a backhand toward the net, Kuemper lifted his right leg and kick

Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Madison Bumgarner watched as Pablo Sandoval worked his way under the ball. Moments later, the San Francisco Giants ace was swarmed by teammates near the mound after punctuating one of the great postseason performances in any sport. Some of them stopped first to congratulate Sandoval, who was on his back after catching the last out. And on the edge of the celebration, Buster Posey dropped to his knees, a smile on the catchers face that showed both happiness and relief. This is some dynasty, and it almost unraveled on an error. Bumgarner pitched five scoreless innings out of the bullpen and the Giants held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in Game 7 on Wednesday night, capturing their third World Series title in five years. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, after Bumgarner had retired 14 batters in a row, Alex Gordon sliced a hit into left-center field that bounced past Gregor Blanco and went to the wall, suddenly giving the Royals a sliver of hope. Left fielder Juan Perez bobbled the ball on the warning track and Gordon made it all the way to third on a two-base error. Im not sure what happened. I didnt see it, Bumgarner said. But I was starting to get a little nervous. He was digging around a little bit and its a big outfield. It was a little nerve-wracking. But Bumgarner threw six fastballs to Salvador Perez, who popped up into foul territory near third base, where Sandoval squeezed it before falling onto his back with his arms in the air. Relief, said Bruce Bochy, who has managed each of these three championship teams. Because anything can happen -- a bloop, a wild pitch. Theres a man on third base there and (Bumgarner) just made some great pitches. Bumgarner pitched on two days rest after throwing a four-hit shutout in Game 5 on Sunday for his second win of the series. He was named World Series MVP, to no ones surprise, after throwing 21 innings and giving just up one run, nine hits and one walk. Sandoval, due to be a free agent, reached base four times in Game 7 and scored twice, including the go-ahead run on Michael Morses single back in the fourth inning. Sandoval had three hits, giving him an MLB-record 26 this postseason. The Royals, trying to win a title for the first time in 29 years, came up a win short. They forced Game 7 with Tuesdays 10-0 blowout, extending their magical season for another day, but scored their only runs Wednesday in the second inning. You work all year to climb to the top of the mountain and then Boom! You fall back down and have to restart next season, Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. The wild-card Giants, an 88-win team that finished six games behind the rival Dodgers in the NL West, rode a Bumgarner shutout to an 8-0 win in Pittsburgh on Oct. 1 and finished their title run two days shy of Halloween. Bumgarners wins in Games 1 and 5, and his five-inning save in the clincher, cemented his role at the age of 25 as a postseason star on a Giants team that has carved an odd dynasty into recent baseball history. The Giants have made the postseason only three times in the last 11 years -- winning the World Series each time. Wednesdays celebration followed titles in 2010 over Texas and 2012 over Detroit. They snapped a nine-game losing streak by road teams in World Series Game 7s, becoming the first team to win that way since the 1979 We Are Family Pirates, who clinched in Baltimore. Still cant believe it, first baseman Brandon Belt tweeted hours later. Belt and Hunter Pence had two hits apiece, including back-to-back singles in the second inning after Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie grazed Sandoval with a pitch leading off. Morse and Brandon Crawford followed with sacrifice flies for the Giants first two runs. Hours later, the Giants celebrated in customary fashion by spraying champagne in the locker room. So used to their backs being against the wall during their three title runs, the Giants got their eighth straight win in an elimination game -- including six on the road. After beating Pittsburgh in the NL wild-card game, they never sniffed another elimination test until the World Series. They closed out Washington in four games in the NL division series and needed just five games to beat St. Louis. They won the pennant on Travis Ishikawas dramatic ninth-inning homer on Oct. 16 at AT&T Park in a game that saw them snap a streak of 242 consecutive plate appearances without a homer. Big moments came from all over the lineup, of course, but the Giants produced little in the way of big blows over the past week, winning Games 4 and 5 with 28 hits, including 24 singles. They scored 15 straight runs before Kansas Citys seven-run rally in the second inning of Game 6 on Tuesday, when the Giants were shut out over seven innings by rookie Yordano Ventura. They had eight more hits in Game 7 -- all but one of them a single. It was the eighth World Series title in franchise history. That was a phenomenal series, said Yost. They played great baseball. And Madison Bumgarner, man. What can you say about him? The Royals, perennial down-and-outers in the AL Central, snatched a wild-card spot to reach the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 1985. Building a brand as an underdog favorite, they won their first eight playoff games against the Athletics, Angels and Orioles before running into Bumgarner in Game 1 last week. Their 10-0 win in Game 6 -- a party from nearly start to finish for the 40,000 fans in attendance -- was the most lopsided World Series shutout since Kansas Citys 11-0 win over St. Louis in Game 7 in 1985. It hurts to come as close as we came, said Yost. As magical as our run has been, to end up losing the ballgame by 90 feet is tough. That magic which produced extra-inning wins in the Royals first three playoff games -- and four of their first five -- wasnt reproduced against the Giants. Their three wins in the series came by 16 runs. That includes Fridays 3-2 victory in Game 3, when the Royals took a 2-1 lead in the series on the backs of bullpen stars Kelvin Herrera, Brandon Finnegan, Wade Davis and Greg Holland, who combined to throw four no-hit innings in the game. Herrera, Davis and Holland all pitched on Wednesday after Guthrie (1-1) went 3 1/3 innings. The Royals got to 39-year-old Tim Hudson, scoring two runs in the second inning on Gordons double and Omar Infantes sacrifice fly. Hudson, the oldest pitcher ever to start Game 7, got just five outs and Jeremy Affeldt (1-0) threw 2 1/3 innings to pick up the win, running his streak to 22 consecutive appearances in the postseason without allowing a run, one shy of the record held by Yankees great Mariano Rivera. Bumgarner finished with 270 innings pitched in the regular and postseason and ran his career World Series record to 4-0 with a 0.25 ERA. Bochy said he avoided Bumgarner in the dugout, the way players do when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter. I was staying away from him every inning because I was hoping he wouldnt say, Im starting to get a little tired, Bochy said. Because theres no way I would have taken him out unless he told me that. We just got on his horse and rode it. Game Notes Sandoval broke the old postseason hits record of 25 shared by Marquis Grissom (1995), Darin Erstad (2002) and David Freese (2011) ... Hudson, who is MLBs active wins leader with 214, also pitched Game 3 on Friday. He is without a postseason win since Game 2 of the 2001 ALDS, when he pitched Oakland past the Yankees ... Royals great and 1985 World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen threw out the first pitch ... Home teams are now 18-19 in World Series Game 7s. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season. Hockey Jerseys China . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. https://www.fakehockeyjerseys.com/ . Left back Layvin Kurzawa put Monaco ahead in the 36th minute with a low shot after being set up by midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia, sweeping the ball in after running onto Kondogbias cross from the left. Cheap Hockey Jerseys . Marie rink got back in the win column at the Olympic mens curling tournament with a 7-4 win over the host Russian squad on Wednesday. Cyber Monday Hockey Jerseys . A strong fastball. A big, bending curveball that can buckle hitters at the knees. Against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Elias put the entire package together against one of the leagues strongest lineups.VANCOUVER - Justin Fontaines shootout goal gave the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks in NHL action Friday night. Fontaine, Minnesotas seventh shooter, went wide on Canucks goaltender Eddie Lack and slid the puck under him. Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper preserved the win by denying Vancouvers final shooter, David Booth, as he attempted a spin-o-rama shot. The Wild (33-21-7) posted its fourth straight win, while the Canucks (28-24-10) suffered their eighth loss in the past nine games. The Canucks outshot the Wild 31-23 with Minnesotas goaltender recording 30 saves and Vancouvers Eddie Lack stopping 22. The Wild scored on one of three power plays while the Canucks were blanked on two, but tallied while shorthanded. Vancouvers Ryan Kesler and Minnesotas Zach Parise exchanged first-period goals. Kesler, who missed Thursdays win over St. Louis with a hand injury and has been the subject of trade speculation, opened the scoring 5:19 into the game while the Canucks were shorthanded. After Chris Higgins forced a turnover just outside the Vancouver blue-line, Kesler raced down left wing and beat Kuemper with a high shot. The goal came while Daniel Sedin was serving a hooking penalty. Minnesota had a goal by former Canucks defenceman Keith Ballard disallowed as officials ruled Mikael Granlund interfered with Lack, but no penalty was necessary. Parise evened the score just under nine minutes later as he beat a heavily screened shot from the slot. The Wild captain put the puck between Alex Edlers and Dany Heatleys jerseys as they stood in front of the net. The Canucks outshott the Wild 11-6 in a scoreless second period, but could not beat a steady Kuemper, who made his 14th consecutive start.dddddddddddd Early in the third period, he robbed Kesler while sprawled on his belly. After Kesler picked up the puck, cut in front of the goalmouth and sent a backhand toward the net, Kuemper lifted his right leg and kicked the disk out. The Canucks controlled play for much of the third, but struggled to generate dangerous chances against Minnesotas determined defensive efforts. The Wild only recorded its second shot of the period with 2:59 left, but still managed to force overtime. The Canucks received a rare power play 1:27 into the extra session as Parise was penalized for boarding Chris Tanev. In the shootout, Vancouvers Chris Higgins had Kuemper down and out after a deke, but hit the post on his clubs final shot of the regulation portion. Notes: Vancouver defenceman Chris Tanev returned after missing seven games with a thumb injury. … Wild captain Mikko Koivu remained out with an ankle injury suffered Jan. 4, but took part in his clubs morning skate. He has missed 17 straight games. … Most of Vancouvers injured players have returned. Only winger Mike Santorelli (shoulder, out for season) and defenceman Andrew Alberts (concussion) remain in sick bay. … Minnesota left winger Jason Zucker missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury while Marco Scandella sat out his third contest due to a sprained knee. Goaltender Josh Harding, who is struggling to find the right medication program for his multiple sclerosis, has missed 19 games. ' ' '