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Royals get even

October 23, 2014

Giants go down 7-2 in Game 2 of World Series

Kansas City Royals fan Sung Woo Lee, from South Korea, shows off his "super fan' cap. (AP)

Kansas City Royals fan Sung Woo Lee, from South Korea, shows off his “super fan’ cap. (AP)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez and the pesky Kansas City Royals fought back from a Game 1 flop to beat the San Francisco Giants’ tough bullpen and even the World Series.

Perez broke open Game 2 with a two-run double in a five-run sixth inning, and the Royals’ own cast of clutch relievers kept the Giants in check in a 7-2 victory Wednesday night that certainly spiced things up as the Series shifts to San Francisco for the next three games.

Jeremy Guthrie will be on the mound Friday night for the Royals, who had won eight straight playoff games before a 7-1 loss in the opener. Sinkerballer Tim Hudson will start for the Giants.

“We showed them that we have fight in us, and I think they knew that already. But we stepped up big there as a team, and that gave us some confidence,” said Billy Butler, whose RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Royals a 3-2 lead.

Perez followed with a double into the left-field gap, and Omar Infante hit a two-run shot off Hunter Strickland, the fifth home run that he’d allowed to 23 postseason batters.

Strickland appeared to be muttering to himself as he stalked back to the mound, and Perez overheard him. The two exchanged words and players from both dugouts spilled onto the field. More streamed in from the outfield bullpens before order was finally restored.

“He started to look at me, so I asked him like, ‘Hey, why you look at me?’” Perez said. “So he was telling me, ‘Get out of here, whatever.’ So I don’t know. ‘You don’t have to treat me like that. Look at Omar. Omar hit a bomb. I didn’t hit a bomb. I hit a double.

“So I don’t know what happened with that guy,” Perez added. “But the last thing, we don’t want to fight on the field. I’m not that kind of person, that kind of player.”

Nevertheless, a series that began with a sleepy blowout had some life.

Young flamethrower Yordano Ventura, with his 100 mph fastball singeing the brims of the Giants’ batting helmets, allowed just two runs while pitching into the sixth inning. The 23-year-old hardly looked like the first rookie to make a World Series start in Royals history, calmly working through a lineup that ravaged staff ace James Shields just 24 hours earlier.

The dynamic trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland did the rest. Herrera set the tone for the late innings as two of his first three pitches were clocked to be 101 mph on the radar gun

The Giants’ only runs came on a homer by Gregor Blanco and a double by Brandon Belt, their streak of seven straight World Series wins ending on a crisp, breezy night.