The San Francisco Giants managed to avoid seeing that infamous Kansas City Royals bullpen late in the game playing from behind, coming from three runs down to win game 4 11-4 and make it a 2-2 tie as the World Series heads back to Missouri.

For a moment there, it looked like Kansas City’s aggressive approach was going to be too much for the Giants to handle, as the gamble to start with Ryan Vogelsong didn’t pay off. The Giants did take the lead in the first inning after a Hunter Pence RBI, but things got turned around in the third as the Royals scored four runs as Eric Hosmer, Omer Infante and Salvador Perez hit the RBIs. Vogelsong left the game after less than three innings, giving up seven hits and four runs.

No Madison Bumgarner, who’ll appear in game 5, but it was a yes to Yusmeiro Petit, who pitched a big three innings, allowing only two hits while striking out two batters. It was his third appearance of the postseason and in 12 innings has yet to give up a run. He has been on a tear since July, appearing nine times and allowing just two hits and no runs in 16.1 innings of relief action, picking up the win for the Giants.

But there was offense as well, scoring nine runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings. Buster Posey began the comeback in the third inning by making it 2-4, which was followed by great hustle and a lot of singles, as Pence twice had hits turned into RBIs by Joe Panik. Pence is hitting a .467 so far in the World Series, and has now reached five RBIs after three he had in game 4.

The Royals did poorly on the mound, not being able to put the names and guys they wanted to in a pitching position. Jason Vargas lasted just four innings, giving up six hits and three runs. Jason Frasor and Danny Duffy did a very poor job themselves, leading up to Brandon Finnegan picking up the loss as everything fell apart on his watch, giving up five hits and five runs, also walking two before making way for Tim Collins, who didn’t do much better himself.

Madison Bumgarner is up next for a team that’s never lost a postseason series under their current manager. Bumgarner is 3-1 in this postseason with a 1.40 ERA, including an excellent performance in the game 1 win of the World Series, allowing just three hits and one run. James Shields will be up on the mound for the rematch. He did poorly in game 1, giving up seven hits and five runs, not making it past the third inning.

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