SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Jeremy Guthrie limited the Giants to a pair of singles, Lorenzo Cain drove in a run against Tim Hudson with a grounder three batters in and the Kansas City Royals led San Francisco 1-0 after three innings Friday night as they tried to take a 2-1 World Series lead.
On a sun-splashed late afternoon in Northern California, the Fall Classic returned to AT&T Park, where the Giants had won six straight Series games dating to 2002.
Of the 57 times a World Series has been tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has taken the title 37 times.
The Giants’ ballpark, alongside San Francisco Bay, has a unique atmosphere. The Grateful Dead’s “Sugar Magnolia” and “Uncle John’s Band” played on the sound system during batting practice, and public address announcer Renel Brooks-Moon stirred up the crowd with an excited voice.
With the shift to the NL ballpark, the Royals moved Cain from center field to right to boost defense in one of AT&T Park’s trickiest positions. Usual right fielder Nori Aoki was not in the starting lineup, and Jarrod Dyson started in center and hit eighth.
Cain made a pair of nice plays early, sliding to grab Buster Posey’s liner to end the first and reaching down for a running grab on Travis Ishikawa’s twisting drive with a runner on to end the second.
Alex Gordon, who batted sixth in Kansas City, moved up to No. 2 hole as the Royals lost their designated hitter, Billy Butler. And with the loss of the DH, San Francisco’s Michael Morse was out.
Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died June 16 of oral cancer, was honored before the game. His family stood on the infield with MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred as a tribute was played on the center-field video board that included Gwynn highlights and interviews. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Frank Burke, the fan who caught Ishikawa’s pennant-winning home run last week and gave the ball to the Giants outfielder.
There also was a video remembrance of the 1989 earthquake that happened just before the scheduled start of Game 3 at Candlestick Park, and rock’n’roller Huey Lewis shouted “Play ball!”
At 39 years, 102 days, Hudson became the second-oldest starting pitcher to make his World Series debut behind Philadelphia’s Jamie Moyer, according to STATS. Moyer was 45 years, 342 when he started the third game against Tampa Bay in 2008.
Guthrie returned to the area where he gained attention pitching for Stanford in 2001-02, becoming a first-round draft pick.
Escobar drove Hudson’s first pitch, a 91 mph fastball, off the base of the wall near the left-field corner, advanced when Gordon grounded the next pitch to first and scored on Cain’s bouncer to shortstop.
Hudson, in his 16th big league season, got in trouble again in the second, when Mike Moustakas singled to lead off and Omar Infante walked. Salvador Perez lined a hanging cutter to left, when Ishikawa made a sliding catch. Dyson, among the fastest runners in the major leagues, grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.