Giants at Royals
Madison Bumgarner should be able to conjure up some happy memories when he takes the mound for the San Francisco Giants at the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. Bumgarner earned the MVP of the 2014 World Series by allowing one run in 21 innings against the Royals, including five scoreless frames to close out the clinching Game 7.
San Francisco hasn't looked like a World Series contender for most of the first two weeks but pulled out a 2-1 win in the opener of the two-game interleague series in 11 innings on Tuesday when Joe Panik delivered the go-ahead single. The Giants are hoping Panik's hit can jump start an offense that totaled five runs in the last three games and failed to score more than three in five of the last seven contests. Kansas City is having similar problems on offense but is making up for it with the pitching staff, which surrendered a total of six runs in the last five contests. The Royals send veteran left-hander Jason Vargas to the mound on Wednesday to try to keep that run going.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Bay Area Plus (San Francisco), FSN Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (0-2, 3.43 ERA) vs. Royals LH Jason Vargas (2-0, 0.66)
Bumgarner struck out 11 over seven innings in his season debut without factoring in the decision and received only two runs of support while suffering the loss in each of his last two turns. The 27-year-old owns 24 strikeouts in 21 total innings and is allowing opponents a .222 batting average. Bumgarner earned the save in that Game 7 clincher in 2014 after picking up wins in Games 1 and 5.
Vargas breezed to wins in his first two starts while yielding a total of one run in 13 2/3 innings. The California native struck out 14 while walking two and surrendering 10 hits in those two outings. Vargas made one appearance for Kansas City in the 2014 World Series and allowed three runs on six hits in four innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Giants C Buster Posey went 3-for-5 while serving as designated hitter on Tuesday in his return after being hit in the head with a pitch on April 10.
2. Royals 2B Whit Merrifield went 2-for-3 with a homer in his season debut Tuesday.
3. San Francisco CF Denard Span is 1-for-12 with four strikeouts in the last three games.