Bumgarner keeping Royals off the board

Oct 22, 2014 - 2:36 AM Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Francisco Giants chased James Shields early and are riding the left arm of Madison Bumgarner in Game 1 of the World Series.

Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer in the first inning and scored in the fourth as the Giants are in front of the Kansas City Royals, 5-0, through six frames.

The AL-champion Royals have won their first eight postseason games -- a new MLB record -- but have yet to solve the stingy Bumgarner, whose postseason road scoreless streak is 32 2/3 innings and counting.

Shields was nowhere near as effective as his counterpart despite working on 10 days rest and passing a painful kidney stone during the long layover.

The struggling righty was pulled with no outs in the fourth and was charged with five runs on seven hits. The poor outing was par for the course in these playoffs, as he has pitched to an unsightly 7.10 ERA over four starts.

The Giants held a 3-0 lead entering the fourth, and Pence began the frame with a double and eventually scored when Michael Morse sent a base hit to center.

Danny Duffy relieved a solemn Shields and walked Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco in succession to force in another run, but the starter-turned-reliever retired the next eight hitters to keep the Royals within striking distance.

Bumgarner's pitch count is at 93 through six innings. He has allowed two hits, a walk and a hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts.

Blanco opened the 110th edition of the Fall Classic with a blooper in front of Lorenzo Cain in center, and Buster Posey followed with a base hit two batters later.

Pablo Sandoval, the 2012 World Series MVP, lined a two-hopper off the wall in right to plate the game's first run, though Posey was thrown out trying to score from first.

Fans at Kauffman Stadium thought Shields caught the corner on a 2-2 pitch to Pence, but home plate umpire Jerry Meals called it outside. After a foul ball, Shields threw one right down the middle and Pence crushed it to straightaway center for a 3-0 cushion.

Bumgarner escaped the only jam he has faced with a pair of strikeouts and a weak groundout in the third. The Royals had runners on second and third with no outs before Alcides Escobar and Norichika Aoki both went down swinging.

Cain, the ALCS MVP, worked a walk to load the bases, but Bumgarner handcuffed Eric Hosmer into a harmless groundout to second.

The surprising matchup pits wild card winners for just the second time and is the first World Series where both teams failed to notch 90 victories in a 162- game regular season.

Fifteen of the past 17 winners of Game 1 have gone on to take the series.