With every pitch, Madison Bumgarner etched his place among the World Series greats. The long, tall lefty kept slinging away and put the San Francisco Giants just one win from yet another championship, throwing a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 for a 3-2 Series edge. Hardly menacing on the mound, Bumgarner was simply untouchable—again. As "MVP! MVP!" chants broke out from each packed corner of AT&T Park, Bumgarner finished off the first World Series shutout in 11 years.
There hadn't been a shutout in the Series since Josh Beckett's clinching gem for the Florida Marlins in 2003 at Yankee Stadium—but the Giants' work isn't done yet. To lock up their third crown in five years, they'll need to win in Kansas City. "We're looking forward to getting back to our home crowd, where it's going to be absolutely wild and crazy," says Royals manager Ned Yost. Jake Peavy will get the first chance to seal it for San Francisco when he starts Game 6 at Kauffman Stadium tomorrow night against rookie Yordano Ventura. (More World Series stories.)