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Bumgarner's Gem Puts Giants One Win Away From World Series Title

Patrick Crawley |
November 1, 2010 | 1:30 a.m. PDT

Senior Sports Editor

San Francisco Giants vs. Texas Rangers

Game 4 recap: Rookie Madison Bumgarner showed poise beyond his years Sunday, pitching eight innings of shutout ball for the Giants on their way to a 4-0 win in Game 4 of the World Series.

The Rangers have had by far the best offense of any team in the playoffs so far, scoring 70 postseason runs, but the 21-year-old southpaw shut them down completely. He was throwing darts, hitting corners with his fastball so hard you'd think he was Bodie from "The Wire." He was as unhittable as any pitcher this side of Roy Halladay against the Reds.

Bumgarner held Texas to just three hits and struck out six. His Rangers counterpart, Tommy Hunter, wasn't nearly as good, giving up five hits and two runs in four innings before giving way to Texas' shaky bullpen, which surrendered two more runs.

The Giants' offense was led by Aubrey Huff, Edgar Renteria and Buster Posey.

Huff hit a booming two-run homer in the third inning to get things started, followed by an Andres Torres RBI double in the seventh and a solo shot from Posey in the eighth. Renteria went 3-for-4 with a run to up his World Series batting average to .429.

Meanwhile, the big bats for the Rangers continued to disappoint. Vladimir Guerrero, Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz were a combined 1-for-10, which is not what you'd expect from Texas' 3-4-5 hitters at home. If they continue to struggle, it will be a short series for the Rangers, who trail the Giants now 3-1.

The teams will square off again Monday in Game 5 at the Ballpark in Arlington with the Giants in position to take home their first World Series in the San Francisco era with a win.

Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum will be on the hill for the Giants against postseason dynamo Cliff Lee, who was rocked by San Francisco in Game 1.

Key moment: With the Giants up 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh, third baseman Juan Uribe flubbed a routine grounder, allowing Hamilton to reach base with one out. After striking out Guerrero, Bumgarner allowed a single to Cruz, bringing Ian Kinsler to the plate with two outs and runners at first and second. Kinsler is great against left-handed pitching, but Bumgarner buckled down and forced him to line out to left field, killing any chance of a seventh inning comeback.
 
Game changer: Andres Torres double in the top of the seventh drove in Edgar Renteria from first base and gave the Giants a 3-0 lead. Torres' hit appeared on course to clear the outfield wall but took a lucky bounce and deflected back into the field of play instead. Had the ball gone over the wall, it would have been a ground rule double and Renteria would have been held at third -- another instance of fortune smiling on the Giants in the postseason.

Play of the game: Obvious choice. Aubrey Huff's two-run homer in the third inning. There was never any doubt it was going to leave the yard either. He smacked the hell out of that ball.

Unsung hero: Freddy Sanchez was an absolute wizard with the glove at second base. He saved Bumgarner multiple times on hard hit balls, most notably on a Jeff Francoeur line drive in the second inning that Sanchez just barely speared with the tip of his glove. He was terrific all game.

Quotes of the game: "With a win, I usually sleep pretty good in the playoffs, with a loss pretty shaky. Hopefully we sleep good tonight. We've got a big challenge tomorrow with Cliff Lee." - Aubrey Huff

"It's hard to believe he's only 21. He's got it all and he has no fear of anyone," Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz, talking about rookie Madison Bumgarner

To reach editor Patrick Crawley, click here. Follow him on Twitter, @BasketballFiend.



 

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