Royals defense corrals 3-2 win over Giants in Game 3, helps KC take 2-1 World Series lead

The Giants took Game 1, 7-1. The Royals took Game 2, 7-2. That meant the World Series was tied at one game apiece as it shifted to beautiful AT&T Park in San Francisco for a pivotal Game 3 on Friday night.

The pitching matchup, which pitted San Francisco's Tim Hudson against KC's Jeremy Guthrie, featured a pair of righties who combined for a sub-3.00 ERA in their three postseason starts. Despite living on this fine Earth for a total of 74 years, it was also the first Fall Classic game for either hurler.

The Highlights

Perhaps to return the favor of the Giants' first-inning ambushes in Kansas City, the Royals jumped ahead 1-0 in the opening frame. Lorenzo Cain grounded out to short to bring home Alcides Escobar, who reached on a leadoff double:

Some tidy defense on both sides kept it a one-run game until the sixth, when the teams traded a pair of runs. First came Alex Gordon's RBI double over Gregor Blanco's head in center, plating Escobar again:

Then came Eric Hosmer's RBI single to center for a 3-0 KC lead. It was the 11th pitch of his at-bat against lefty Javier Lopez:

last time a lefty had a plate appearance of at least 11 pitches against Javier Lopez: July 15, 2004, J.T. Snow

- Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) October 25, 2014

The Giants finally broke through against Guthrie in the bottom of the sixth. The last batter he faced was pinch-hitter Michael Morse, who sent an RBI double to left. AT&T Park came alive:

The Giants inched to within a run when Buster Posey's RBI groundout made it 3-2:

Rookie Brandon Finnegan escaped the seventh, though, and Wade Davis pitched a perfect eighth inning.

KC closer Greg Holland shut the door in the ninth. He needed only eight pitches:

The Game Changer

The Royals' rally-preventing defense made its presence known early Friday night.

One of the changes KC manager Ned Yost made in response to the shift to AT&T Park was replacing Nori Aoki with Jarrod Dyson -- a noted defensive magician. That meant a move for Cain from center to right.

The decision paid off almost immediately for Kansas City. Cain made sliding catches to rob Posey in the first and Travis Ishikawa in the second. Both grabs ended the inning -- the second came with a runner on.

Other Key Players, Plays

Hudson waited 39 years to play in the World Series, so now that he finally got here he wasn't about to let a little ground ball to first ruin things. He showed off some hops, too, to retire Eric Hosmer in the first:

KC wasn't the only team to impact the game with its defense. The Royals had two on and none out in the second, but Ishikawa turned a potentially disastrous line drive into an out -- by diving sideways:

Finnegan made history in the seventh when he became the first person to play in the College World Series and MLB World Series in the same year. More importantly, though, he struck out Brandon Crawford to escape the seventh, lead intact:

Finnegan is the youngest reliever with a strikeout in the World Series since K-Rod tallied 13 in the '02 WS -- also against the Giants.

- Paul Casella (@paul_casella) October 25, 2014

The laws of physics don't matter so much when you have cat-like -- panda-like? -- reflexes. Pablo Sandoval got in on the defensive highlights with a smooth barehand play in the ninth:

What's Next?

With a 2-1 series lead, the Royals are two victories away from winning it all, but the Giants apparently aren't feeling the pressure just yet. Manager Bruce Bochy said he will stay the course, pitching Ryan Vogelsong in Game 4, as scheduled, and Madison Bumgarner in Game 5.

The former will get the ball for Saturday's 8 p.m. ET start at AT&T Park. Vogelsong, who struggled in his lone NLCS start, will go against KC lefty Jason Vargas. Vargas held the Orioles to one run in 5 1/3 innings during his lone ALCS game.