The 2014 World Series began Tuesday night with an air of normality as the Giants cruised to an easy 7-1 victory over the Royals.  After experiencing a postseason filled with extra innings, late-game heroics, and dynamic offenses, Madison Bumgarner dominated on the hill — allowing the Giants’ bats to take Game 1 with ease.

Madison Bumgarner focuses primarily on a deadly fastball/slider combination to keep hitters from getting comfortable in the box.  Last night, however, Bumgarner had an extra weapon: a 67.9-mph curveball.

Here’s a slow-motion look at his sluggish hook as he struck out Mike Moustakas in the fifth inning:

Madison’s regular curveball clocked in at 76.4 mph last night, creating a difference of 8.5 mph in the two pitches.  Reducing velocity also added extra movement: 1.05 inches horizontally and 0.25 of an inch vertically.  It may not sound like much, but a batter’s sudden necessity to change both his timing and swing location can make all the difference.

This was only the fifth slow curve Bumgarner has thrown all postseason, but given how well he has performed in his five starts (2.67 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 60 strikeouts in 67.1IP), the NLCS MVP looks to be managing his slow curve perfectly.

Nick Pollack writes for Pitcher GIFs and can found making an excessive amount of GIFs on Twitter @PitcherGIFs.

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