Bay Area Buzz 10/27: Giants Win Game 5, Sharks Win, Raiders Lose
Bay Area Topics
Giants Win Game 5
"Madison Bumgarner hit for himself in the eighth inning Sunday night, taking his usual county fair sledgehammer hacks, as a sellout crowd began its chant.“M-V-P! M-V-P!”No referendum required. This one’s obvious.The Giants are one victory away from clinching their third World Series title in five years, and whatever method or means they might employ should they get there, Bumgarner is the one who rang the strength bell.His overwhelming postseason just keeps inching up and up into historic levels of brawn, as he held the Kansas City Royals to four hits in a 5-0 victory in Game 5 of the World Series Sunday night at AT&T Park.Bumgarner threw the first World Series shutout since Josh Beckett did it for the Marlins at Yankee Stadium in 2003, and the first by a Giant since Jack Sanford tossed a three-hitter to beat the Yankees in Game 3 of the 1962 Fall Classic.Brandon Crawford hit an RBI single and drove in a run with a ground out as the Giants led 2-0 after four innings. Juan Perez came off the bench to make a difficult grab in left field look easy, then he blistered a two-run double off seemingly impregnable right-hander Wade Davis in the eighth.That cushion allowed Giants manager Bruce Bochy to let his ace hit for himself in the eighth, and take the ninth with 107 pitches already logged. He went through the heart of Kansas City’s order on 10 pitches, and received his Buster Hug after Eric Hosmer grounded out to end it.Bumgarner became the first pitcher to win his first four World Series starts since Lew Burdette in 1957-58, and it would be hard to lose based on what he’s done: 31 innings, one run, 12 hits, five walks and 27 strikeouts.He already leads the Giants all-time in playoff starts (12) and victories (seven). And he gave a sellout crowd a hearty sendoff in the final baseball game of the season at Third and King.Bumgarner has a 1.18 ERA in six playoff starts this month, and his 47 2/3 innings are the second most in one postseason in major league history. Two more outs as a potential Game 7 reliever and he’d match Curt Schilling in 2001 for the most ever. The Giants would be perfectly fine leaving that one be, though.Hell. Bumgarner might be the series MVP even if the Royals win the next two."
–Andrew Baggarly, CSN Bay Area
Sharks Win
"Maybe they were scared straight.A day after losing to arguably the worst team in the NHL, the Sharks skated to a 4-1 win over one of the finest, snapping Anaheim’s seven-game winning streak with a victory at Honda Center Sunday evening.The Sharks’ four-game losing streak, all in regulation, is now behind them after an impressive victory over one of their biggest rivals. Anaheim (7-2-0) lost for just the second time, while the Sharks improved to 5-4-1.Another quick start and an impressive penalty kill keyed the important win, in a game that got exceedingly nasty from the second period on."
Raiders Lose
"Raiders running back Darren McFadden burst through an open hole, sprinted nine yards and lowered his shoulder for contact. Cleveland Browns safety Donte Whitner got low enough to put a helmet/shoulder on the football. It shot out of McFadden’s hands, right to Brown cornerback Joe Haden, who returned it 34 yards.The Browns scored a touchdown four plays later.It was the defining sequence of a 23-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium. Raiders are 0-7 heading into a brutal stretch that includes road games at Seattle and San Diego, which sandwich a home game versus Denver. Given the Raiders play and the daunting schedule ahead, going 0-16 is becoming a more realistic.Sunday’s loss was another case of Oakland beating Oakland in the clutch.The crazy part in all this: The Raiders didn’t play too bad, especially on defense. The NFL’s worst third-down defense was 10-of-12 against Cleveland. The No. 31-ranked run defense held the Browns to 39 yards. They had several chances to create turnovers, but each opportunity passed with capitalization.There were too many miscues, by players and coaches alike to give the Raiders a real shot at victory."