, and a lot has changed — the turf was artificial, George Brett was playing third base and the ballpark was called Royals Stadium.

It’s also been a while since either the Royals or Giants played. We should see pretty soon whether the layoffs affect them.

As the starting lineup for the San Francisco Giants is announced, fans stand and break into a “Let’s Go, Royals!” chant that echoes through the ballpark.

Country music star Trisha Yearwood with a rousing national anthem, and we’re ready to go. First pitch coming up in just a few minutes.

As players go out to stretch, Giants outfielder Hunter Pence runs all the way out to the center-field warning track to shake hands with many of the military vets carrying the huge American flag off the field.

Nice touch.

___

AP Baseball Writer Ben Walker contributed to this report.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up