Standing by for Game 5.
A couple of lineup changes for the Royals and Giants. Perez who is getting hot is moved up from 6th to 5th and Moustakas is moved back from 5th to 6th. Otherwise the lineup remains the same. The move to put Dyson in CF and Cain in RF has paid off in the field with some great catches by Dyson & Cain because of their great speed and range but that didn't stop the Giants from blowing up last night. Dyson has also hit a couple of times, which was unexpected given his BA, but the Royals were not able to capitalize on those hits and for some reason (probably because they were behind) Dyson did not attempted to steal while on base.
Pablo is back to clean up batting left (his strong side) vs righty Shields. Pence moved back to 5th but, given how well Pence is hitting, I question whether the change is necessary. Ishikawa is back in the line up, batting 7th and in LF again for this game. Not sure why, since Perez did an excellent job in LF yesterday (with one great hit saving catch) as well as a key hit and sac fly. Ishikawa is arguably a better hitter than Perez but Perez is unquestionably better in LF. More than likely, Bochy is hoping for some early pop from Ishi's bat and will platoon Perez out to LF later in the game (as he usually does) to improve defense in the late innings.
Otherwise, its Bumgarner vs Shields. If they both perform as previously, the advantage obviously goes to Bum. The Royals middle relievers were used up last night and it will be good for the Giants if they can score and knock out Shields early, as they did in Game 1, because Yost will have a hard time figuring out who to use in middle relief unless he wants to did into his 3-headed monster early in order to stem the bleeding.
They are all rested and he could go to Herrera and Davis as early as the 5th and 6th or 7th but then he'll still need to bring someone in to bridge the gap to the 8th. But, if Shields gets knocked out in the 3rd, as he was in Game 1, Yost will really be in a pickle and it should be easy pickings for the Giants regardless of who he throws in there. Should just be like BP for the Giants if that happens.
GO GIANTS!!!!