The Kansas City Royals are now just two wins away from winning the World Series after taking Game 3 on Friday night, beating the San Francisco Giants by the score of 3-2. Heading into San Francisco with much at stake, the Royals were coming off a promising win from game two and were able to build momentum by increasing their series lead against the Giants.
Scoring early has been crucial in this series and Kansas City was able to do just that, when Alcides Escobar started the game with a first-pitch double off of Giants starting pitcher Tim Hudson and later scoring on a ground out by Lorenzo Cain. Hudson has been known throughout his career to be a ground ball pitcher and would rely on that once again in game three. He was able to induce three ground outs in the inning for the outs. However, the damage was already done with Escobar’s double.
Hudson was able to settle down and held Kansas City to just two hits until the Royals’ bats came to life once again in the sixth inning. Escobar earned his second hit of the game on a single to center field and scored on a double crushed deep into centerfield by Alex Gordon, who had his first hit of the series. Eric Hosmer, celebrating his twenty-fifth birthday, also collected his first hit of the series in a key moment after fighting off eleven pitches from Giants reliever Javier Lopez. A sharply hit liner to center field scored Gordon and increased the lead to 3-1.
It’s his birthday, he’ll wear a cape if he wants to! #WizardOfHos #TakeTheCrown http://t.co/jhguOzJHAS
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) October 25, 2014
Jeremy Guthrie was also cruising until the bottom of the sixth for the Royals, when San Francisco finally strung together some runs to get right back into the game. Brandon Crawford started the inning with a single and scored on a double hit along the leftfield line by pinch hitter Michael Morse. Guthrie could not record an out in the sixth, and would be relieved by none other than Kelvin Herrera, who has proven repeatedly that he can limit the damage and get out of difficult situations. In a pivotal moment with runners on second and third, Buster Posey grounded out, scoring Morse to make it 3-2. However, that would be the end of the Giants rally as Herrera was able to get out of the inning as he’s been doing all postseason. After the sixth inning, San Francisco could not record any more hits against the Royals dominant bullpen. Herrera, Brandon Finnegan, Wade Davis and Greg Holland demonstrated once again that they cannot be touched late in the game. This has been the Royals’ strongpoint the entire postseason and it has been one of the reasons they have been so successful.
Wade Davis’ #postseason, constantly getting more and more special: http://t.co/3Yh3znxyLZ #WorldSeries #TakeTheCrown pic.twitter.com/6snNYSVuJd — Kansas City Royals (@Royals) October 25, 2014
Game four will be on Saturday in San Francisco. The Giants will turn to Ryan Vogelsong who will need to limit early scoring and keep his team in the game with hopes of tying the series. Jason Vargas will start for Kansas City as he attempts to get his team one game closer to clinching the title. Game four will paint a clear picture of where this series is headed and there is a good chance it will be royal blue.
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