Advertisement

Pence's homer helps Giants jump on James Shields in first inning of Game 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An 11-day layoff might have made right-hander James Shields not as sharp in Game 1 of the World Series as he would have liked early on. The San Francisco Giants jumped on him for three runs and five hits in the top of the first inning Tuesday night to take a quick lead on the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

The big blow was a 403-foot home run to center by Hunter Pence, a two-run shot for his second career postseason homer. Here's full video of it.

Earlier in the inning, Pablo Sandoval lined an RBI double to right that scored Gregor Blanco, but couldn't score Buster Posey — because he was nailed at the plate 9-4-3 on a relay by Omar Infante, after an aggressive send by third-base coach Tim Flannery.

[Photos: Best of World Series Game 1 - Giants at Royals]

Blanco led off the game with a single to center and advanced to second on a long fly ball to the gap in left-center by Joe Panik. Posey followed with a sharp single to left, and Flannery did not test the arm of outfielder Alex Gordon, who was fifth in the majors among left fielders with eight outfield assists.

Pence's blast, making it 3-0, came one batter after Sandoval had put the Giants in front.

The Royals are playing in their first World Series since 1985, and the Giants are trying for their third championship since 2010.

(AP)
(AP)

Shields came in with a 5.63 ERA in three postseason starts this year, along with a 5.19 ERA in nine starts for his career. It was found that Shields had passed a kidney stone during the American League Championship Series, though he would not blame the experience — which he called excruciating — for his poor results. The Royals had considered using Shields in the Game 4 ALCS clincher against the Orioles, but pushed him back to give him extra rest. He was pitching for the first time since Oct. 10 in Game 1 of the ALCS.

Shields is nicknamed "Big Game James," and he does own the only World Series victory in Tampa Bay Rays history, coming in 2008.

More MLB coverage at Yahoo Sports: 

- - - - - - -

David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rdbrown@yahoo-inc.com and follow him on Twitter!

Follow @AnswerDave