Your 2014 Giants: World Series Game 6: Wild Wild West Shoot-Out

Madison Bumgarner started game 5:  Nuff Said!

ogc thoughts

Bumgarner was majestic again.  Set a bunch of records, including the first shutout with zero walks and 8 strikeouts ever in the World Series.  Low ERA with 25 IP.  Did we mention he is only 25 YO and hopefully can continue this for another 10 years, as he's built like the horses on his ranch, country strong?

Got a little of something from almost everyone in the lineup, once again.  Key hitters were Sandoval and Pence with setting up the runs, with key assist from Ishikawa in keeping the runners moving and the inning alive, and Crawford and Perez, who together drove in the five runs.  Perez did it with pain in his heart as it was reported during the game that his very good friend, Oscar Taveras had died in a car crash, as did Taveras' girlfriend.  Oh, and Belt had that key bunt single, which reminded me of Huff's bunt in the 2010 series.

With the complete game shutout, the Giants bullpen got a full day of rest (except for Casilla who warmed up in the 8th and 9th, just in case), giving them a bit of an advantage in terms of rest, important at this time of year.  Not that the Royals got overworked themselves, but two of their key relievers had to pitch, Herrera and Davis, and both got hit a bit, and gave up the three runs together, as Shields was actually Big Time this time, with a 4 PQS start.

Yost Still Not Feeling The Need To Win

As I've been saying the whole series, every game is Must Win.

Again, Yost didn't get it, he had a crack open with that double in the 5th, only one out, score is still just 2-0, he could have went to his big guns off the bench, Willingham and Butler, I mean, look at Bumgarner's history in both playoffs and World Series, if you have a crack open you need to widen it. But he chose to keep Shields in. And to be fair, he was doing much better than before.

Yost probably didn't trust his middle guys after game 4, but as the saying goes, you have to dance with the one who brung ya, and they had a rest day today so the could have extended them some. Duffy was pretty good in the season, probably should have used him to bridge the 2 innings to HDH 7/8/9, or even pitch them 1+ IP to cover 6th also, meaning only need to get one good inning out of Duffy. Then again, he finally went to them and they made the lead even bigger. Still, should have tried to get that double into a run on the board against Bumgarner, then it would only take a mistake (like Perez's homer in Game 1) to tie the game. Blown opportunity.

Game 6

Game 6 is going to be iffy again, for the Giants, much like Game 2. Peavy has never had a quality start in the playoffs, so I would just take him out once he looks like he's losing it, I expect Bochy to do that similar to what he did to Dirty in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Phillies, in 2010, with the quick hook before the game gets out of hand (something Dusty did not do with Livan in game 7 of 2002). I expect either Petit or Lincecum (I'm thinking Lincecum, so that Petit can pitch in Game 7 as need be) to come in and pitch long relief at some point. Could be a wild game with many starters stepping up and pitching, though.

But KC might need to do the same too, in which case their meaty middle relievers who had their confidence shaken a bit from game 4 will be put in, out of necessity. Might see remaining starters, Vargas and Guthrie pitching too, if necessary, all hands on deck for elimination game, I would think, worry about tomorrow if there is one.

This is because Ventura, while having a nice overall game, in terms of ER, was actually bad in terms of things showing how well he pitched, he gave up too many hits, walked too many, hardly struck out any.  That makes it two straight MID games for him, though maybe like Shields, he steps up in this start.  But much like how the balls started falling in Game 4 for the Giants, we probably see that happening again in game 6, getting runs that would make this game less iffy, depending on how much rope Bochy gives Peavy.

Should be an interesting (as in the ancient Chinese curse) game, unlike the great game in Game 5. Much like game 2, it's like throwing the hot potato around, you are just waiting for whichever starting pitcher will explode, then the other team will bring in their closing relievers to shut it down.   I didn't know who would fail in game 2, and same here, both could deal, but both could also be meh again.

Last time, it was Peavy who exploded, along with Machi and Strickland. I don't expect either to pitch unless blowout to eat innings, as I expect a close game (with a lot of runs and the lead changing back and forth) with a parade of relievers, with Lincecum leading the way, then Affeldt, Romo, Lopez, Casilla, and Vogelsong will get long relief if any extra innings, like Petit against the Nats. Vogie hardly pitched much in Game 4, plus he said he had command of all his pitches, he just got dinked out of the game there, not big hits.

Given how our hitters have been hitting, working as a team and led by no one in particular, I think the Giants should win if Bochy has a quick hook on Peavy before much damage is done. I'm hoping Posey steps up in this game, he has been hitting but not for any extra-base hits, so I'm looking for some power from him. That's because he noted the difference for the team when you are only one game away from winning it all, so I'm hoping that gives him extra adrenaline shot that translates into power from his bat, heck, from all their bats.