Steve Gardner

USA TODAY Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Breaking down Game 7 of the World Series from Kauffman Stadium:

Box score:Giants 3, Royals 2; Giants win series 4-3.

***

The final: In a game both managers turned over to their bullpens early, the Giants were able to scratch out the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and make it stand up the rest of the way.

Michael Morse drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and left-handers Jeremy Affeldt and Madison Bumgarner combined for 7 1/3 scoreless innings of relief as the Giants won their third World Series title in the past five years.

***.

Man of the moment: Bumgarner enhanced his already-stellar postseason reputation with yet another masterful performance in the World Series. Entering the game with the Giants up 3-2 in the fifth inning, Bumgarner allowed a single to the first batter he faced – Omar Infante – then retired the next 17 in a row before Alex Gordon's two-out single.

After tossing a four-hit shutout in Game 5 three days earlier in San Francisco, Bumgarner returned to the mound for three more innings in Game 7, breaking Curt Schilling's record for the most innings pitched in a single postseason – 52 1/3.

But Bumgarner's greatest accomplishment is that he's allowed just one run in 36 career World Series innings, for a microscopic 0.25 ERA.

***

State of the Series: Two teams that beat the odds and made the World Series after winning one-game wild-card playoffs were a testament to the old adage of how important it is to play your best in October.

The Giants were able to rely Bumgarner and their stellar bullpen to win three blowout games and the nail-biting clincher in Game 7. Meanwhile, the Royals played their version of small-ball to come within a single victory of winning their first World Series since their last playoff appearance in 1985.

***

Game 7 pivot point: The Royals didn't go to their bullpen as early as the Giants did, but Kelvin Herrera came into the game in the top of the fourth inning needing either a strikeout or a ground-ball double play to preserve a 2-2 tie.

With runners on the corners and down 0-2 in the count, Morse fought off a 99 mph fastball from Herrera and dropped it into right field to bring home Pablo Sandoval with the go-ahead run.

***

Needing a mulligan: Bumgarner was so dominant nothing may have mattered, but perhaps the only thing Royals manager Ned Yost could have done was pinch-hit veteran Josh Willingham for Nori Aoki in either the fifth or eighth innings against Bumgarner.

Willingham, 35, has made a reputation as someone who hits left-handed pitchers well over his career.

With the Giants leading by one run in the fifth, Aoki hit with one out and a runner on second base – and Yost had Jarrod Dyson available to go in defensively. He lined out to left field.

Then in the eighth with one out and no one on, Aoki grounded out.

Willingham, who has a .248/.368/.486 career line vs. lefties never got a chance to hit.

***

Manager's special: Giants manager Bruce Bochy went to his bullpen early, knowing he had the benefit of an ace up his sleeve. The only question was when he would decide to play his trump card.

For all the praise that's heaped on Bumgarner, Affeldt – who took over for starter Tim Hudson with two runs in and one out in the second inning -- has also been unbelievably good in the postseason over his career. In 31 1/3 postseason innings, Affeldt has allowed three earned runs (0.86 ERA).

Affeldt's ability to give the Giants 2 1/3 scoreless innings before Bochy went to Bumgarner may have been just as important as Bumgarner's five scoreless innings.

GALLERY: WORLD SERIES -- GIANTS vs. ROYALS