SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner and Detroit's Doug Fister matched each other through six innings, and the Tigers and Giants were tied 0-0 in World Series Game 2 on Thursday night.
With the Tigers trying to even the Series, Detroit's Prince Fielder was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Delmon Young's double in the second inning. Fister remained in the game after getting hit on the head by Gregor Blanco's line drive in the bottom half.
After tying the Series record by homering three times during San Francisco's 8-3 win in the opener, the Giants' Pablo Sandoval was 1 for 3 with a sixth-inning single.
Bumgarner, 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA in two playoff appearances, allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked one through six innings and threw 72 pitches. When he struck out Austin Jackson and Omar Infante starting the game, he joined Christy Mathewson (1905) and Carl Hubbell (1933) as the only Giants pitchers to open a Series game with consecutive strikeouts.
Fister, who had a 1.35 ERA in two postseason starts without a decision, gave up three hits, struck out three and walked one, throwing 108 pitches. He pitched shutout ball for 6 1-3 innings in his previous start, against the Yankees in the AL championship series.
Fielder was hit on the right shoulder by a pitch leading off the second and Young, the ALCS MVP, lined the ball down the left-field line. Blanco picked up the ball after it caromed off the fence in foul territory and threw to second baseman Marco Scutaro near third base.
Fielder sped up as he turned third base. As he slid late, his left leg popped up off the dirt, and he was tagged on the butt by catcher Buster Posey. Dan Iassogna, working his first Series game behind the plate, made a demonstrative out call, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland came out of the dugout to argue briefly.
Fister was struck just above the right ear by Blanco's line drive with one on and two outs in the bottom half. The ball ricocheted into short center for a single.
"Whoa!" Iassogna said as he came out from behind the plate, adding: "Doug, you OK?" when he got to the mound.
After Fister was checked out by Leyland and pitching coach Jeff Jones, he loaded the bases with a walk to Brandon Crawford. Bumgarner hit a soft looper to shortstop Jhonny Peralta, ending the inning. That started a streak of 12 straight outs for Fister before Sandoval's single.
San Francisco entered with RBIs by pitchers in four straight games, a first by a team in a single postseason, according to STATS LLC. No major league team has accomplished the feat during the regular season since Colorado in June 2001.
Infante reached on a single off the glove of the shortstop Crawford starting the fourth. Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera lined out to third, jumping in frustration, and Fielder flied out to the warning track in left field. Infante was caught off base by Bumgarner and thrown out at second by first baseman Brandon Belt, another slide that came up short.
Detroit made one change among its position players, starting Gerald Laird behind the plate and batting eighth in place of Alex Avila.
Forty-one of 52 teams to take 2-0 leads have gone on to win the title. The Giants swept the first two games at home two years ago against Texas en route to their first championship since 1954.
When the Series resumes in Detroit on Saturday night, midseason acquisition Anibal Sanchez starts for the Tigers and Ryan Vogelsong for the Giants. The temperature in the Motor City is expected to be in the low-to-mid 40s.