Coming into Friday night's Game 3, the San Francisco Giants had won six straight home games in the World Series dating back to the 2002 World Series. That streak was snapped, as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Giants 3-2 giving them a 2-1 series lead.

Looking at the pitching matchup, Jeremy Guthrie versus Tim Hudson, this looked like a game that could see several runs cross the plate considering they both rely on contact outs and both lineups feed off that type of pitching. However, through the first five innings there was only one run and four base hits. The two savvy veterans changed speeds and mixed up their pitches on both sides of the plate.

Hudson gave up an early run in the first inning due to a leadoff double by Alcides Escobar and an RBI groundout by Lorenzo Cain. After that Hudson was rolling keeping that sinker down in the zone forcing routine ground ball outs. Of the 17 outs recorded by Hudson, 13 were of the ground ball variety.

Guthrie outdueled the active leader in career wins going five innings allowing two runs on four hits. Guthrie did not record a strikeout, as he relied on teammates defensively and they stood up to the challenge making great plays in the infield and the outfield.

After 19 straight outs recorded by both pitchers, the lineups for both teams started to wake up starting in the sixth inning. Alcides Escobar kick started the Royals lineup once again with a 1-out single. Alex Gordon came up to the plate next, coming into the at-bat he was 0-9 in the World Series. After a sinker in the dirt, Gordon jumped on a sinker that stayed up and drove it to deep center field for an RBI double giving the Royals a 2-0 lead over the Giants. Hudson recorded a ground out by Lorenzo Cain before his night was done in the sixth inning.

Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy brought in left-handed reliever Javier Lopez to face Eric Hosmer, who turned 25-years old on Friday. Lopez is one of the tougher left-handed relievers in the game and Hosmer battled and put together one of the best at-bats you will ever see. The at-bat took 11 pitches and on that last pitch Hosmer was able to barrel up a fastball and drive it to center field scoring Alex Gordon from second base, giving the Royals a 3-0 lead. Coming into the game Lopez had not allowed a run in the postseason since 2010 against the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

With the way Guthrie was pitching, and the dynamite bullpen that was lurking, it seemed impossible for the Giants to come back and make a game of it. However, this on no ordinary bunch as this is a resilient team that does not back down. Brandon Crawford led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single to right field. Bochy reached to his bench and brought Michael Morse into the game to pinch hit for the pitcher. One of the heroes in Game 5 of the NLCS, Morse delivered again by rocketing a double down the left field line to drive in Crawford from first base bringing the score to 3-1.

That was the last batter Guthrie faced with Ned Yost bringing in Kelvin Herrera to face Gregor Blanco. Herrera did not look good early as he walked Blanco on four pitches putting runners at first and second, nobody out. Joe Panik followed with a ground out moving the runners over to second and third and one out. In a tough situation Herrera was able to limit the damage by forcing a ground out from Buster Posey, allowing a run to score but also recording the second out of the inning. That was all the Giants could muster as Pablo Sandoval grounded out to end the inning, leaving the score 3-2 in favor of the Royals.

The Royals bullpen took over from there. Rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan came in with one out in the seventh inning to record the final two outs. Royals setup man Wade Davis was filthy recording a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. Then Royals closer Greg Holland recorded an 8-pitch, 1-2-3 inning to seal the deal in Game 3 of the 2014 World Series. Greg Holland has recorded 27 straight saves dating back to the regular season.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, teams that win Game 3 of the World Series tied 1-1 win the series 70.4% of the time. Also according to Elias Sports Bureau, teams that win Game 3 on the road of a World Series tied at 1-1 win the series 75.9% of the time.

Kansas City has reclaimed home field advantage, setting them up well the rest of the series. They are doing everything right in every facet of the game. They cannot become complacent if they want to finish the deal and win the World Series for the first time since 1985.

Game four will be on Saturday night at 8:07 PM Eastern Time on Fox. The Royals will send Jason Vargas to the mound to face the Giants' Ryan Vogelsong.

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About the author
Parker White
Sports journalist from Midlothian, Virginia. Co-editor and writer for the NBA and MLB sections at VAVEL USA. Follow me on Twitter @spudwhite1022