Bumgarner, Pence power San Francisco in Series opener

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants put a sudden stop to the Kansas City Royals’ perfect postseason roll.

Bumgarner pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, Hunter Pence homered early and the Giants showed off their October poise, shutting down the Royals 7-1 Tuesday night in the World Series opener.

From the get-go, the Giants simply did everything right to win their seventh straight World Series game. There’s a reason Bumgarner and these guys in black and orange are trying for their third title in five years.

The Royals, meanwhile, looked nothing like the fresh team that had become baseball’s darlings by starting the playoffs with eight wins in a row — pitching, hitting and fielding all deserted them.

The fates seemed to change from the very first batter, in fact. Gregor Blanco led off with a soft line drive to center field and AL Championship Series MVP Lorenzo Cain charged, then backed off as the ball fell for a single.

It would’ve taken a near miracle to catch it, but that’s the kind of play the Royals had been making on a routine basis.

Moments later, Pence’s homer highlighted a three-run burst in the first inning against James Shields. Nicknamed “Big Game James,” he once again failed to live up to that billing and left in the fourth when the Giants made it 5-0.

By then, Royals fans who had waited since 1985 for the Series to come to town had gone silent.

Or, worse, they were booing while small “Let’s go, Giants!” chants echoed through Kauffman Stadium.

Just like that, what many figured would be a tight matchup had turned into a mismatch.

And it was a good omen for the Giants — the Game 1 winner has won 15 of the last 17 World Series.

The Royals will try to get even in Game 2 on Wednesday night when rookie Yordano Ventura starts against veteran Jake Peavy.

Bumgarner added to his sparkling World Series resume, improving to 3-0 and extending his scoreless streak to 21 innings before Salvador Perez homered in the seventh.

The 25-year-old, called “MadBum” by his teammates, was in trouble only once.

Down 3-0, the Royals loaded the bases with a two-out walk and cleanup man Eric Hosmer stepped to the plate, but grounded out on the first pitch.

Youngstown connections

Former Vindicator sports editor Chuck Perazich was fond of saying, “There’s always a Youngstown connection.”

When it comes to this year’s World Series, there’s two.

Former Youngstown State baseball player Jeff Davenport is the senior director of team travel and clubhouse operations for the Kansas City Royals.

A Greenville, Ohio, native, Davenport played catcher for the Penguins from 1990-93, batting .254 in 140 games. He graduated with a degree in communications.

Also, Salem’s Jerry Meals worked home plate for Tuesday’s opener. It is his first World Series.

After Game 2, Meals will move to the replay room for the rest of the Series, switching places with Jeff Nelson.

Meals is a 1979 graduate of Salem High School.