Sandoval's Historic Performance Gives Giants Momentum

Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval's historic three-homer performance could be the crucial series changer. (Doug Pensinger)

Very few people gave the San Francisco Giants much of a chance in the World Series prior to it's beginning. Even fewer gave them any hope of winning Game 1 with Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander on the mound.

"A Tigers sweep is likely," a knowledgeable baseball source told me this afternoon. I shook my head. These Giants never lay down and give up. They fought back and beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. Why couldn't they at least battle in the World Series?

As it turns out, there was one Giants player who particularly believed in his team and wanted to show it right away. Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs in his first three at-bats of Game 1, including two off of Verlander.

Sandoval became just the fourth player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a World Series game, joining legends Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols. The fact that two of the homers came off Verlander make the performance even more incredible.

In the first inning, Sandoval got an 0-2 fastball that was elevated from Verlander. However, he managed to get his bat up to it and cranked out a line drive 421 feet to center. How unlikely was this home run? According to ESPN, Verlander had not given up a 0-2 home run all season and only four in his entire career.

Sandoval's second plate appearance came in the third inning. After giving up a second run, Verlander threw two changeups in the dirt to Sandoval. This brought Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones out for a quick mound visit. Verlander's next pitch was a fastball on the outside corner. Sandoval connected and drove it just into the left field bleachers. His opposite-field power was on full display.

In the fifth inning, Sandoval now faced Tigers reliever Al Alburquerque. The 1-1 slider was almost in the dirt, but Sandoval decided to swing. He golfed into a beautiful arching homer into the center field crowd. Later on, Sandoval did add a single to finish the Giants 8-3 win 4-for-4 with three homers and four RBIs.

One of the amazing things about Sandoval's performance is none of the pitches his home runs came off were bad pitches. In fact, two of the three pitchers were out of the strike zone. The homers were simply pure strokes of genius by the man they call Kung Fu Panda.

With a performance like this and the fact that Giants are still at home, momentum is fully with the hosts. Their rolling offense will look to keep their strong play going against the Tigers' Doug Fister. The Giants will look to get starter Madison Bumgarner going. The lefty has struggled this postseason, but claims to be ready to turn things around when it matters most.

If the Giants go on to win the World Series, we will know that Sandoval's performance played a significant role in the outcome. What is certain is that folks will be talking about Kung Fu Panda's incredible night of work for a very long time.