Hats off to the San Francisco Giants victory as the 2014 World Series champions! After yesterday’s predicted shutout by the Royals, the stakes were high and the match up was toe to toe.
Early on, both the Giants and Royals put scores on the board. The Royals thought things were going perfectly when they knocked out Giants starter Tim Hudson but the advantage was never realized. After Giants took the one run lead, Bruce Bochy brought Madison Bumgarner in with hopes that he had the magical touch tonight. No one expected he would throw more than a couple innings after a complete game three days ago. Bumgarner took an inning to warm up and even in the 5th it was questionable he would perform, with batters testing him out. Yet the Giants defense was infallible so even if the Royals managed a base hit, fly balls were caught for an out. Originally the closer was expected to come in for the final inning yet Bumgarner was in his groove. “I wasn’t thinking about finishing the game or how many innings I was going to go or pitch count,” Bumgarner said. “I was just wanting to get outs.” Outs he got even while the royals gave an excellent fight. The three to two score stood firm through to the ninth when it looked like the Royals would tie it up.
Kansas City’s Alex Gordon was the last hope, and he placed a liner to left center. Hearts in Kansas City sank as it appeared Gregor Blanco might catch it. Their hearts raced as the ball fell and skipped by the outfielder and rolled to the wall. Gordon headed toward third as Juan Perez fumbled the ball. Could it be? Would Gordon turn for home and score the most improbable of runs?
Yet even with the Royals on third, the 25-year-old star closed out the game, enticing Salvador Perez to pop out. It wasn’t to be for the young Royals, yet the roaring crowd was rightly proud of their playmanship.
The final game was a night of records. In the first World Series matchup of wildcard teams, the Royals demonstrated the three decade rest bit is over for Kansas. Madison Bumgarner pitched an inconceivable five scoreless innings, setting more records for this 7th game of the World Series. With Madison Bumgarner’s historic performance, The San Francisco Giants are the first team to win three titles in a five-season span since the Yankees (1996-2000).
Now that baseball has finished for another season, we’re glad to return to the regular favorites. The World Series kept us glued to the broadcast. Yet the game is full of too much waiting without announcement and anticlimactic suspense to watch in the regular season.