Drama, minus the dramatics, in Giants’ Game 5 win over Royals

Befitting the teams that got here, the 2014 World Series has been a wild one to watch.

The matchup between two wild-card teams may not go down as an all-time classic like the Reds versus the Red Sox in 1975 or the Twins versus the Braves in ‘91, and certainly neither team will be remembered as one of the greatest ever.

But after Madison Bumgarner shut out the Kansas City Royals, 5-0, in Game 5 on Sunday night, the San Francisco Giants were one win away from their third championship in five years.

“It’s a tough matchup, and Bumgarner, obviously, nine shutout innings — you can’t really beat that,” losing pitcher James Shields said.

Four of the five games have been decided by five or more runs, and there have been no ninth-inning dramatics. The signature moment of the Series may have come in Game 2 when Giants reliever Hunter Strickland began jawing at Royals catcher Salvador Perez for reasons unknown.

But it’s been a well-played and evenly matched series so far, which is really all you can ask for in October.

“It’s gritty, blue-collar baseball,” said Giants right-hander Jake Peavy, who starts Game 6 on Tuesday in Kansas City.

After his team blew an early lead and lost, 11-4, on Saturday night, Royals Manager Ned Yost tempted fate by bringing up the idea of a seven-game Series.

“Somewhere inside of me secretly I had hoped that it would go seven games for the excitement and the thrill of it,” Yost said. “Sure looks that way.”

For Yost to go down as “Yostradamus” and have his secret wish fulfilled, the Royals would’ve had to lose either Game 5 or 6. While it sounded strange to hear a manager entertain the idea of his team losing again moments after this had turned into a best-of-three series, this was Ned Yost talking.

Whoever takes Game 5 of a tied Series theoretically has a significant advantage, with the winner going on to take the Series 65% of the time.

But lately the trend has gone the other way. Seven of the last 11 teams winning Game 5 of a 2-2 Series wound up blowing it.

The Giants brought out their own secret weapon before Game 5, a flashback to the late actor and Giants fan Robin Williams. A video tribute was shown on the video board, and one of his sons threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Williams’ buddy, Billy Crystal. Acting as celebrity cheerleader, Crystal then asked everyone to look at the video board, where the Giants replayed a clip of Williams revving the crowd into a frenzy before a 2010 playoff game at AT&T Park.

Trying to induce a little good karma before a postseason game can be a tricky thing. But all in all, it worked out much better than the time the Chicago Cubs brought out a Greek Orthodox priest to spread holy water in the dugout to remove the billy-goat curse before a 2008 playoff game against the Dodgers.

Bumgarner, as expected, was on his game from the outset, shutting out the Royals on four hits while striking out eight.

“He’s got that tough arm angle,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “When he throws that 94 mph [fastball], it’s really sinking, and then he mixes that cutter in. You really can’t get into a hitter’s count off him because he has that cutter that bails him out. He’s a tough guy to get comfortable at-bats off. It seems like a constant battle every time you face him.”

Bumgarner has an incredible 0.29 career earned-run average in 31 innings in World Series starts, and a 1.13 ERA this postseason.

“I haven’t seen a better pitcher over the course of this postseason,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s been a pretty long one, and to do what he’s done is pretty historic, I think.”

Peavy, who won a ring last year with the Red Sox, now has a chance to clinch one for the Giants.

“Obviously, we’ve won a lot of games this postseason, but as a fan, this whole postseason has been incredible to watch,” Peavy said. “The games are as exciting as ever, and even the games you lose are exciting.

“When you’re in the moment, it’s hard really to see maybe that you’re playing in a Series people will remember and talk about. I’m going to remember and talk about it, and I want to talk about it the way I speak of last year.”