Game 4 Did you know: Petit makes mark at bat, on mound
The Giants rallied from an early deficit and poured it on late en route to an 11-4, World Series-tying victory in Game 4 on Saturday night at AT&T Park.
While the Giants put together one of the most balanced offensive attacks in World Series history, it was reliever Yusmeiro Petit who once again played the role of savior.
Here's a look at just how impressive Petit's Game 4 accomplishments were, as well as a number of other interesting facts and figures from Saturday's game.
• Petit became the first reliever with a hit in a World Series game since Toronto's Al Leiter doubled in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series. Petit also became the first reliever to get a hit and earn the win in the same World Series game since Baltimore's Tim Stoddard on Oct. 13, 1979. Petit is just the 13th reliever to accomplish the feat overall.
• Petit also dazzled on the mound, pitching three scoreless innings to help set up the Giants' comeback victory. Petit now has three outings this postseason in which he has pitched at least three innings and not allowed a run, making him the only reliever in Major League history with three such outings in a single postseason.
• Both starters (San Francisco's Ryan Vogelsong and Kansas City's Jason Vargas) took a no-decision Saturday, pushing the total number of starter no-decisions in the 2014 postseason to 33, a single-season record. The previous record for most no-decisions by starters in a single postseason was 31, set in 2004.
• Pablo Sandoval's clutch two-run single in the sixth inning was the first go-ahead hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning or later of a World Series game since 2005, when Paul Konerko crushed a grand slam to put the White Sox ahead 6-4 en route to a 7-6, Game 2 victory over the Astros. Sandoval's hit was also the first with the bases loaded and two outs that broke a tie in the sixth inning or later since Jose Vizcaino's walk-off RBI single in the 12th inning lifted the Yankees over the Mets in Game 1 of the 2000 World Series.
Video: WS2014 Gm4: Panda breaks 4-4 tie with two-run single
• Royals reliever Brandon Finnegan struggled mightily Saturday, just one night after making history as the first player ever to appear in the College World Series and MLB World Series in the same year. Finnegan allowed five earned runs over one inning, making him just the sixth reliever in World Series history -- and first since Colorado's Franklin Morales in 2007 -- to allow at least five earned runs while pitching only one inning or less.
• The Giants had 11 different players collect at least one hit in Saturday's rout, the most ever by a National League team in a World Series game. That total matches the all-time record, initially set by the 1928 Yankees and later matched by the 1960 Yankees.
Video: WS2014 Gm4: Giants break game open with four in 7th
• The Giants' 16 hits overall were the most in a World Series game since the Red Sox collected 17 hits in Game 1 of the 2007 Fall Classic. The Giants also had 13 singles on Saturday night, the most in a World Series game since the D-backs scrapped together 16 in Game 6 of the 2001 World Series.
• Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt tossed another scoreless inning Saturday, extending his scoreless outings streak in postseason play to 21 games. That remains the second longest all-time, just two shy of Mariano Rivera's 23-outing scoreless streak from Sept. 29, 1998-Oct. 13, 2000.
• Matt Duffy's pinch-hit single to lead off the bottom of the third inning was the earliest hit by a pinch-hitter in a World Series game since 1981 when the Dodgers' Ken Landreaux recorded a pinch-hit double, also in the third inning. Duffy's basehit was just the 13th in World Series history by a pinch-hitter in the third inning or earlier.
Video: WS2014 Gm4: Duffy tallies first career postseason hit
• The Royals allowed just 18 runs over their seven games combined in the ALDS and ALCS. They've now allowed 18 in their two World Series losses to the Giants -- and 22 runs in four World Series games overall.
• Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer picked up his 10th RBI of the postseason in the losing effort, matching the Royals' franchise record. Hosmer joins fellow first baseman Willie Aikens and teammate Alex Gordon, who also has 10 RBIs this postseason, as the only Royals to drive in double-digit runs in a single postseason.
Video: WS2014 Gm4: Hosmer ties the game with RBI infield hit
• The Giants' Game 4 victory marked only the second time in World Series history that a game ended in an 11-4 final score. The other such game, also won by the Giants, was played in 1912. On that night, the Giants defeated the Red Sox, 11-4, in Game 7, though -- thanks to a tie in Game 2 -- the Red Sox ultimately won the Series the following night in Game 8.
• The Giants, who were just 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position against the Royals' bullpen over the first three games of this series, went 6-for-13 in those situations against the Kansas City 'pen on Saturday night.
• This is the 42nd best-of-seven World Series to be tied 2-2. The winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the Series in 27 of the previous 41 occasions. However, the loser of Game 5 has won the Series in seven of the last 11 such scenarios.
• The Giants' Game 4 victory guaranteed that this World Series will end, one way or another, at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium. The last two teams to close out a World Series win on the road were the 2012 and 2010 Giants.