Left fielder
The Royals were 90 feet away from tying the decisive seventh game at three runs apiece in the bottom of the ninth, having trailed by a run for the previous five innings. Left fielder Alex Gordon hit a controversial two out single, which was dramatically followed up with two fielding errors by San Francisco's center fielder Gregor Blanco and left fielder Juan Perez, allowing Gordon to reach third standing up. Unfortunately for Kansas City, Salvador Pérez, the next batter, popped a ball up into foul territory on a 2–2 count, which was easily caught by Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval to give San Francisco their third World Series victory in five seasons and crush Kansas City's Cinderella run through the postseason. Madison Bumgarner worked on short rest for San Francisco; although he did not start the game, he came into relieve Jeremy Affeldt (who had himself relieved starter Tim Hudson) in the fifth inning and pitched five innings in a masterful performance that prevented the Royals' offense from igniting. Bumgarner was awarded a save; the win went to Affeldt. No scoring occurred after the fourth inning, when Pablo Sandoval came home from third on a one-out hit to right field by Michael Morse. This would prove to be the World Series-winning run for the Giants. Prior to the fourth inning, both teams scored two runs each in the second inning.