Madison Bumgarner was dominant for the Giants yet again the World Series. (
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Madison Bumgarner allowed three hits over seven innings, and Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer in the first as the San Francisco Giants toppled the Kansas City Royals 7-1 Tuesday night in the opening game of the World Series.
Bumgarner’s major-league-record postseason road scoreless streak was snapped at 33 1/3 inning in the seventh when catcher Salvador Perez homered with two outs into the Royals’ bullpen. Bumgarner retired 12 batters in a row before Perez’s blast.
The San Francisco left-hander had not allowed a playoff run on the road since Brian McCann’s solo home run on Oct. 11, 2010, at Atlanta. Bumgarner gave up one run, walked one and struck out five Tuesday.
The Royals had won their first eight playoff games this year and 11 straight dating to 1985, but they were overwhelmed by the Giants, who are trying to win their third World Series in five years. The winner of Game 1 has won 69 of the 109 World Series (63.3 percent), including 15 of the past 17.
Pence began the night 0-for-11 against Royals starter James Shields, but the right fielder homered in the first with third baseman Pablo Sandoval aboard, then doubled off Shields to lead off the fourth.
Shields was shaky at the start, and the Giants took advantage to score three runs on five hits in the first, highlighted by Pence’s two-out, two-run homer.
Center fielder Gregor Blanco, a former Royal, began the inning with a single to shallow center. Catcher Buster Posey’s one-out single put runners on the corners for Sandoval. Sandoval doubled down the right-field line, scoring Blanco, but Posey was out at the plate trying to score from first. Sandoval’s 11 postseason doubles are a club record, while he extended his streak of reaching base to 24 consecutive postseason games.
Pence, a 2014 All-Star who played in all 162 games, homered to center on a full-count pitch, providing the Giants with a 3-0 advantage. Pence, who hit a puny .074 with two RBIs in the final 14 regular-season games, has reached base safely in 14 straight postseason games.
The Royals loaded the bases in the third but came away empty against Bumgarner.
Shields, who threw a four-hit shutout against the Giants on Aug. 9, did not record an out in the fourth inning.
Pence led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Belt walked, and Morse’s RBI single finished Shields, who was replaced by left-hander Danny Duffy.
Pinch hitter Juan Perez’s sacrifice bunt moved Belt and Morse up 90 feet. Duffy, who had not pitched in 19 days, then walked shortstop Brandon Crawford and Blanco to bring Belt home, putting the Royals in a 5-0 hole.
Shields, who can become a free agent after the World Series and is known as “Big Game James,” retired only nine of the 16 batters he faced and was charged with five runs on seven hits, a walk and a wild pitch in three-plus innings. In four 2014 playoff starts, Shields has allowed 15 runs and 28 hits in 18 innings for a 7.50 ERA.
The Giants added two superfluous runs in the seventh, which included second baseman Joe Panik’s run-producing triple and an RBI single from Sandoval. The San Francisco third baseman collected multiple hits for the fifth time in 11 playoff games this year.
NOTES: INF Jayson Nix was added to the Royals’ World Series roster in place of rookie INF Christian Colon, who was on the AL Championship Series roster. Nix was last on the roster for the wild-card victory over Oakland. … Royals manager Ned Yost said RHP Jeremy Guthrie would start Friday and LHP Jason Vargas on Saturday. … Manager Bruce Bochy said the four-day break would help his bullpen. “(Jeremy) Affeldt was running on fumes,” Bochy said. “(Santiago) Casilla, that was his third day in a row (in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series. Sergio) Romo four out of five. And (Javier) Lopez was up quite a bit when he didn’t go in, so the break should do them well.” … Giants veteran RHP Jake Peavy and Royals rookie RHP Yordano Ventura will start Wednesday.
