Bumgarner and Giants beat Royals and lead the series 3-2

SAN FRANCISCO – With every pitch, Madison Bumgarner secured his place among the World Series greats.

The tall, left-handed hitter kept hitting hard and kept the San Francisco Giants from winning again, throwing a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 on Sunday night to take a 3-2 lead in the series.

Bumgarner was hardly a threat on the mound, he was simply untouchable – again. With chants of “MVP! MVP!” ringing out from every corner of AT&T Park, Bumgarner completed the first World Series shutout in 11 years.

“You know what? For some reason I always get so lucky this time of year, so I’ll take it,” Bumgarner said.

It has to be more than just luck.

Because when the 25-year-old from Hickory, North Carolina, surpassed his own winning performance in Game 1, he had awakened memories of Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Curt Schilling and the best October aces of all time.

“Very humiliating,” Bumgarner said.

He undoubtedly joins that ranks of names, and perhaps he has even surpassed them.

Who else has gone 4-0 with a 0.29 ERA in four World Series starts? Add in 12 hits in 31 innings and 27 strikeouts, and he’s the definition of a big game pitcher.

“He’s special, isn’t he?” manager Bruce Bochy said during a quiet moment in his office over dinner. “What a stud.”

Giants Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal also mingled in the locker room, waiting his turn to congratulate the guy with the curly, stringy hair.

“He’s so smooth. I would say he’s cold-blooded. When he’s on the mound, he dominates everyone. Everyone,” Marichal said.

That night, Bumgarner struck out eight runs without a walk and was never in trouble as he constantly changed tempos and no runners reached third base. There hadn’t been a shutout in the Series since Josh Beckett’s game-winning play for the Florida Marlins in 2003 at Yankee Stadium.

The Giants’ work is not done yet. To win the titles they won with Bumgarner in 2010 and 2012, they must win in Kansas City.

“We’re looking forward to playing in front of our home crowd, where it’s going to be absolutely wild and crazy,” said Royals manager Ned Yost.

Jake Peavy will get the first chance to seal the win for San Francisco when he faces rookie Yordano Ventura in Game 6 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night.

If the Giants don’t win then, there’s still this possibility: Bumgarner said he’s ready to come out of the bullpen in Game 7.

Hunter Pence was once again in the thick of things for the Giants, hitting a single against James Shields in the second inning and scoring on a groundout by Brandon Crawford, who had three RBIs.

Later, the mysterious Pence accidentally threw his bat past the mound while getting a strikeout and appeared to apologize to Shields. Pence got another hit in the eighth inning with three runs, making him 9 of 19 runs scored in the five games.

Postseason star Pablo Sandoval also hit two singles. Juan Perez opened the game with a two-run double off the top of the center field fence in the eighth inning against Wade Davis and scored on a single by Crawford.

Since falling behind 4-1 in Game 4, the Giants have answered with 15 straight runs. San Francisco won that game, quelling concerns that Bumgarner should have been brought in to pitch after a short rest.

Bumgarner won for the fourth time this postseason with just one loss, and that blanking capped off his four-hit shutout he threw in the NL wild-card game against Pittsburgh. He’s durable, throwing 47 2-3 innings this October, which only rivals Schilling’s 48 1-3 innings in 2001 for the most in a single postseason, with a 1.13 ERA.

When Bumgarner won, his name echoed through the stadium.

“That was actually pretty cool. It was really great to hear that,” he said.

Late in the innings, it seemed like only a lightning strike, perhaps a home run out of nowhere, could save the Royals. But that didn’t happen – it was the third straight game without either team hitting a home run. This is the longest streak in the World Series since 1948, when the Boston Braves and Cleveland began a three-game losing streak, STATS reported.

It’s not easy to see why the man nicknamed MadBum is so dominant. Royals hitter Eric Hosmer said before the game that Bumgarner’s “cross-body” throws were difficult to catch.

The 6’5″ Bumgarner definitely has an impressive whip and an impressive WHIP in the World Series. His walks-plus-hits ratio per inning is incredible.

The only thing Bumgarner didn’t do well was get a hit. He prides himself on his hitting power and has hit four home runs this season, including two grand slams. Bumgarner went 0-for-4, leaving him hitless in 22 postseason at-bats.

Yes, he still has a lot to do.

NEXT

Royals: Ventura will join John Lackey, Justin Verlander and Michael Wacha as the fourth rookie since 2000 to start twice in a series.

Giants: Peavy started in last year’s World Series for the champion Boston Red Sox. He lost in Game 2 last week and is 1-4 with a 7.05 ERA in eight career postseason starts.

STATISTICS

In the 41 previous best-of-seven World Series games that were tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 won the title 27 times. … Bumgarner’s ERA is the lowest in World Series history for pitchers who pitched at least 25 innings. Jack Billingham follows at 0.36. Among the leaders are Babe Ruth (0.87) and Mariano Rivera (0.99). … Since 1982, teams that trailed 3-2 and went home in Games 6 and 7 have won eight of 10 World Series – including the Royals in 1985.