And the 1st time was in 2011, and the St. Louis Cardinals won Games 6 and 7 to beat the Texas Rangers. And the last time the road team has won a Game 7 in the World Series was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, 35 years earlier. And that means that, despite most of the San Francisco Giants having at least 1 ring (2012) and many of them 2 rings (2010 and 2012), and the Royals are in their 1st World Series in 29 years, the Giants have no chance, right?
Wrong. The teams trade blocks of 2 runs in the 2nd inning, and in the top of the 4th, Pablo Sandoval reaches on an infield single, and advances to 3rd on a single by Hunter Pence. Michael Morse singles him home to give the Giants the lead.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy gambles, sending Madison Bumgarner out to pitch the 5th on 2 days' rest. "MadBum" gave up a hit, but, in a display that wouldn't have seemed so courageous as recently as the 1970s, didn't allow another baserunner until the 9th, retiring 14 batters in a row.
With 1 out to go, Alex Gordon hits a liner that rolls to the wall, and he gets to 3rd. Salvador Perez had already gotten the game-winning hit in the AL Wild Card game. But Bumgarner induces a foul popup that is caught by Sandoval, completing the longest save in World Series history: 5 full innings.
The Giants win, 3-2, and take their 3rd World Championship in the last 5 years -- their 8th World Series win, counting their New York period. The Royals would have to wait at least 1 more year. Gordon would have to wait 1 more World Series game to become a baseball legend.
*
October 29, 2014 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. There were 12 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lose to the Chicago Bulls, 104-80 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Brooklyn Nets lose to the Boston Celtics, 121-105 at the TD Garden in Boston.
* The Charlotte Hornets name is officially revived. The original Hornets, who played from 1988 to 2002, moved to New Orleans, but were enticed to give the name up in 2013, and take the name of a former minor-league baseball team, the New Orleans Pelicans. The Charlotte Bobcats, created as an expansion team in 2004, are officially allowed to take the Charlotte Hornets name.
Like the Oklahoma City Thunder did 2 years earlier, the new Hornets play their 1st game at home against the Milwaukee Bucks. Unlike the Thunder, the Hornets win, 108-106 at Time Warner Cable Arena (now the Spectrum Center). Kemba Walker leads all scorers with 26 points.
* The Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards, 107-95 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.
* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-101 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.
* The Toronto Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks, 109-102 at the Air Canada Center (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 103-91 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons, 89-79 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 104-93 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-99 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings, 95-77 at the Sleep Train Arena (formerly the ARCO Arena) in Sacramento.
* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 106-89 at the Moda Center in Portland. Russell Westbrook scored 38 points in defeat.
There were 2 games in the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. And the Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.
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