Royals rip Giants, pull even in World Series

KANSAS CITY, USA – Omar Infante smashed his first playoff home run to cap a five-run outburst Wednesday, giving the Kansas City Royals a 7-2 victory over San Francisco to level the 110th World Series.

By breaking open a 2-2 game in the sixth inning, the Royals deadlocked the best-of-seven Major League Baseball final with the Giants at 1-1 as the scene shifts to San Francisco for games three through five on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Infante’s two-run blast over the left-field fence in the sixth was the 32-year-old Venezuelan second baseman’s first homer after 145 playoff at bats over five post-season trips with three different clubs dating to 2006.

His homer ended the second-longest active major league playoff homer drought 44 at-bats shy of St. Louis outfielder Jon Jay’s current futility mark.

After dropping the opener 7-1, the Royals knew a game two home triumph was vital. Teams losing the first two games have lost the World Series 42 of 53 times, including nine in a row and 15 of the past 16 such situations.

The Giants seek their third championship in five seasons after having snapped a 56-year drought in 2010 while the Royals are in the playoffs for the first time since winning their only World Series crown in 1985.

Kansas City chased Giants starting pitcher Jake Peavy and three relievers from the mound in the sixth.

Lorenzo Cain opened the onslaught with a single, took second on a walk to Eric Hosmer and scored on Billy Butler’s single to left field off reliever Jean Machi to put the Royals ahead to stay.

After a wild pitch by new reliever Hunter Strickland advanced the runners, Salvador Perez smacked a two-run double to the centerfield wall and Infante followed with his round-trip blast to produce the final margin.

Royals relievers Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland kept the Giants off the scoreboard over the final four innings.

Ventura follows Matsuzaka

Peavy, who helped Boston win last year’s World Series crown, started against Yordano Ventura, the first rookie to start for the Royals in a World Series game at any position.

The 23-year-old Dominican right-hander was the first rookie starting pitcher in a World Series game since Japan’s Daisuke Matsuzaka for Boston in 2007, but the Royals had won 12 of his prior 14 starts.

Giants game leadoff hitter Gregor Blanco swatted a full-count offering from Ventura over the right-field wall for the first homer to open a Series game since 2007.

But Kansas City answered in the bottom half of the first, Cain hitting a two-out double to left field and scoring to equalize on Butler’s single to left.

The Royals took their first lead of the series in the second inning when Infante doubled and scored on Alcides Escobar’s two-out double down the right-field line.

San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval doubled to start the fourth, reaching base in his 25th consecutive playoff game to match the third-longest streak in major league history.

Brandon Belt followed with a double to right field to bring home Sandoval and pull the Giants level 2-2. – Rappler.com