World Series Update: Giants Win Game Five, 5-0

Monday 2 p.m. Note: (Bay City News)

The San Francisco Giants game on Tuesday that could clinch the  World Series against the Kansas City Royals will be broadcast on a Jumbotron  screen in Civic Center Plaza, city officials announced today.

Game 6 of the World Series is scheduled for 5:07 p.m. Tuesday in  Kansas City. The Giants lead the seven-game series 3-2, and would  clinch their third title in five years with one more win.

Original Post:

The San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 Sunday night to take a 3-2 lead in the 2014 World Series.

Behind their big left-handed starter, Madison Bumgarner, the Giants played small ball and used clutch hitting by their eighth-place hitter to score three of their five runs.

In the bottom of the second inning, Hunter Pence hit a leadoff single, followed by Brandon Belt's first bunt hit of his major league career. Travis Ishikawa hit a sacrifice fly to center, moving up the runners.

Brandon Crawford then grounded out to second, scoring Pence.

In the bottom of the fourth, Pablo Sandoval led off with a single and with two outs, Ishikawa singled him to second. Crawford then singled him home. 2-0 Giants.

Bumgarner, who has been dominant this postseason, mowed down the Royals inning after inning. He threw a complete-game shutout, scattering four hits and no walks with eight strikeouts.

It was Bumgarner's 39th and presumably last game of the season; he now has a 22-11 record. Still early in his career, "MadBum" has emerged as one of the great pitchers of this era.

Royals starter James Shields also pitched brilliantly, throwing six innings, allowing eight hits, two runs and one walk, while striking out four.

And KC's right fielder, Lorenzo Cain, made a fabulous catch in the bottom of the fifth, when the Giants had two on and two out and Pence drove a ball to the right-field wall.

Had Cain failed to catch it, the Giants would have scored at least two more runs, but he did with an over-the-head grab before slamming into the wall.

The Giants also benefited from great defense, especially on the infield, from Sandoval, Joe Panik and Belt.

In San Francisco, City Hall displayed orange lights. People all over town were wearing the orange and black. The New Hampshire Market at the corner of 20th and Hampshire in the Mission sported a new paint job -- orange.

The crowd at AT&T Park was so loud that you could hear the echos of "Let's Go Giants" all the way to the Mission District.

The Giants took their 2-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth, when Sandoval and Pence started things off with back-to-back singles. After Belt struck out, the light-hitting defensive replacement for Ishikawa in left field, Juan Perez, blasted a monster two-run double to deep center.

He took third on an error. Crawford delivered another RBI -- his third of the game -- and the score moved to 5-0.

The Giants' manager, Bruce Bochy, then sent Bumgarner to the plate. He struck out and complained to the umpire about strike three.

In the bottom of the ninth, Bumgarner did his thing once again: three up and three down. The Giants fans started bowing and pointing at the big Southerner,  chanting "MVP!"

In his four World Series starts to date (one in 2010, one in 2012 and two this fall), Bumgarner is 4-0 and has allowed just one run in 31 innings. He has the lowest Series ERA -- 0.29 -- of any pitcher in major league history.

"MVP!" If the Giants win this World Series, my guess is that is exactly what he will be.