World Series notebook: Royals' Salvator Perez shows flashes of brilliance at catcher

SAN FRANCISCO - Salvador Perez has delivered some big hits in the 2014 postseason, including the game-winning RBI against the A’s in the American League wild card game and a two-run double against the Giants’ Hunter Strickland in Game 2 of the World Series.

But Perez didn’t make the All-Star team primarily for his bat. Friday in Game 3 at AT&T Park, he flashed his defensive skills.

In the second inning, Perez gunned down Hunter Pence trying to steal second. It was a significant out, since Brandon Belt followed with a single for the Giants, and it was not an easy pitch to handle; it ran up and in to Belt.

“That was me,” Pence said, taking blame for the attempt. “I thought I got a good jump. Salvador Perez has a game-changing arm.”

With one out in the eighth inning, Gregor Blanco tried to shake up Royals reliever Wade Davis with a bunt. Blanco had noticed on video that Perez tended not to go after bunts between home plate and the mound. Blanco put the ball right where he wanted to, but Perez pounced on it and fired to first base for the out.

“I have to give credit to Salvador,” Blanco said. “He went after it.”

COLD AND FLU SEASON:

Michael Morse had a big pinch hit for the Giants in the sixth inning, driving in a run with a double past diving third baseman Mike Moustakas and down the left-field line. Morse later scored on a ground out.

It was a strong effort by a guy who started feeling ill on the Giants’ flight back to the Bay Area on Thursday, required intravenous liquids and spent “a rough night” before Game 3. Morse woke up Friday feeling pretty bad.

“I was a little under the weather, but (Bochy) asked me how I was feeling, and I said I’ll give you the best at-bat I can,” Morse noted.

Morse almost did better than the double. Just before, he murdered a pitch from Jeremy Guthrie, but it was just foul of the left-field pole.

“I hit it really good,” Morse said. “I think it was a changeup. I kind of knew off the bat it would be foul. I got it way in front. It felt great, but I had to flush it real quick and continue my at-bat.”

WHICH END DO I HOLD?

Kelvin Herrera came to bat in the seventh inning, and that is a half-sentence you have certainly never read before. Herrera, the Royals relief pitcher, had never recorded a plate appearance either in the majors (207 games) or the minors (91 games).

“Actually, I was hoping Dice (Jarrod Dyson, batting before Herrera’s spot) would make an out there, but he steps up and foils my plan and gets a hit,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “So that’s the way the National League game works.”

Herrera managed a smile after getting fooled badly on a pitch outside from Sergio Romo, then struck out.

NOTES:

The winner of Game 3 in a World Series that had been tied 1-1 has gone on to win 66.1 percent of the time.

Guthrie became the 11th Stanford product to play in the World Series, and the first to start on the mound since Mike Mussina pitched for the Yankees in Game 3 of the 2003 Series. Guthrie played for the Cardinal in 2001-02.

Alex Gordon tied Willie Aikens (1980) for most RBI by a Royals player in a single postseason with 10.

So far, 15 of 28 games (53.6%) this postseason have been one-run games, by far the highest percentage in a single postseason.

Guthrie is the first starter in World Series history to get a win without a strikeout or a walk.