Royals vs. Giants: The story of the game

1st inning

An opening blow for the Giants

The first pitch of the first World Series game in Kansas City in 29 years was thrown at 7:08 p.m. It was a ball from James Shields to Gregor Blanco, and things went downhill from there. Blanco singled, Joe Panik flied out, Buster Posey singled and Pablo Sandoval doubled. The good news is Posey was thrown out at the plate. The bad news is Hunter Pence crushed a 403-foot shot to right center.

2nd

That’s the Shields fans know

Shields settled down nicely. After throwing 32 pitches in the first inning, he needed just 13 to set San Francisco down in order. Billy Butler opened the bottom half of the inning with a single, but the Royals were unable to break through against Giants starter Madison Bumgarner. Alex Gordon popped out to shortstop, and Salvador Perez grounded into a double play.

3rd

A wasted opportunity

Omar Infante opened the inning with a ground ball to shortstop Brandon Crawford. The ball clunked off his glove and popped into the air for an error. Mike Moustakas followed with a double down the right-field line that set the Royals up nicely. But rather than get on the board, Alcides Escobar and Nori Aoki struck out. After Lorenzo Cain walked, Eric Hosmer swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded to second.

4th

A short stint for Shields

After getting three hard-hit outs the inning before, Shields failed to retire a Giants batter in the fourth. Pence laced a double down the left-field line, then Brandon Belt walked. Michael Morse’s RBI single spelled the end of Shields’ night. Danny Duffy entered and after a bunt moved the runners up, he walked two, including Blanco with the bases loaded.

5th

Escobar flashes the leather

Neither team had a hit in the inning, but Escobar put on a bit of a show in the field. The first nice play was on a hard-hit ball by Sandoval in the hole. Escobar gloved it, and threw a bullet across the diamond from the outfield grass. Pence followed with a chopper up the middle, but Escobar ran in and made an accurate throw. Duffy then struck out Belt.

6th

That guy is no Bum

After the rough start to his night, Duffy found his groove. The Giants didn’t reach base again in the inning as Duffy made it eight straight San Francisco batters that he had retired. Unfortunately for the Royals, they failed to hit the ball out of the infield in the bottom of the inning. That made it 10 straight Royals who had been set down and 12 out of 13. Bumgarner was having himself a fine night.

7th

Royals get on the board

The Giants got to Duffy as he issued a walk to Blanco, and Joe Panik followed with a shot into the right-field gap that got past Aoki, who took a bad angle to the ball and fell down. A collective groan filled Kauffman Stadium. Tim Collins entered the game, and after recording an out, allowed an RBI single to Sandoval. The Royals sliced the deficit to six runs with a Salvador Perez homer into the Royals’ bullpen.

8th

And the crowd goes ... to the parking lot

Kauffman Stadium started to thin out as the teams played a scoreless eighth inning in which each team had a single. Escobar laced a shot back up the middle, but Aoki grounded to Panik at second base, and the Giants turned a nifty double play. Escobar stopped as Panik neared, but he flipped to Crawford who got the force and threw to first for the twin killing.

9th

Bummer of a night

Jason Frasor came on and with one out, Moustakas was charged with a questionable error on a ball hit with one out by Sandoval. Pence followed with a walk, but the Royals got a force-out and Morse struck out for the fourth time. In the bottom half, Hunter Strickland struck out Cain, Hosmer grounded out, and Josh Willingham pinch-hit for Butler. Willingham struck out, ending the game.