Jeremy Guthrie is the only pitcher to start a Fall Classic game, win it, and fail to get a K or issue a walk.
Taking the hill in San Francisco for the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series, someone had to win this game and take the Series lead. The two teams had split the first two in Kansas.
Guthrie, only 13-11 on the season for Kansas, need to win this one, however. The underdog Royals were already short a man with this game in San Fran. No DH. And Guthrie had to bat.
But Jeremy, who has twice led the league in losses (17 in 2009 and 2011) had no intention of letting his team down in this crucial affair. Having won game three of the ALCS against Baltimore with a three-hitter, two K's and one walk, he was pitching better than his regular season record showed.
Kansas scored a run for him in the top of the first, and Guthrie got 'em 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame. Better still, he got 'em on just nine pitches. But no strikeouts, of course!
In the bottom of the second inning, with the Royals still up 1-0, Pablo Sandoval stepped up to the dish for San Francisco. The count did go to three and two, but Sandoval then flied out. The next batter, Hunter Pence, also went 3-2, but the stroked a single. Pence, though, was caught stealing. Guthrie did permit another single, but issued no more than two balls to the next three batters. And Jeremy got out of there with the lead intact!
The first two batters in the bottom of the third were no sweat. Then things got tough. Gregor Blanco, the leadoff hitter, came to the plate. This is someone you don't want to put on base, even with two outs. Three straight balls seemed to indicate that was going to happen. But Jeremy got a called strike, then got Gregor to fly out to centre and end a 1-2-3 inning.
Tim Hudson, the Giants' starter, was starting to settle down. He had a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the top of the frame. Then, he added another in the top of the fourth. Things just don't come easy in October, eh?
But in the bottom of the fourth, Jeremy did make things look easy. He got ahead of all three batters he faced 1-2, then retired them on the very next pitch. Twelve pitches, and a nice 1-2-3 inning!
Hudson, though, trumpet that. He retired all the side 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth on just six pitches. He threw one pitch, total, that missed the strike zone.
Guthrie was equal to the task in the bottom of the frame. First, he got Hunter Pence out on a liner to second, despite falling behind two balls and one strike. Then, he got Brandon Belt out on another liner. When Travis Ishikawa was retired on a grounder to first, that Guthrie himself made the putout on, the inning was over, 1-2-3. And it was over on eight pitches.
The Royals scored two more runs in the top of the sixth. But in the bottom of the frame, things finally fell apart for Guthrie. First, Brandon Crawford singled on an 0-1 pitch. Mike Morse pinch hit for Hudson. Guthrie got ahead 0-2, and then Morse fouled off two pitches. Then, disaster. Three straight balls. Oh, no!
Guthrie might have been better off walking Mike, but what happened was worse. On the next pitch, Morse hit a double to left to score a run and send Jeremy to the showers. Eventually, Morse scored himself that inning.
The Royals, though, hung on to win. And Jeremy Guthrie got his first World Series win. One for the record books. 5 IP, 2 (E)R, 4 H, 0 K, 0 BB!
Taking the hill in San Francisco for the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series, someone had to win this game and take the Series lead. The two teams had split the first two in Kansas.
Guthrie, only 13-11 on the season for Kansas, need to win this one, however. The underdog Royals were already short a man with this game in San Fran. No DH. And Guthrie had to bat.
But Jeremy, who has twice led the league in losses (17 in 2009 and 2011) had no intention of letting his team down in this crucial affair. Having won game three of the ALCS against Baltimore with a three-hitter, two K's and one walk, he was pitching better than his regular season record showed.
Kansas scored a run for him in the top of the first, and Guthrie got 'em 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame. Better still, he got 'em on just nine pitches. But no strikeouts, of course!
In the bottom of the second inning, with the Royals still up 1-0, Pablo Sandoval stepped up to the dish for San Francisco. The count did go to three and two, but Sandoval then flied out. The next batter, Hunter Pence, also went 3-2, but the stroked a single. Pence, though, was caught stealing. Guthrie did permit another single, but issued no more than two balls to the next three batters. And Jeremy got out of there with the lead intact!
The first two batters in the bottom of the third were no sweat. Then things got tough. Gregor Blanco, the leadoff hitter, came to the plate. This is someone you don't want to put on base, even with two outs. Three straight balls seemed to indicate that was going to happen. But Jeremy got a called strike, then got Gregor to fly out to centre and end a 1-2-3 inning.
Tim Hudson, the Giants' starter, was starting to settle down. He had a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the top of the frame. Then, he added another in the top of the fourth. Things just don't come easy in October, eh?
But in the bottom of the fourth, Jeremy did make things look easy. He got ahead of all three batters he faced 1-2, then retired them on the very next pitch. Twelve pitches, and a nice 1-2-3 inning!
Hudson, though, trumpet that. He retired all the side 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth on just six pitches. He threw one pitch, total, that missed the strike zone.
Guthrie was equal to the task in the bottom of the frame. First, he got Hunter Pence out on a liner to second, despite falling behind two balls and one strike. Then, he got Brandon Belt out on another liner. When Travis Ishikawa was retired on a grounder to first, that Guthrie himself made the putout on, the inning was over, 1-2-3. And it was over on eight pitches.
The Royals scored two more runs in the top of the sixth. But in the bottom of the frame, things finally fell apart for Guthrie. First, Brandon Crawford singled on an 0-1 pitch. Mike Morse pinch hit for Hudson. Guthrie got ahead 0-2, and then Morse fouled off two pitches. Then, disaster. Three straight balls. Oh, no!
Guthrie might have been better off walking Mike, but what happened was worse. On the next pitch, Morse hit a double to left to score a run and send Jeremy to the showers. Eventually, Morse scored himself that inning.
The Royals, though, hung on to win. And Jeremy Guthrie got his first World Series win. One for the record books. 5 IP, 2 (E)R, 4 H, 0 K, 0 BB!
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