A hungry Hunter Pence propels the Giants to victory in World Series Game 4
SAN FRANCISCO — After the Giants lost Game 3 of the World Series, Hunter Pence sat in the chair in front of his locker for a good while, looking like he was somewhere between distraught and deep in thought.
“We got to come out hungry,” Pence said when he was ready to talk to reporters. “This should make you better. We gotta come out with our lives on the line, playing as hard as we can.”
What Pence said after Game 3 is exactly what he did in Game 4, and he propelled the Giants to a 11-4 win that evened their series with the Kansas City Royals. The game wasn’t always as lopsided as the score suggests. The Giants were down 4-1, rebounded to tie the game in the fifth, went ahead in the sixth then piled on in the seventh.
Pence’s contributions were many — he legged out a grounder to third base that looked like an inning-ending double play in the first. Gregor Blanco scurried home from third for the Giants’ first run, but it wouldn’t have happened without Pence’s speed.
He singled in the third and fifth innings, the second one brought him a run to put the Giants within one. In the sixth, with the bases loaded and one out, Pence grounded to shortstop. Alcides Escobar chose to throw home instead of trying for a double play. Pence beating out the earlier double-play attempt was on the Royals’ mind and that paid dividends when Pablo Sandoval followed with a two-run single.
Pence doubled in the seventh, plating the Giants’ 11th run. He then made a great catch in right field for the second out of the ninth inning. At the plate, Pence finished the night 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, accounting for almost half of the Giants’ runs.
“When it was my turn to hit, I was just trying to be as free, as convicted and as determined as I could to compete,” Pence said after the game. “I was very fortunate to have all those opportunities and that many base runners. It felt like there were boatloads of base runners for me there tonight and that’s a lot of fun as a hitter.”
Part of that was because of the Giants’ overall offensive production. They had 16 hits from 11 different guys, the first team to do that in the postseason since the 1960 Yankees. Even relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit had a hit. That sounds exactly like what Pence was talking about after Game 3. Their loss made them better. They came out hungry.
“We came into this game asking everyone to come in attacking, going all out for each other,” Pence said. “Eleven different guys recorded a hit tonight, and not only that, but Yusmeiro Petit. To me [he] is the most unsung hero of our team this whole season, especially in the postseason. What he’s done is nothing short of amazing. I think that’s what gives me chills right now, just to be a part of that.”
Chills. That’s better than being distraught.
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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
