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Ned Yost: Ned Yost: Kansas City Royals expected a battle

By Allsports.com.gh
Sports News Ned Yost: Ned Yost: Kansas City Royals expected a battle
OCT 22, 2014 LISTEN

Bumgarner led the San Francisco Giants to a 7-1 win over the Royals in the MLB World Series opener on Tuesday.

It ended the Royals' 8-0 post-season record, but Yost said the expectation all along was that his team would have a battle on their hands.

Bumgarner pitched seven strong innings in game one, while opposite number James Shields lasted only three innings.

"We knew this series was going to be a battle, too. We didn't expect to come in here and sweep the San Francisco Giants. We knew that this was a series that was going to go deep," Yost said.

"We know how tough they are. They swung the bats really well. Bumgarner, he was dynamite. I mean, man, was he good tonight.

"We had an opportunity in the third, and I was really impressed with the way he fed off our aggressiveness and just worked up the ladder to get out of that jam. But he was nails tonight."

As for Shields, Yost said he still planned to start the 32-year-old in game five.

The Giants scored three times in the first inning, but Yost felt Shields had made no mistakes.

"I can't say those pitches that Shields threw [to Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence] were mistakes," Yost said.

"One was a ball down and Pence's was a ball up, but those guys are notorious bad-ball hitters and they both put good swings on it.

"He's down 3-0, and then from that point it was OK in the second and third, but was labouring at times with the secondary stuff, commanding the secondary stuff.

"Normally when he's really, really good, he's spotting his fast ball well and his change up is dynamite, and he was really struggling to command his change up tonight."

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