Steven Adams blocked a career-high five shots off the bench for the Thunder. ' '

Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork. Nolan Ryan Jersey .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. All three 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. Bruce Berenyi Jersey . Auld made 37 saves in a 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. It was Ottawas first game without starter Anderson, who is out indefinitely after cutting his hand Wednesday night, and it was evident the team wasnt sure how to deal with the change in goal. Jose Bautista Jersey . Noah finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 34 minutes. He was headed for his fourth triple-double of the season, but sat down with about three minutes left because of the lopsided score. Kirk Hinrich scored 19 points for Chicago, going 5 for 6 on 3-pointers, Carlos Boozer added 18 points, D. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/2000l-robert-gsellman-jersey-mets.html . Messis 75th-minute goal answered some of the criticism the clubs all-time leading scorer had received for his lacklustre performances in the teams recent losses in the league, Champions League and Copa del Rey final. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Kevin Durant insisted the Thunder facing elimination was all the motivation he needed. Thanks to the NBAs best scorer, the Thunder remain alive and can finish off the Memphis Grizzlies back in Oklahoma City. Durant scored 36 points to break out of a slump, and the Thunder routed the Grizzlies 104-84 on Thursday night to force a deciding seventh game in the first-round Western Conference series. His performance came on a day where the hometown newspaper questioned his struggles with a headline calling him "Mr. Unreliable." "We needed to win this game," Durant said. "Thats more motivation than anything, so our team responded. Weve got to do an even better job in Game 7." Russell Westbrook added 25 points for the Thunder, who havent been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs since 2010. They took control early with Durant scoring 14 points in the first quarter, led by 15 at halftime and never let Memphis get that close again in the second half in the first game in the series that didnt go to overtime since the opener. "You dont get to his level as an NBA player and a great player as he is to have other people motivate you," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Hes self-motivated. Hes a tremendous kid and does everything for his team, for our organization. Were proud of him because he gives everything he has. That was the only focus for tonights game." Durant also had 10 rebounds and made 14 of 15 free throws. Reggie Jackson had 16 points off the bench for the Thunder, who will host Game 7 on Saturday night. Grizzlies guard Tony Allen said the Thunder simply wanted the game more and called the loss embarrassing in front of a sellout crowd. "Now, weve shot ourselves in the foot, and we have to go to a hostile environment now and pretty much show where our heart is at," Allen said. Marc Gasol had 17 points and Zach Randolph 16 for Memphis. Guard Mike Conley strained his right hamstring, briefly returned and left for good with 8:48 left. Conley went down in the third quarter near midcourt dribbling when Kendrick Perkins reached in for a steal. The Memphis guard returned briefly, but Conley was limping noticeably. With the Thunder in control, Conley went to the locker room again and didnt return. Nick& Calathes currently is suspended for violating the NBAs anti-drug policy, leaving Memphis with only Beno Udrih at point guard. Lee Mazzilli Jersey. Memphis coach Dave Joerger said Udrih will play a lot of minutes if Conley cant. Conley said he will be re-evaluated Friday and receive as much treatment as possible before tipoff Saturday. "I plan on playing," Conley said. Durant had to answer questions after the shootaround Thursday about that headline in The Oklahoman newspaper. Durant said he had no problem with the headline and that he just needed to hit shots and be more aggressive. Smiling just before tipoff, Durant did just that. The man who led the NBA scoring 32 points a game during the regular season opened by hitting five of his first seven and finished 11 of 23 from the floor. He continued to struggle outside the arc where he missed all six of his attempts. The Grizzlies had a chance to advance to their third semifinal in four years on their own floor. Yet they couldnt shoot well or match the Thunders intensity with a sloppy performance in front of a sellout crowd that tried to energize the Grizzlies. Oklahoma City outrebounded Memphis 47-36 and easily outshot them 49.3 per cent (37 of 75) to 37.3 per cent (31 of 83). "We knew sooner or later our shots would fall," Brooks said. Brooks also benched Thabo Sefolosha and started Caron Butler. "This is why you play the game to prove doubters wrong, and adversity builds character," Butler said. "This team has a strong character and a will." Memphis last led 6-4. A team that thrives off defence, the Grizzlies couldnt knock down shots even when they managed to get consecutive stops. The Grizzlies got to 42-37 with 3:08 left on a steal and fast-break layup by Conley. The Thunder finished the half with a 14-4 run for a 56-41 lead. The Grizzlies missed their first six shots to open the third quarter, finishing any hopes of a comeback. James Johnson scored 15 points off the bench for Memphis, and Allen added 13. Notes: This will be the second Game 7 between the teams in four years. Oklahoma City beat Memphis in seven in the 2011 conference semifinals. ... The Grizzlies are 4-1 with a chance to close out a series. ... Steven Adams blocked a career-high five shots off the bench for the Thunder. ' ' '