Madison Bumgarner continues to build his near flawless postseason resume, as he added another win in the World Series on Tuesday night. The Giants defeated the Royals 7-1 in Game 1 thanks to seven strong innings from Bumgarner and multiple hits from Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence.
Royals' starter James Shields delivered his third disappointing start of the 2014 postseason after the Giants knocked him around for seven hits and five earned runs in only three innings of work. Despite Shields being Kansas City's ace, he's had a quietly poor postseason, compiling a 1-1 record with a 7.11 ERA in four starts. His one win came during his only solid start, during which he lasted six innings against the Los Angeles Angels, giving up only six hits and two earned runs while striking out six.
However, this is no surprise, because coming into the 2014 playoffs Shields already had subpar postseason pitching numbers, recording a 2-4 record with a 4.98 ERA in six starts with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Although the Royals have swept their way to the World Series and have gone 8-0 this postseason, it's the first time the team has been to the playoffs since 1985 and their lack of experience likely played a role in their 7-1 loss. San Francisco on the other hand, is 31-11 in their last three postseason campaigns and have many of the same players from those past teams. This includes Madison Bumgarner, who is 3-1 during the 2014 postseason with a 1.40 ERA and 33 strikeouts in five starts. The left-hander gave up only three hits, one walk and one earned run last night to lead the Giants to a victory in Game 1 in Kansas City. Before giving up a run in the seventh, Bumgarner accumulated 21 scoreless innings in the World Series, which is the second-longest streak in baseball history.
San Francisco also got the bats going early with a three-run first inning to help out Bumgarner. Pablo Sandoval smacked an RBI double off Shields and then Hunter Pence sent a two-run homer into the center field seats. The Giants continued their onslaught with an RBI single from Michael Morse and a bases loaded walk from Gregor Blanco in the fourth. Joe Panik added an RBI triple in the seventh and Sandoval drove him in with a single to give the Giants a 7-0 lead. Royals' catcher Salvador Perez homered in the bottom of the seventh to help Kansas City avoid the shutout, but the team only managed to scatter four hits, one walk and one run in 30 at-bats.
They'll look to rebound in Game 2 when they host San Francisco again on Wednesday night at 8:07 p.m. This time the Royals will send rookie Yordano Ventura to the mound to face San Francisco's Jake Peavy. The hard-throwing rookie is 0-0 with a 4.85 ERA in three appearances (two starts) in this postseason, including a dominant performance against the Angles in which he threw seven innings and gave up only five hits and one earned run. In contrast, Peavy is a 13-year veteran who has seven career postseason starts. He's 1-3 with a 7.03 ERA, but with the Giants he's 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in two starts.
Tonight should provide an interesting matchup because the Giants have never faced Ventura, who is the first rookie to start a World Series game for the Royals (at any position). Additionally, the Royals hitters have seen some success against Peavy over the years, compiling a .296 batting average (58-for-196) with nine home runs and 36 RBIs. But the Rookie vs. Veteran matchup could ultimately fall in favor of the Giants. Kansas City is likely to come back strong tonight to avoid an 0-2 hole heading to San Francisco for the next three games of the World Series.
Tune in to FOX at 8:00 p.m. for Game 2 of the 2014 World Series.