With every pitch, Madison Bumgarner etched his place among the World Series greats.
The long, tall lefty kept slinging away and put the San Francisco Giants just one win from yet another championship, throwing a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 Sunday night for a 3-2 Series edge.
Hardly menacing on the mound, Bumgarner was simply untouchable -- again. As "MVP! MVP!" chants broke out from each packed corner of AT&T Park, Bumgarner finished off the first World Series shutout in 11 years.
Will the San Francisco Giants win the World Series in Game 6?
"You know what? For some reason, I keep getting really lucky this time of year, so I'll take it," Bumgarner said.
It must be more than luck.
Because by the time the 25-year-old from Hickory, North Carolina, outdid his own winning performance in Game 1, he had evoked memories of Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Curt Schilling and the top October aces of all-time.
Who else has gone 4-0 in four World Series starts with an 0.29 ERA? Throw in only 12 hits in 31 innings, along with 27 strikeouts, and that math makes him the very definition of Big Game Pitcher.
'We're looking forward to getting back to our home crowd, where it's going to be absolutely wild and crazy.'- Royals manager Ned Yost
On this evening, Bumgarner fanned eight without a walk and never was in trouble as he constantly changed speeds, with no runners reaching third base. There hadn't been a shutout in the Series since Josh Beckett's clinching gem for the Florida Marlins in 2003 at Yankee Stadium.
The Giants' work isn't done. To add to the crowns Bumgarner helped them take in 2010 and 2012, they'll need to win in Kansas City.
"We're looking forward to getting back to our home crowd, where it's going to be absolutely wild and crazy," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Jake Peavy gets the first chance to seal it for San Francisco when he starts Game 6 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night against rookie Yordano Ventura.
If the Giants don't win then, there is always this possibility: Bumgarner said he's ready to come out of the bullpen in Game 7.
Hunter Pence once again was in the middle of things for Giants. He singled off James Shields in the second and scored on a groundout by Brandon Crawford, who had three RBIs.
Post-season star Pablo Sandoval also singled twice. Juan Perez broke it open with a two-run double off the top of the centre-field fence in the eighth against Wade Davis and scored on a single by Crawford.
Bumgarner won for the fourth time against one loss in this post-season, and this blanking bookended the four-hit shutout he threw at Pittsburgh in the National League wild-card game. Durable, he's thrown 47 2/3 innings this October, trailing just Schilling's 48 1/3 in 2001 for the most in a single post-season, with a 1.13 ERA.
About the only thing Bumgarner didn't do well was get a hit. He takes pride in his plate prowess and launched four home runs this season, including two grand slams. Bumgarner went 0-for-4, leaving him hitless in 22 post-season at-bats.
Yep, he's still got some work to do.
Of the 41 previous instances the World Series was tied 2-2 in the best-of-seven format, the Game 5 winner won the title 27 times. … Bumgarner's ERA is the lowest in World Series history for pitchers with at least 25 innings. Jack Billingham is next at 0.36. Among the leaders are Babe Ruth (0.87) and Mariano Rivera (0.99). … Since 1982, teams down 3-2 going home for Games 6 and 7 have won eight of 10 World Series, including the Royals in 1985.
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