In beating the Royals 11-4 in Saturday’s Game 4, the Giants tied a postseason record by getting hits from 11 different players and used six pitchers, the last five of which combined for 6 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
The Giants had 16 hits in all, the most in a World Series game since the Red Sox collected 17 in pummeling the Rockies 13-1 in the 2007 World Series. They were the sixth team in postseason history to have 11 different players with hits, but the first to do so in a World Series since the Yankees in a 16-3 rout of the Pirates in 1960.
Three Giants -- Matt Duffy, pitcher Yusmeiro Petit and Joaquin Arias -- went 1-for-1 in the contest.
All of that offense allowed the Giants to overcome a rough outing from Ryan Vogelsong, who just couldn’t overcome a bunch of misfortune in the third. He ended up allowing four runs in 2 2/3 innings.
It was the 16th time in World Series history that a team had managed to win despite a starter going three or fewer innings and giving up at least four runs. It last happened with the Angels against the Giants in Game 2 of the 2002 World Series. Kevin Appier as tagged for five runs in two innings in that one, but Giants starter Russ Ortiz was even worse, giving up seven runs in 1 2/3 innings before being pulled. Appier was replaced by John Lackey in what ended up being an 11-10 win for the Angels.
The winner was Petit, who extended his postseason scoreless streak to 12 innings with three shutout innings in Game 4. He’s allowed a total of four hits in his three extended appearances. Petit is the first reliever ever with three outings of three or more scoreless innings in a single postseason. Bruce Kison (1971), Dick Drago (1975) and Sparky Lyle (1977) both had two apiece.
