Before we get into anything else here, let me add to the chorus of grief about the very shocking and extremely untimely passing of St. Louis' Oscar Taveras. Obviously it is tragic any time somebody loses their life in a car accident, and even moreso when those people are only in their early twenties. I don't mean to take the focus off the human toll here at all, because it is nothing but horrible. But to look at it solely through a baseball lens, Taveras has been a highly touted prospect for a while now and was just really getting his shot in the major leagues. He was right on that razor's edge of either making it or busting out. Now we will never know. That is a tragedy in itself. It is only more disheartening to know about all that potential that will remain unfulfilled thanks to the whims of fate. They say that momentum is the next day's starter. That has to be especially true when the next day's starter is Madison Bumgarner, who has to be the greatest pitcher on the planet at this moment.
Truly, how big was last night's swing? The Royals were up 2-1 going into last night's game, and nobody had any real confidence in any Giant pitchers beyond Bumgarner, Petit, and maybe Lincecum. Then the Royals had their big inning, and you thought "Oh boy, here we go, this series is getting late early." Of course, that didn't happen. The Giants had a couple big innings of their own and pulled that one out, knowing they all but had tonight's game in their back pocket. And they were right. Let's be clear: the Royals did not play poorly. James Shields finally had a Big Game. Herrera pitched his usual shut down seventh.* Until the wheels came off a bit at the very end, Kansas City was only down two runs. But when Bumgarner is at his best, which he certainly was tonight and has been all month, two runs is insurance. Now the series shifts back to Missouri, where the Giants only have to pull out one more win, and could still conceivably do so with another Bumgarner start in game seven. *Then Ned Yost did Ned Yost things and left him out there in the eighth instead of handing Wade Davis the ball with a clean slate. It backfired, of course, but it also didn't really matter. The Royals aren't done yet, though. They get to go back home, where they will presumably hit a little better, both thanks to the more conventional set up of Kaufman Stadium and not facing Madison Bumgarner again. Or at least facing him on pretty short rest, which (they would hope) means he won't throw nine innings again. Still, good Lord, you have to marvel at what he's been doing and did again tonight. He's been an absolute force in the World Series his entire career, and he's still only 25. You have to wonder if Tim Hudson curses about this at night.* *Presumably Jake Peavy does not curse, because he quite clearly barked out "God bless it" when he got a little wild in game two.
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