2 veterans attend World Series game thanks to donated tickets
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The World Series is now a best of three series with Game 5 AT&T Park. Saturday night was a great comeback.
Trailing 4-1, the San Francisco Giants started chipping away at the Kansas City Royals' lead. In the fifth, Hunter Pence singled to center, knocking in Joe Panik to bring the Giants within a run. Then in the sixth, with the bases loaded, Pablo Sandoval lined a single to center, scoring Gregor Blanco and Buster Posey, giving the Giants a 6-4 lead. They busted it open in the seventh; up 8-4, Panik hit a gapper to left center that brought in Michael Morse and Blanco. The Giants rolled to an 11-4 victory. The series is tied at 2-2.
Sunday night is a pitching rematch from Game 1. Giants ace Madison Bumgarner starts the last game of the year at AT&T Park against the Royals' James Shield.
Saturday night was a special one for Giants fan Bryan Stow.
He was given the honor of yelling "play ball" to kick things off. Stow was the victim of a violent beating at Dodgers stadium in 2011 that left him with brain damage. His mother, Ann, said this is the first World Series game that Bryan will be able to remember since the attack. She says he feels like he's part of the team.
VIDEO: Giants fan Bryan Stow speaks for first time since attack
Giants fans are excited now that their team has evened up the World Series. They could barely contain their excitement for Saturday night's hard-fought win.
"It was rough but I had confidence, we had confidence in our team," said fan Amelia Mima.
Fellow fan Diego Romo added, "Oh man, I had grey hairs in the beginning, but now it came back to black. We're good to go, ready for the next game."
Giants flags flew and rally rags spun. Fans knew it was a pivotal game in this series
At the start, there were two fans who got a special opportunity to soak it all in thanks to the generosity of a Bay Area couple.
"I didn't want to take that away," said Marine Sgt. AJ Pasciutti. "I'm a big baseball fan myself and they're a baseball family, so I said no way, couldn't do it. But she didn't really give me much of an option and if you've ever met Grace, she's very persistent."
Grace Witt and her husband donated their tickets, so Pasciutti drove up from Southern California Friday night to be there with former Army medic Brian Jergens.
VIDEO: Cupertino couple donates World Series tickets to injured veteran
He was just excited to be there.
"I'm not hoping for anything," Jergens said. "I'm just excited."
Jergens has had a long fight back from brain injuries after his Humvee ran over a bomb in Afghanistan.
He also lost both legs; but thanks to prosthetics and lots of physical therapy, he was able to stand for Saturday's national anthem.
Lots of fans were on their feet for this riveting game. For the first half, a pack of Royals fans was pretty loud.
But in the end, the Giants fought back.
"The Giants are going to win in six, the Giants are going to win in six!" shouted one enthusiastic fan.
They go into Game 5 Sunday with high hopes.
PHOTOS: SF Giants fans show off playoff pride!
Security tight for World Series games at AT&T Park
Making sure security is tight for the World Series is no easy feat; especially when you're dealing with a stadium like AT&T Park where fans are on land and on the water.
Location, location , location. The fight for the right spot isn't just inside the stadium, it's out on McCovey Cove as well.
"Tickets are really expensive," said San Jose resident Albert Rocha. "But you still kind of want to be a part of it. So we were like hey, who knows, may catch a ball that comes out there."
Hundreds of people had the same idea. The crowd and the excitement, can also lead to chaos. On Saturday night, two kayakers were pulled from the water south of the ballpark
There is a heavy law enforcement presence in and near the water.
"We patrol the area, we're always alert," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart. "Looking for anything that may be out of place, making sure everyone is safe and wearing life jackets."
But not everyone is. We also saw kayakers launching from sites that were off limits.
In the meantime, the Coast Guard designated safe zones around the ballpark for boaters. Bomb sniffing dogs are also checking every ferry that docks there.
"We run all the spaces inside the ship anywhere where you can basically you can hide anything," said Coast Guard Spec. Chris Hartman. "We run the dogs by it and make sure nothing is hiding and left behind."
City Kayak Rental owner Ted Choi says they're stepping up to help too.
"Our guides are actually on the water making sure everyone is having fun and if anyone is having trouble we can help them," he said.
Being a good neighbor is easier when the World Series brings in eight times more business than usual.
For full coverage of the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, click here.
Show your support for the San Francisco Giants and email playoff fever fan photos to uReport@kgo-tv.com!
