Giants hope 2012 adversity helps them overcome Royals

By Larry Fine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The San Francisco Giants hope to be able to draw on their experience in the 2012 postseason as they battle to overcome a 2-1 deficit to the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. The 3-2 loss on Friday gave the visiting Royals a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven. Teams winning Game Three in a World Series that was tied 1-1 have gone on to win two-thirds of the time. "It was a good battle," said Giants right-fielder Hunter Pence. "We just got to keep plugging away. That's the game of baseball." The Giants have been the most successful team in Major League Baseball over the last five years as a three-time National League pennant winner, but two years ago they needed to show great resilience to reprise their 2010 Fall Classic win. "Against Cincinnati, we were down two games to nothing and came back," San Francisco reliever Jeremy Affeldt reminded reporters gathered around his locker. "We were down 3-1 to St Louis and came back. "We understand we have a lot of work to do, but also know we are capable of doing it. There's not a lot of panic going to be here." Manager Bruce Bochy, who has not lost a playoff series since taking the Giants to the 2010 postseason, resisted any temptation to go to his ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner on short rest in Game Four. "(Ryan) Vogelsong's going tomorrow," Bochy said. "He's done a pretty good job for us, so he's going to have his start tomorrow. "Sure we talked about other options, but there is a confidence we have in Vogey." Giants starter Tim Hudson, who got a long-awaited first start in a World Series game at age of 39 as the third oldest pitcher to make a starting debut in the Fall Classic, set down a dozen Royals in a row from the end of the second inning on. He gave up a pair of runs in the sixth inning, which were balanced by two from his own club in the bottom half. The difference in the score was due to the very first pitch of the game. Alcides Escobar jumped on Hudson's first offering and lined a one-hop double off the fence in left. He advanced to third on a grounder and scored on another grounder for a lead the Royals never relinquished. "The first pitch was a fastball. It was a ball," Hudson said. "It was high and probably outside corner or outer third (of the plate). He was just swinging. He had his mind made up. "Give him credit, he hit it." (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)