World Series Game Three: Yosted. Royals Take the Lead

Oct 24, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; Members of the umpire crew hold up “stand up to cancer” signs during game three of the 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Royals beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 tonight to take the lead 2-1 in the World Series after losing game one on Tuesday and winning game two on Wednesday.

As I chided Bruce Bochy for doing on Wednesday, both managers left their starter in to face the order for a third time tonight, and both starters failed to finish the sixth inning they should never have been on the mound for in the first place.

It is a recurring theme in this post season. If you can’t get four innings out of your bullpen, you shouldn’t be here.

Ned Yost continued to troll the entire baseball world tonight. After starter Jeremy Guthrie failed to retire the first two hitters of the sixth inning (third time through the order) Yost brought in his “7^th inning guy,” Kelvin Herrera.

That was a good move by Yost. Herrera allowed his inherited runner to score and the Giants to pull within one, but he got out of the inning. Then Yost sent Herrera out to hit for himself with a man on and two outs in the top of the seventh.

Predictably Herrera struck out to end the inning. Herrera walked Hunter Pence to lead off the bottom of the seventh and struck out Brandon Belt. That was it for Herrera. One and a third innings pitched, and just the 20^th at-bat by an American League relief pitcher in the Wild Card era.

Yost went to Brandon Finnegan who had no issues with Juan Perez and Brandon Crawford to get out of the inning.

If the baseball gods were just (or real) Yost would have been punished for his crimes and the Giants would have won. But Yost’s bullpen is better than he thinks it his, so his fear or arrogance or whatever defect caused him to leave Herrera in the game to hit wasn’t punished.

Let’s check on our former Brewers:

Kansas City Royals

Alcides Escobar, SS
Line: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 1 SO

Escobar had a good night at the plate. He knocked two hits and scored after both. Harrold Reynolds gushed over a bare handed play by Escobar in the second inning, but Hunter Pence was safe on the play so who cares exactly?

Lorenzo Cain, RF
Line: 0-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 LOB

It was a rough night at the plate for Cain. He had an RBI in the first inning, driving in Escobar on a ground out, but that was about it. He did make a catch or two in right that Nori Aoki probably wouldn’t have made.

Speaking of Nori Aoki, he got the night off tonight. Jarrod Dyson played center and took the 8^th spot in the Royal lineup. Alex Gordon took over the two hole from Aoki.

San Francisco Giants

Travis Ishikawa, LF
0-for-2, 1 LOB

It was another uneventful night for Ishi, and another early replacement as he got double switched out of the game in the 7^th inning.