Royals lean on power surge in 7-2 win over Giants in Game 2

The manager walked to the mound to remove the pitcher. An umpire escorted the pitcher back to the dugout.

That was the lingering image of a weird confrontation during Game 2 of the World Series. The Kansas City Royals had just awakened themselves from their slumber, and a rookie pitcher named Hunter Strickland proceeded to anger them.

The World Series is all even now, and much more compelling. The Royals beat the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, 7-2, with Omar Infante capping a five-run sixth inning with a home run.

It was what happened after the ball cleared the fence that created the drama, and for a few moments the threat of a bench-clearing brawl. The Royals are fired up, thanks to a Giants pitcher who spent most of the summer at double A.

“You don’t necessarily want to wake anybody up,” Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt said. “They’re pumped as it is.”

After giving up a leadoff homer to Gregor Blanco, Royals rookie Yordano Ventura held the Giants to two runs over 51/3 innings, with the vaunted late-game trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland securing the final 11 outs — six by strikeout.

The supposedly fleet but punchless Royals have two home runs in the World Series — same as the Giants — but no stolen bases.

The Giants will rue that sixth inning for more than the fight that almost was. They used five pitchers, one for every run the Royals scored in the inning.

The score was tied, 2-2. San Francisco starter Jake Peavy was about to face the heart of the Kansas City order for the third time. The Giants had a well-rested bullpen, and Peavy had not completed six innings in any of his seven previous postseason starts, but he had retired 10 consecutive batters.

Bruce Bochy, the Giants’ generally brilliant manager, misfired repeatedly in the inning. He let Peavy start the inning, and Peavy gave up a single and walk. He summoned Jean Machi, who gave up the go-ahead single to Billy Butler. He turned to Javier Lopez, who got an out. And then he called on Strickland.

Salvador Perez doubled, and the Giants were down by three. Infante homered, and the Giants were down by five.

And, as Perez closed in on home plate, he and Strickland started barking at each other.

Strickland: “I don’t know if he thought I was yelling at him. I was just frustrated with myself.”

Perez: “I asked him, ‘Hey, why you look at me?’”

Strickland: “I don’t speak Spanish. I don’t know what he said.”

Perez, who spoke in English: “He said to me, ‘Let’s go fight.’ I don’t want to fight with anybody.”

Strickland: “I’m not going to back down from anything. He must have thought I said something to him.”

Perez: “I said, ‘Look at Omar. Omar hit a bomb. I didn’t hit a bomb. I hit a double.’”

Players rushed out of the dugouts and bullpens, although the umpires separated the two sides before anything resembling a punch could be thrown. Bochy removed Strickland and, as he waited for Affeldt to arrive from the bullpen, an umpire escorted Strickland back to the San Francisco dugout.

In September, Strickland made his major league debut, facing 25 batters and giving up no runs. That made him the Giants’ shiny new toy in the postseason bullpen, and he has faced 23 batters and given up five home runs.

“My emotions got the best of me,” Strickland said.

Thursday is an off day, and one in which several Giants veterans said they would offer support and counsel to Strickland. One of those veterans, catcher Buster Posey, did his best to defuse the situation by claiming he could not recall seeing or hearing what happened with Perez and Strickland, even though he stood within earshot.

Affeldt said Strickland was maturing the hard way, not before a sparse minor league crowd but in the glare of the World Series.

“This is a tough place to fail,” Affeldt said. “He’s doing the best he can to handle his emotions. It just got away from him. It’s part of becoming a big leaguer, and he’ll be a good one.”

That is an issue for another day. The current issue is whether Strickland infused the Royals with confidence and purpose beyond what victory would have provided on its own.

“He shows his emotions,” Bochy said, “but it’s an area he probably has to work on, because you’re going to give up a home run occasionally.”