Friday night wasn't good, but that punch-in-the-gut, sinking feeling came in the 3rd inning of Game 4 on Saturday. With two outs against them, the Royals stole second, singled, singled and scored, walked, singled and scored two more, singled and scored their fourth run, and got Vogey pulled out of the game. That's about when we started looking ahead. Madison in Game 5 is a win, making the series 3-2, Royals. Game 6 is in KC with Peavy. Game 7 is Huddy's. Oh dear God. That's when we got religious.

But then Buster singled in a run, making it 4-2. And then Yusmeiro Petit took the mound. And then the Giants tied it in the 5th, and scored three more in the 6th, and four more in the 7th, and the final score was 11-4, and the series was tied at 2-2, and Madison was pitching on Sunday, and everything was sugar and spice.

Madison did pitch on Sunday — all of Sunday. All nine innings, 117 pitches, 31 batters. Four hits, eight strikeouts, zero runs allowed. Madison Bumgarner, 25 days after his complete-game shutout of the Pirates in the wild card game, pitched a complete-game shutout in Game 5 of the World Series. He's started six games in this post-season and won four, lost one, and had one no-decision. The one that he lost, he pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs. He's pitched 47.2 innings, stuck out 41, allowed six earned runs. His ERA is 1.13. Come October, Madison is as serious as a heart-attack and he is your 2014 World Series MVP.

The Giants have a 3-2 advantage over the Royals as the World Series returns to Kansas City Tuesday night. It will not be spoken of, but those who know, know we've been here before. Game 6. Nothing is guaranteed. No one knows this more than we do.

Let's go Giants!

*****

I won't pretend that I knew anything about him. Last night his name triggered only the faintest of memories. Didn't he hit a home run off of us two weeks ago? Oscar Taveras took his last at-bat for the Cardinals in Game 5 of this year's NLCS. He came in to pinch-hit against Jeremy Affeldt. He took a ball, took a strike, and then grounded the ball back to Jeremy, ending the inning. A few minutes later, Travis Isihikawa hit his now-famous homrun and the Cardinals' season was over. Oscar flew home to the Dominican Republic to spend time with family, relax after his successful first year in the major leagues, hang out with friends, and probably get ready for winter-ball somewhere. And then he got into his car, and then he died. He was 22 years old. It's silly, but we'll probably only remember him because his death was announced during a World Series game in which our Giants were playing, and even then, we'll remember him for only that reason. But he had friends who cried for him and will cry again. One of them was a Giant. He had a family who will try to manage the way families do when one of their own dies so young. Which is to say, terribly. Last night, in the middle of a game where grown men hit balls and run around a diamond, Oscar Taveras reminded us that life happens. Death happens. It does everyday. Now go kiss someone you love and kiss them again, and again, and again.