Bumgarner nails it, as usual

San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner winds up to pitch during the second inning of Game 5 of baseball's World Series against the Kansas City Royals Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)


Madison Bumgarner is showing the baseball nation what Giants fans have known about him for many years. He is tough as nails. As we later found out, sadly he may have been the second toughest Giants on the field last night behind Juan Perez. 

from Yahoo Sports:
Bumgarner, Giants blank Royals for 3-2 Series lead - Yahoo Sports:

Hardly menacing on the mound, Bumgarner was simply untouchable — again. As "MVP! MVP!" chants broke out from each packed corner of AT&T Park, Bumgarner finished off the first World Series shutout in 11 years.

"You know what? For some reason, I keep getting really lucky this time of year, so I'll take it," Bumgarner said.

'via Blog this'

Lorenzo Cain could only watch Juan Perez's double hit off the wall. (USA Today)

from Yahoo Sports:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/juan-perez-delivers-key-hit-after-learning-his-good-friend-oscar-taveras-died-074707879.html

SAN FRANCISCO – Juan Perez didn't believe it, didn't believe his friend was dead, so he ran back to the San Francisco Giants clubhouse and swiped his phone on. He saw the text messages, at least 20, more coming in, all with the horrible news that Oscar Taveras, fellow ballplayer, fellow Dominican, was gone. Then he saw a text with the picture that confirmed it: Taveras at the morgue, on a table, blood everywhere, a horrible image Perez couldn't shake.

He started to cry. Giants closer Santiago Casilla told Perez to shut his phone off, to stop looking at the photo. And Joaquin Arias implored him: "Stay strong. Stay strong." The Giants might need him. And Gregor Blanco said: "I know it's not easy. Let's just try to do it."

For Juan Perez, a 27-year-old utilityman playing in his first World Series, there was no time to grieve Sunday. This is an awful burden, inconceivable, the consequence of a show-must-go-on mentality pervasive in sports. Taveras, the 22-year-old St. Louis Cardinals outfielder, and his 18-year-old girlfriend died in a horrific car crash Sunday. Now one of his best friends saw the grisly result and was expected not just to ignore it but erase from his head the image, from his bones the emotions, from his soul the anguish and play baseball.

"I don't know how he played," Casilla said.