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The Kansas City Royals entered Game 1 of the World Series with eight consecutive 2014 postseason wins, scoring more than five runs per ballgame during that stretch. It had been one of the most memorable postseason runs in recent memory.

But Madison Bumgarner had plans of extending his own streak.

The San Francisco Giants ace allowed one run, three hits and one walk in seven innings, powering Bruce Bochy’s squad to a 7-1 series-opening win. It marks his third win in as many World Series starts.

Before allowing a home run to Salvador Perez in the seventh inning, Bumgarner ran a pair of astounding scoreless innings streaks a bit further, as noted by ESPN Stats & Info and ESPN’s Buster Olney:

The Mercury News‘ Alex Pavlovic provided an updated look at the 25-year-old’s unbelievable career numbers in the Fall Classic:

It took San Francisco just one inning to give Bumgarner the insurance he needed. The Giants smacked Royals starter James Shields around for five first-inning hits, including an RBI double from Pablo Sandoval and a two-run home run from Hunter Pence.

Even New York Yankees starter Brandon McCarthy couldn’t help but praise the right-fielder, who later hit a double and scored another run:

MLB‘s public relations Twitter feed put Pence’s night in historical perspective:

Shields was able to work out of the inning with just three runs allowed, but it was immediately clear Ned Yost couldn’t keep rolling him out there. The Royals’ No. 1 allowed three runs, seven hits and one walk in 3.0 shaky innings of work.

It was just the norm for the Giants against an ace in Game 1 of the World Series, as Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller illustrated:

The three runs were more than enough for Bumgarner. He ran into a bit of trouble in the third when a Brandon Crawford error and Mike Moustakas double put runners at second and third with no outs, but he proceeded to strike out Alcides Escobar and Norichika Aoki before getting Eric Hosmer to ground out.

Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi noted yet another impressive accomplishment from Bumgarner against the normally run-manufacturing Royals:

Bumgarner served up a homer to Perez with two outs in the seventh, but it didn’t matter, as the Giants tacked on two runs in the fourth and seventh innings to put the game well out of reach.

Fortunately for the Royals, they won’t have to face Bumgarner again until Game 4 or 5. But that doesn’t mean the increasing pressure is going to subside between now and Wednesday night’s Game 2.

If they don’t find a way to better get to veteran Jake Peavy, they’ll find themselves down 0-2 heading back to San Francisco, where the Giants have won four in a row.

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Exactly two weeks ago, the Kansas City Royals were two outs away from being eliminated from the playoffs. Now, just one game from clinching a spot in the World Series, that number is up to 108.

The Royals remained undefeated in the postseason Tuesday night, topping the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1, and capturing a commanding 3-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.

While the first two wins of the series were gained with the bats—14 runs, four home runs—the Royals got back to basics in front of a raucous crowd at Kauffman Stadium: pitching, fielding and timely hitting.

Jeremy Guthrie, making his postseason debut in his 11th major league season, went five innings and allowed just three hits, two walks and one earned run. While he didn’t receive the win, he was far more effective than ace James Shields and fire-baller Yordano Ventura, as The Kansas City Star‘s Andy McCullough noted:

He only ran into trouble in the second inning, when Steve Pearce and J.J. Hardy hit back-to-back doubles to plate the Orioles’ only run off the starter. No one reached as far as second base in the following three frames.

Mike Moustakas, whose legend seems to grow with every new playoff game, was there to help Guthrie (and reliever Jason Frasor). With home runs in four of his previous five games, Moose opted to make an impact at the hot corner this time around.

He snared a line drive from Pearce in the fourth, and two innings later, he made a diving catch over the railing, tumbling head-first into the crowd—a defining effort you’re likely to see replayed for years to come.

MLB’s Twitter feed provided a look, while ESPN Stats & Info noted the rarity of the plays:

As is fitting for the movie script that this season is seemingly becoming, the Royals followed up each play by grinding out a single run.

Alex Gordon tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth with a bases-loaded RBI groundout, and Billy Butler’s sacrifice fly in the sixth scored pinch runner Jarrod Dyson to make it 2-1. ESPN Stats & Info and the Toronto Star‘s Richard Griffin noted some appropriate numbers for the balanced squad:

The bullpen would take care of the rest, going four perfect innings to secure the win. Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan noted the clinical performance:

Baltimore will attempt to fight off elimination in Game 4 on Wednesday with starter Miguel Gonzalez, while the home club, Kansas City, counters with Jason Vargas.

The Royals need just one win in the next four games to advance to the World Series, but judging by the past seven, they won’t need nearly that many tries.

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Three times, the San Francisco Giants tried to bunt over the game-winning run and failed. The fourth time proved to be the charm.   

A wild Randy Choate throw into right field on a Gregor Blanco sacrifice allowed Brandon Crawford to score all the way from second base and gave the Giants a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the 10th inning of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at AT&T Park.

Blanco‘s game-winning bunt gives San Francisco a 2-1 series lead as both teams look to make their third World Series appearance in five years. The Giants hoisted the trophy in 2010 and 2012, thanks mostly to the production of their elite players.

If Tuesday was any indication, though, it’ll be the unsung heroes who play the biggest factor going forward.

Blanco, the Giants’ leadoff hitter, is hitting a paltry .111 for the postseason. His bunt came after an ugly failure on the at-bat’s first pitch, in which the ball bounced off the plate and back over the catcher’s head. Juan Perez could not get a bunt down in his two attempts to move Crawford into scoring position before sending a single into left field.

But when Blanco laid the second bunt down, the team’s fourth overall try, the outcome looked disastrous from the beginning. Placed in a spot where Choate could make a play, the 39-year-old lefty was forced into a sidearm flail that was off line from the get-go. The Cardinals reliever, used mostly as a situational reliever, has now given up three earned runs in 0.2 innings of work this postseason.  

The on-field celebration for the Giants featured a mixture of glee and relief, as it appeared they were in the process of blowing a lead for the second straight game. 

Quiet for most of their postseason run, the Giants offense came alive early against John Lackey. The Cardinals starter recorded two straight outs to start the game but then allowed five consecutive hitters to get on base, capped off by Travis Ishikawa, who sent a deep shot off the right-field wall to score three runs and give San Francisco a 4-0 lead. 

Ishikawa, who made a spectacular diving catch and drove in the game-winning run in Game 1, is continuing to have a series to remember. Thrust into an increased role out of necessity, Ishikawa‘s teammates joked that his new cleats, ones designed by Nike for Mike Trout, temporarily transformed him into the Angels outfielder last week. 

Ishikawa hasn’t quite been Trout. Instead, he’s become the unlikeliest of heroes for San Francisco so far in this series.

Designated for assignment by Pittsburgh in April and brought back to the Giants on a minor league contract, Ishikawa was closer to being out of baseball than on a postseason roster. But a late-season move to left field presented an opportunity to which Ishikawa has responded with some of the best baseball of his career.

A career .259 hitter in the regular season, the 31-year-old Seattle native is hitting .286 for the postseason and has four hits in eight at-bats this series.

“What he’s doing, it’s pretty tough,” Brandon Belt told reporters after Game 1, via Yahoo Sports’ David Brown. “But he makes it look…pretty easy for someone who hasn’t played that much.”

But while Ishikawa was continuing to etch his name in Giants postseason lore, the Cardinals were chipping away at a comeback that at times felt inevitable. A Kolten Wong triple drove in Jon Jay and Matt Holliday in the fourth inning and a Jhonny Peralta single plated Jay again in the sixth.

Noticeably getting hit hard despite a low pitch count, Tim Hudson was surprisingly kept in the game for the seventh. That would open the door for St. Louis’ own unlikely hero. 

Randal Grichuk, whose biggest baseball moment before Tuesday was quite possibly competing in the 2004 Little League World Series (or his home run off Clayton Kershaw, but whatever), launched a hanging pitch from Hudson off the left-field foul pole to knot the game at 4-4. 

Grichuk, himself in the lineup due to unforeseen circumstances, has fewer than 200 major league at-bats under his belt. He’s known to some as the Angels prospect who was taken one pick ahead of—you guessed it—Trout in the 2009 draft. One of the lighter running jokes of this series was Giants manager Bruce Bochy being unable to pronounce Grichuk‘s name.

But the names Grichuk, Blanco and Ishikawa became vital on an afternoon when superstar production was intermittent. Holliday, Matt Adams and Peralta went a combined 2-for-13. Hunter Pence knocked in Buster Posey on a first-inning single, while Pablo Sandoval and Pence each scored on Ishikawa‘s double, but their bats went radio silent for the subsequent nine innings. 

In fact, San Francisco had only one hit between the first and 10th innings—a meaningless single from Tim Hudson. The Cardinals, for their part, had nine hits but went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. 

Game 4 takes place at 8:07 p.m. ET Wednesday. Ryan Vogelsong is scheduled to pitch for the Giants, while Shelby Miller takes the bump for the Cardinals.

Vogelsong pitched twice against the Cardinals in the regular season, going 0-1 while allowing six runs in 13.1 innings. He gave up one run in 5.2 innings in San Francisco’s NLDS-clinching win over Washington.

Miller had a similar postseason experience, giving up two runs in his 5.2 innings of work as the Cardinals toppled the Los Angeles Dodgers. He did not face San Francisco during the regular season.

Given the way this series has gone, it may not matter who starts. The last two games have proved just how important it is to finish strong.  

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter

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The Kansas City Royals are one game away from the World Series after downing the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

The Orioles jumped on top in the second inning when Steve Pearce and J.J. Hardy hit back-to-back doubles, Pearce scoring off of Hardy’s hit. It was the first time this series that the O’s had a lead in a game.

It didn’t last long as the Royals loaded the bases in the fourth. Alex Gordon hit a grounder to second base, scoring Lorenzo Cain on the fielder’s choice. Kansas City would take the lead in the sixth on Billy Butler’s sixth sacrifice fly of the postseason.

Jeremy Guthrie started the game for the Royals, going 5.1 innings and allowing just one run on three hits. It was his first start in the playoffs in his 10-year career. He also got some great defensive help all around the diamond.

Guthrie did well but it was a collective effort from the club’s entire pitching staff. Guthrie, Jason Frasor, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland all helped retire the final 16 batters of the contest. Holland recorded his fifth save of the postseason in the process.

In the preview we mentioned that the Boston Red Sox are the only team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. The Orioles must do the same if they are to reach the World Series and two of those wins have to come in Kansas City.

On the other side, the Royals are one game away from their first World Series appearance since 1985.

Game 4 is scheduled for Oct. 15 at 4:07 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TBS. You can follow along here on the Bleacher Report for live scores and highlights.

All stats courtesy of ESPN.com. 

You can follow Trey on Twitter @treydwarren.

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For the second game in a row and fifth time in the 2014 playoffs, the Kansas City Royals scored the go-ahead run in the final inning to win.

The Royals grabbed a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Baltimore Orioles following a 6-4 victory on Saturday evening in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

Kansas City won the game in typical Royals fashion.

With the game tied at 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Omar Infante reached first on an infield single. Royals manager Ned Yost inserted Terrance Gore to pinch run for Infante. Mike Moustakas moved Gore into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.

Alcides Escobar delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit as he doubled down the right-field line to score Gore and put the Royals on top, 5-4.

According to ESPN Stats & Info’s Mark Simon, the Orioles were also victimized by Escobar’s last go-ahead hit in the ninth inning or later:

For Baltimore closer Zach Britton, it was yet another rough ninth inning, per Mark Viviano of WJZ-TV in Baltimore:

Two batters later, Lorenzo Cain singled and scored Escobar to provide an insurance run.

One of the questions that surrounded Kansas City before Game 2 was how much Yost could continue relying on his devastating trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland out of the bullpen. All three pitched in Game 1, with Herrera and Davis both going two innings apiece.

“Our whole focus is win today,” Yost said on Saturday, per USA Today‘s Steve Gardner. “That was part of the mindset last night when we sent (Kelvin) Herrera back out for another inning and Wade Davis out for another inning. Let’s win this game and we’re not going to worry about tomorrow until tomorrow.”

Herrera, Davis and Holland all pitched on Saturday, combining for three scoreless innings to close out the game. They’ll have a day off to rest, which is much needed given their pitch count thus far in the series.

With the Royals continuing to keep it close, Yost’s handling of the bullpen could decide the outcome of the ALCS.

His job becomes easier when his batters deliver timely hit after timely hit, of course.

The Royals offense didn’t waste any time getting started. Nori Aoki hit a single to left with one out in the top of the first. Cain stepped up next and swatted a double to right field; Aoki moved to third on the play.

Eric Hosmer, who entered the day hitting .421 during the postseason, delivered a two-run single that fell in between Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy and left fielder Alejandro De Aza:

Baltimore struck back in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with two outs. Royals starter Yordano Ventura didn’t walk away completely unscathed, giving up a Caleb Joseph sacrifice fly that scored Steve Pearce. However, the inning ended with the Royals still holding a 2-1 lead.

Kansas City’s lead grew to two runs again, 3-1, a half-inning later, with Billy Butler slicing a double down the right-field line that scored Cain and moved Hosmer to third. Orioles starter Bud Norris struck out Alex Gordon before the Royals could put any more runs on the board.

All-Star center fielder Adam Jones’ playoff performance since 2013 has been a cause for concern. He was one of Baltimore’s best hitters during the regular season but had a .119 postseason batting average entering Saturday.

In the bottom of the third, Jones broke out of his funk, hitting a two-run home run to tie the game.

According to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, that was Jones’ first extra-base hit in the playoffs:

The long ball came back to bite the Orioles in the top of the fourth, as Moustakas put the Royals back on top, 4-3, with a solo home run. The homer was Moustakas’ fourth of the playoffs, which puts him in impressive company, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The Royals third baseman is also the first No. 9 hitter to go yard in four separate contests, per MLB.com’s Paul Casella:

Kansas City hitters have mashed the ball all postseason, going from worst in the league in home runs during the regular season to best in the playoffs, per Jon Morosi of Fox Sports:

The Royals’ edge was short-lived. After back-to-back singles from De Aza and Jones in the bottom of the fifth, the Orioles had runners on the corners with one out. A ground ball to short from Nelson Cruz was enough to score De Aza as Kansas City settled for a fielder’s choice that tied the game at 4-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Orioles looked primed to take control of the game. It started with an error by Herrera. On a ground ball to first, Hosmer moved over and tossed the ball to Herrera, who failed to touch the base. As a result, Nick Markakis reached safely.

Lana Berry captured the irrefutable evidence showing space between Herrera’s foot and first base:

Herrera then delivered a walk to De Aza to put runners on first and second with nobody out. After a Jones strikeout, Cruz singled to load the bases with one out. Pearce flied out to Gordon in left field, and it looked like Markakis might attempt to tag up, but he stayed at third.

Andy McCullough of The Kansas City Star wondered how much Gordon’s defensive ability weighed on Baltimore’s mind as it decided what to do with the runner:

Herrera induced a flyout from Hardy to end the inning and somehow exit the seventh with the game still tied.

With runs coming at a premium in the postseason, failing to score in the seventh was a major blow to Baltimore. Failing to execute like that almost always comes back to haunt teams, especially in this case with the Orioles digging themselves an 0-2 hole after Saturday’s defeat.

Orioles on MASN had Buck Showalter’s thoughts after the game:

Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe and McCullough had thoughts from the Royals’ camp:

According to MLB Public Relations, first pitch for Game 3 is scheduled for Monday at 8:07 p.m. ET at Kauffman Stadium. Wei-Yin Chen will start for Baltimore, with Jeremy Guthrie getting the nod for Kansas City.

Going up 3-0 in the series would be huge for Kansas City. The 2004 Boston Red Sox are the only team in MLB history to climb back from an 0-3 deficit en route to winning the pennant.

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For the fourth consecutive season, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to the National League Championship Series.

The Cards once again got to stud Clayton Kershaw late in the game on Tuesday, this time with a three-run bomb from Matt Adams to secure the 3-2 victory and 3-1 series win.

MLB.com provided a look at the final out and ensuing on-field celebration:

Not seen in that video is catcher Yadier Molina’s instant-classic reaction. Fortunately, MLB’s Twitter feed caught that moment in all of its glory:

Of course, it wasn’t all just reckless pig-piling and mauling of teammates. Before he participated in the celebration, skipper Mike Matheny offered a tip of the cap to the Dodgers dugout:

Adams, who hadn’t hit a home run against a left-handed pitcher since July, stepped to the plate in the seventh with two on and the Cards trailing by two. Following in the footsteps of Matt Carpenter, who had hit three out of the park in the first three games of the series, Adams came through with the big blast in a surprising moment.

Even more out of the ordinary, he did it against the normally devastating curveball from Kershaw. Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan noted the rarity of the situation:

Afterwards, Matheny suggested the appropriate way for the 26-year-old first baseman to celebrate, via Fox Sports:

It’s unknown if there was skipping involved, but Adams—like the rest of the team—partook in the dumping and spraying of alcoholic beverages in the locker room. The team’s official Twitter feed has the proof:

If anyone knows how to really commemorate an NLDS win, it’s probably the Cardinals, who have gotten in a bunch of practice over the past several years. And it appears the back-to-back-to-back-to-back NLDS wins have given them a chance to get a little innovative with their celebrations. With Budweiser rations aplenty, they opted to commence one of the more sticky water-gun fights:

Carlos Martinez also got into the act. Well, he tried, at least:

With Game 1 of the NLCS not until Saturday, the Cardinals will likely be memorializing this victory well into the night.

Once the hangovers—both of joy and alcohol—wear off, it will be time to readjust focus toward Washington or San Francisco, who can both present a difficult challenge next round. After beating Kershaw, the best pitcher in the league, for the fourth time in two postseasons, though, the Cardinals have earned the right to have a little fun and relax.

Again.

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When it appeared that Clayton Kershaw was coming to the rescue for the Los Angeles Dodgers, one swing of the bat by St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams changed everything.   

Adams jacked a three-run homer off Kershaw in the bottom of the seventh inning, erasing a 2-0 deficit to allow the Cardinals to close out L.A. by a score of 3-2 in Tuesday’s Game 4 of the National League Division Series.

Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted just how unlikely Adams’ dinger off the ultimate southpaw in Kershaw was:

The Orange County Register‘s Pedro Moura added even more interesting analysis:

Cardinals hitters were frustrated time and again with Kershaw’s trademark deceptive delivery. They swung at many pitches in the dirt in putting up a goose egg through six innings in a potential closeout game.

From the time he struck out the side in the first, it looked as though Kershaw was firing on all cylinders. ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the significance of Kershaw’s hot start:

Adams’ shot over Busch Stadium’s right field wall extinguished that momentum, setting the stage for a tense conclusion.

Hard-throwing closer Trevor Rosenthal got a quick out but then walked A.J. Ellis to put the tying run aboard in the top of the ninth. He then conceded a single to Dee Gordon after striking out Justin Turner. However, a harmless grounder by Carl Crawford got a force at second base to seal the deal.

The Cardinals’ official Twitter account highlighted how consistently the club has been in contention:

MLB Public Relations went even further in describing St. Louis’ greatness:

Before the bullpen took over and tossed three shutout innings to finish the job—Marco Gonzales got the win with a scoreless seventh—Shelby Miller fared well in the unenviable position of being Kershaw’s counterpart.

It took grounding into a double play, but the Dodgers manufactured a run in the top of the sixth inning to get on the board first. Matt Kemp’s grounder scored Crawford, and reliever Seth Maness gave up a single that Dodgers infielder Juan Uribe smacked to right-center.

That scored All-Star Hanley Ramirez for a critical insurance run that Miller was charged with, though the St. Louis starter yielded just five hits over 5.2 innings.

In light of how he was tagged for eight earned runs at Dodger Stadium in Game 1, the parallels between Kershaw’s prior appearance and Tuesday’s effort were fascinating, per SportsCenter:

Kershaw discussed taking the ball and staring elimination in the face on the road, via ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Mark Saxon:

I try not to look at all the numbers and all the stats, just try to go out and try to win a game for us [Tuesday]. That’s all I really do. It’s too hard to think about all that stuff. Whether you do good or bad, you get too big a head or too down on yourself. You try to stay as even keel as you possibly can and just prepare for the next one.

That’s what he and the Dodgers will have to do now heading into 2015. ESPN’s Skip Bayless weighed in on Kershaw’s loss:

Tuesday’s start on three days’ rest saw Kershaw show no signs of tiring through six, as he was consistently bringing the heat at 94 mph even at that latter stage of his outing.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted how Kershaw’s impressive regular season should have almost guaranteed he’d bounce back, even amid the adverse circumstances:

ESPN’s Bomani Jones offered his take:

Indeed, just one hanging breaking ball was enough to completely reverse Kershaw and the Dodgers’ fortunes, sending them home to L.A. not to play a Game 5, but to reflect on falling short.

It was a strong season overall for the Dodgers, but they will have to find a way to regroup after this bitter bow-out in four games. The best-of-five format lends itself to unpredictable results with the smaller sample size, though seeing Kershaw go 0-2 after a 21-3 regular season is a letdown for all parties involved.

The Cardinals will take on the winner of the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. With inconsistent production from the lineup, St. Louis will have to lean heavily on pitching. What’s nice is that staff ace Adam Wainwright won’t have to pitch a Game 5 against the Dodgers’ high-octane offense.

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Nationals 2 – Giants 3: Bottom 8th

The game is being shown live on Fox Sports 1, but stick with us for real-time updates and analysis as well as pictures, video, GIFs, tweets and anything else worth mentioning from this potential elimination game.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

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SCORE UPDATE: Giants 2 – 1 Nationals, Bottom 18th (SF leads NLDS 1-0)

For more MLB coverage, opinion and analysis: Tweet to @Peter_F_Richman

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Extra innings is winning time for the Kansas City Royals.

For the second night in a row, Royals pitching silenced the high-powered Los Angeles Angels’ offense en route to victory. The Wild Card winners jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead in the American League Division Series following a 4-1 win in 11 innings on Friday night in Anaheim.

Going back to the AL Wild Card Game, they’ve now won three postseason games in extra innings, which ties the current record, per MLB.com’s Paul Casella:

The other five teams have all won the World Series, per ESPN Stats & Info:

During the regular season, the Royals batters combined to hit 95 home runs, which was last in the majors and 10 fewer than the next closest team. Now, in consecutive nights, they’ve hit go-ahead dingers in extra innings in the postseason.

MLB.com’s Andrew Simon likely isn’t the only one astounded by this development.

Eric Hosmer was the man of the hour on Friday, drilling a two-run home run in the top of the 11th inning off Kevin Jepsen to provide the difference in the game. ESPN’s Keith Law wonders if the 24-year-old, who’s yet to truly fulfill the promise he showed in the minors, might finally hit his stride after what’s been a strong start to the playoffs:

“We’ve been doing it any way we can,” said Mike Moustakas, who was the hero on Thursday, per ESPN.com. “It’s somebody different every night.”

Kansas City manufactured another run in the 11th in typical Royals fashion. After reaching first on a walk, Alex Gordon stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. He scored on an infield single by Salvador Perez.

Baserunning is one of Kansas City’s biggest strengths, and manager Ned Yost hasn’t been afraid to use the advantage at any available opportunity, per ESPN’s Buster Olney:

The Royals have not only wrested home-field advantage away from the Angels, but they’ve now given Los Angeles little breathing room. The No. 1 seed in the AL has to win three games in a row just to survive.

The Angels wasted yet another great pitching performance, this time from Matt Shoemaker, who allowed one unearned run on five hits in six innings. His start was particularly impressive considering he went nearly a month without meaningful action, per ESPN’s Pedro Gomez:

On the other side, Yordano Ventura was just as good.

Yost came under fire for bringing Ventura out of the bullpen in Kansas City’s eventual 9-8 Wild Card Game win over the Oakland Athletics. Ventura allowed a three-run home run to Brandon Moss in the sixth inning, which put Oakland ahead, 5-3.

In his more natural starting role, the rookie more than redeemed himself, throwing seven innings and striking out five Angels hitters.

Some wondered if Yost might have scarred his young pitcher from the Wild Card nightmare. Grantland’s Rany Jazayerli believed that myth was thoroughly debunked:

Kansas City drew first blood in the top of the second inning. Hosmer led off with a single to right field and moved to second on an error from Kole Calhoun. The defensive miscue came back to bite L.A. in a big way as Alex Gordon laced a single to center, scoring Hosmer and giving the Royals an early 1-0 lead.

Los Angeles threatened in the bottom of the fifth, getting runners on first and second with nobody out. David Freese killed the rally with a double play, however, and Josh Hamilton lined out to Nori Aoki in right field to end the inning.

The Royals had a scary moment during Hamilton’s at-bat as his bat connected with the helmet of catcher Salvador Perez on the follow-through. The Royals’ medical staff examined Perez on the field and deemed him fit to continue.

After the inning was over, Perez headed to the clubhouse. Bleacher Report’s Will Carroll explained that the All-Star catcher received treatment rather any sort of concussion test:

Heading into the sixth, Ventura still looked strong, hitting triple digits on the radar gun, per Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today:

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Kole Calhoun singled with two outs and Mike Trout walked, putting runners on first and second. Albert Pujols stepped to the plate next and delivered a single to right that scored Calhoun and moved Trout to third:

The Angels looked primed to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth, by which time Wade Davis was pitching for Kansas City. C.J. Cron led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. In an effort to add a little bit more speed to the basepaths, Angels manager Mike Scioscia opted to have Collin Cowgill pinch run for Cron.

Chris Iannetta was the next batter, and he flied out to Jarrod Dyson in center field. Although the ball wasn’t particularly deep, Cowgill attempted to tag up from second. Dyson was running full speed to his right, so he needed the throw to be perfect to nail Cowgill at third, which it was.

Just like that, the Angels went from a runner in scoring position with nobody out to nobody on with two outs. Rotoworld’s Matthew Pouliot didn’t disagree with the decision to send Cowgill, noting that the lack of a more specialized baserunner on the bench hurt in that scenario:

One of the bigger stories from an Angels perspective in Game 1 was the inability of Trout, Pujols, Howie Kendrick and Hamilton to do anything offensively. Combined the quartet went 0-for-18.

Hamilton’s funk continued in Game 2 as he went 0-for-4 and never looked particularly good in any of his at-bats. Baseball Prospectus’ Sam Miller joked that Bartolo Colon might be a better hitter at this point:

The other three weren’t much better, going a combined 2-for-12.

With a chance to win the game for the Angels, Trout, Pujols and Kendrick went down in order in the bottom of the ninth against Jason Frasor. Trout also struck out to end the game with a runner on base.

That about sums up how the series has unfolded for L.A. so far.

The Royals will have their ace on the mound as they return home for Game 3 on Sunday. James Shields will face off against C.J. Wilson. Over the years, Shields earned himself the nickname “Big Game James,” so Kansas City will likely feel confident about its chances of closing out the series.

Until Trout, Kendrick and Pujols start hitting, it’s hard seeing the Angels coming up with enough runs to overcome the Royals’ great pitching and timely hitting.

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