Bob Lutz: Royals now hope for a better James Shields in Game 5

It looked once again like the Royals’ formula for postseason success was working to perfection.

Then it blew up because the middle relievers couldn’t get the game to the late relievers as San Francisco scored twice in the fifth, three times in the sixth and four times in the seventh during an 11-4 route Saturday night in Game 4 of the World Series.

Now the Royals have to hit the reset button. There’s no time to wallow after Kansas City blew an early 4-1 lead, partly because starting pitcher Jason Vargas lasted four-plus innings against a pesky Giants offense that hit everything tossed up there.

Oh well. Kansas City is still in a good spot after winning Game 3 on Friday night.

The psychology of these best-of-seven series in sports is fascinating and maddening. The good spin is that the Royals have regained home-field advantage and, if the Series goes seven, they’ll play two of the remaining three at Kauffman Stadium.

The bad spin is that the Giants are sending left-hander Madison Bumgarner to the mound Sunday night to face Kansas City’s James Shields. Bumgarner has been nearly unscathed during the postseason while Shields has been shredded in his four starts and has the 7.11 ERA to prove it.

The Royals need Game 5. And so do the Giants.

We know – or at least we’re pretty darn sure – Bumgarner will be tough.

Shields is a wild card.

He’s capable, as he’s shown throughout his career, of being dominant. But we haven’t seen that guy in a while, and his performances have been especially worrisome in his last two starts against Baltimore (10 hits, four runs in five innings) and the Giants (seven hits, five runs, three innings).

Makes you wonder if all the innings over all the years have finally caught up to Shields, though he’d probably punch someone in the mouth if they suggested so.

Shields’ competitive desire and toughness are the two-best things he has going for him at the moment because his pitches have been getting slapped around pretty hard.

But even if the Royals lose Game 5 to Bumgarner, hardly a far-fetched notion, there’s no reason for widespread panic.

Bumgarner will be finished, except for a potential bullpen role in a potential Game 7. That’s a lot of “potentials.”

The Giants would have to turn to veteran right-handers Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson to try and lock down the championship in Games 6 and 7.

In 2007, when Peavy and Hudson were at their peak, beating them back-to-back might have been impossible. But in 2014 it’s hardly out of the question, especially because the Royals have already gotten the best of both pitchers in this World Series.

KC can afford to throw away Game 4. It simply got away from the Royals thanks to some clutch Giants hitting. It was mostly a singles-fest for San Francisco – three doubles amongst the Giants’ 16 hits – but they got big hits in big spots. The biggest was Pablo Sandoval’s two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning that broke a 4-4 tie.

Sandoval’s clutch hit came after Kansas City reliever Brandon Finnegan got Hunter Pence to ground to shortstop Alices Escobar with the bases loaded and one out. Escobar, playing in, threw home to catcher Salvador Perez for a force on Joaquin Arias. But Finnegan couldn’t get past Sandoval, a switch-hitter who normally has a hard time with left-handers like Finnegan.

Once Sandoval’s line drive eluded Royals second baseman Omar Infante, the rout was on as Giants runs kept pouring home.

None of the Royals lock-down relievers – Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis or Greg Holland – even stirred Saturday. But they’ll be ready Sunday night as Kansas City tries to solve Bumgarner, who in 38 2/3 innings this postseason has allowed 22 hits and six earned runs. He beat the Royals 7-1 in Game 1.

Shields, meanwhile, barely made it out of the first inning and was finished after three. He has to go deeper into Sunday’s game. He has to be effective. It’s not the end of the World Series if Kansas City loses Game 5, but it would be much easier to go home having to win just one game instead of two to become world champs.

Shields is saying all the right things. He told reporters before Game 5 that he thinks he and Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland worked out some kinks during a bullpen session after his Game 1 struggles.

“You know, I was just kind of rushing, rushing to the plate,” Shields said. “The ball was really getting flat because I was really flying open. But I really just wasn’t getting the job done, bottom line.”

A huge job awaits Shields in Game 5. He’s going against the hottest pitcher of the postseason and a lineup that busted loose offensively. Confidence in Shields isn’t high. But baseball has a funny way of fooling us, doesn’t it?

This story was originally published October 25, 2014 at 11:34 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Royals now hope for a better James Shields in Game 5."