Photo courtesy of Art Siegel, Flickr Creative Commons
The San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in game seven of the World Series on Wednesday night to earn their third title since 2010.
Pitcher Madison Bumgarner came in relief for the Giants to pitch the last five innings of the game, allowing just two hits while striking out four Royals batters.
It was a seesaw series, as the Royals won games two, four and six, while the Giants earned victories in games one, three and five. While the series as a whole was very close, many games were lopsided victories, including a 10-0 victory by Kansas City in game six to stay alive in the postseason.
Game seven was a much different story, as both teams scored two runs in the second inning and the Giants added a third run in the fourth inning that would turn out to be the game winner.
Third baseman, Pablo Sandoval scored two runs for the Giants in the game, including the game winner as he ran home on a single to right field from first baseman Michael Morse, who scored a run of his own and had two RBI’s.
While celebrating World Series Championships is becoming the norm in San Francisco, as the team has won titles in 2010, 2012 and now 2014, the Royals saw a magical season end just shy of the ultimate prize in baseball.
This year, the Royals qualified for the MLB postseason for the first time since 1985, when they won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
This season, the Royals finished second in the American League Central division with a 89-73 record. They earned their way to the World Series by defeating the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game.
Kansas City then swept the next two rounds, defeating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in three games in the American League Divisional Series, and then blasting the Baltimore Orioles in four games to reach the World Series.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants had a long road to the World Series as well, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Wild Card Game. They went on to defeat the first place Washington Nationals 3-1 in the National League Divisional Series.
The Giants then handily defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in five games, ruining the hopes for a rematch of the 1985 World Series.
The Giants and the Royals then battled through a grueling seven game series to see who would earn The Commissioner’s Trophy and be crowned the World Series Champions.
The future looks bright for both teams, as the Giants have to be considered one of baseball’s top teams of the 2010s with three championships in the last five seasons. Meanwhile, the Royals, led by a young core of players have re-established themselves as a threat in the American League and will likely not have to wait another three decades in between postseason appearances.
mmontal1@ramapo.edu
