With more than 24 hours since Game 7 of the World Series, we move farther past arguably the greatest Game 7 performance in World Series. Madison Bumgarner, who threw 117 pitches in a Game 5 complete game shutout on Sunday, came back for Game 7 on Wednesday to pitch five innings with 68 pitches to close the game and Series for the Giants.
It was incredible, marvelous, inconceivable.
Coming into the game, it was known that Bumgarner was available to pitch. Many pundits were saying if he pitched, which many believed was likely, he would go two innings, three at best. I myself thought he would go two shutout innings.
It his side day to throw a bullpen session so when Bumgarner was seen warming up in the bullpen in the top of the fifth, few were surprised. The Giants were up by one run and pitcher Jeremy Affelt (who replaced starter Tim Hudson in the second inning) had reached his max. I was thinking Bumgarner would go two or three and then handing the ball over to set-up man Sergio Romo in the eight and after that, closer Santiago Casilla.
Bumgarner did not look like himself when he first came in. Omar Infante, the first batter he faced, lined a base-hit to right field. He then got an easy out when Alcides Escobar bunted over Infante. Many considered that at-bat the game changing play. Escobar was swinging a hot bat and analysts thought he should have been allowed to hit. However, the next at-bat, not Escobar's bunt was the play of the game.
Nori Aoki came up with one out and Infante on second. Bumgarner threw him two straight balls (he also threw Escobar two bad balls, which was as common this playoffs as a Halley's comet sighting). After throwing a strike, Bumgarner threw Aoki a two-one slider. Aoki got good wood on the pitch and sent the ball the opposite way. It was slicing down the line and normally would have dropped for a double with Infante scoring easily. However, left fielder Juan Perez, who got the start over Travis Ishikawa due to his defensive skills and experience, got a prefect jump on the ball and make the catch. If Perez is not in the game and have perfect positioning before the pitch, that ball is dropping and the game is a whole new ball game. Royals can complain about the bunt and leaving in Guthrie in too long, but the Perez's catch was the game-changer.
The next batter, Lorenzo Cain, stuck out.
After that, Madison Bumgarner was pitching like he was pitching on five days rest against a bunch of amateurs. His curveball and slider were on point, his fastball was constantly reaching 93 miles per hour, and his location was pinpoint. Batters had no chance of getting good hits on his pitches. When Bumgarner he struck out Infante in the seventh, it started to hit me what was happening. History was happening.
He retired the side in the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth.
At this point Bumgarner had thrown four innings and 52 pitches. Manager Bruce Boche had said that Bumgarner was given a 45-50 pitch limit. Yet, no one was warming up in the pen: Bumgarner was going to finish the game.
And he was going to have to get out the middle of the Royals order. Cleanup hitter Eric Hosmer was first up in the bottom of the ninth with the game still tied at two. Bumgarner got behind Hosmer, but struck him out on a fastball.
One down, two till the title.
Next up was Billy Butler, the designated hitter, and he popped out to Brandon Belt.
Two down, one more out till the title.
Alex Gordan, the Royals star left fielder, was the Royals final hope. On a 1-0 pitch, he hit the ball to center field and... it dropped in front of Blanco for a single and then the ball got by him.
In the most shocking moment of the World Series, Gordon's regular single dropped in front of Blanco and inexplicably got passed him. The ball went all the way to the wall. Perez picked the ball up and... fumbled it. By the time Crawford received the ball as the cutoff man, Gordon was... on third.
The question will always be asked: Should Alex Gordon have gone home? The answer is simple: no. He would have been out. It all comes down to when he was running out of the box, he was not running like it was a double. He was running like it was a normal single, aka not at full speed. If Gordon knew the ball was going to get passed Blanco or the ball was more in the gap, he would have been running faster because he would have had to and only then would he have went for home and score. You cannot blame Gordon for not scoring. It would have been tough for even Terrance Gore to score on that ball if he was running out of the box like a normal.
So, Bumgarner is on the mound with the game-tying runner on third and Royals best hitter this series, Salvador Perez, at the plate. Perez had the game-winning hit in the AL Wild Card game vs. Oakland this year. Bumgarner and catcher Buster Posey had a plan. They were going to pound Perez, who has been a free-swinger this postseason, with fastballs. The first pitch was above the hands and Perez swung for strike one. He followed that pitch with another high four-seamer, which Perez took for a ball. Bumgarner threw another high fastball for strike two and then another one that Perez took for a ball. Perez fouled the off pitch five. Pitch six, he popped up into foul territory on the third base side. Pablo Sandoval made the catch.
Game over. World Series over. The Giants are champs.
At the end of the game, Bumgarner had four strikeouts and threw 50 strikes for a 73.52 strike percentage. He was originally given the win, but was later in the night it was changed to a save. This was the third five-inning save of the last twenty-five years, regular or postseason.
What makes this game legendary is the greatness of Bumgarner. From the NL Wild Card Game to Game 7 of the World Series, Bumgarner has been extraordinary. His final World Series stats are: 21 innings, 0.43 ERA, 2-0, 0.476 WHIP, and 17 strikeouts to 1 walk. He was great in Game 1, going seven and giving up only one run. He was even better in the aforementioned Game 5 and was at his finest in Game 7.
Bumgarner's performance represents the best baseball has to offer. Pitchers do not go as deep into games as they used to, and that mean pitchers will not be as dominant and imposing as they can be if batters knew they would have to face them all game. Bumgarner has made that different. He has elevated himself into a select few of pitchers: the Elite of the Postseason. In this exclusive club is Christy Mathewson, whose performance in the World Series, especially the 1905 World Series, made him the first ever clutch pitcher and two-time World Series MVP Sandy Koufax, and Curt Schilling, whose clutch performances in the 2001 and 2004 World Series have made him a legend.
His Game 7 performance is indescribable, and while I have tried to describe, I still feel like I still have not expressed how well Bumgarner performed.
This performance was incredible, marvelous, inconceivable.
Madison Bumgarner is now a legend, but his greatest moments are not myths, they are based on the stats from the 2014 World Series.
