Blanco’s Bunt Helps Propel the Giants to Victory

Gregor Blanco‘s small bat skills have helped lead his San Francisco Giants to a 2-0 lead against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series

Gregor Blanco's Bunt at the World Series

Unlike his teammate Pablo Sandoval’s hard-hitting performance in Game 1, the 28-year-old Venezuelan baseball star’s bunt stayed in bounds to eke out the go-ahead run in a 2-0 win Thursday night against the Tigers.

Blanco’s single trickled to a stop just inches fair on the infield dirt, setting up Brandon Crawford‘s run-scoring double-play grounder in the seventh. Hunter Pence added a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Gregor Blanco's Bunt at the World Series

“I was joking with (coach) Roberto Kelly when I got to first base, ‘We practiced that today,'” said Blanco about his single that rolled 45 feet, if that. “That was a perfect bunt. I wasn’t really trying to do that. I think it was just meant to be and I’m thankful that I did it.”

Madison Bumgarner shut down the Tigers for seven innings, then Santiago Casilla pitched a perfect eighth and Sergio Romo worked the ninth for a save in the combined two-hitter, leaving Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and his team in a huge hole heading back to Comerica Park.

Game 3 will be played Saturday night in Detroit, and for once, the Giants aren’t playing from behind. They overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat Cincinnati Reds in the best-of-five National League Division Series and escaped a 3-1 hole against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

Anibal Sanchez will start for the Tigers against Ryan Vogelsong in Detroit.

Of the 52 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series, 41 have gone on to win the title. That includes 14 of the last 15 teams with that advantage.

“I’m not sure, and I haven’t done any studies on it,” said Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt, “but statisically it’s always better to be 2-0 than 1-1 or 0-2. I’m just guessing.”