SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sparkling defense, a stingy bullpen and just enough timely hitting. That winning formula of fundamental baseball put the Kansas City Royals ahead in the World Series.

Jeremy Guthrie outpitched fellow World Series newcomer Tim Hudson, four Royals relievers combined on four hitless innings and Kansas City beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic.

“This is the way our games have gone all year,” said Royals manager Ned Yost, who made several lineup changes that paid off. “I’m getting really good at protecting a one-run lead because a lot of times that’s exactly what we have to deal with.

“But I have the necessary tools to be able to do that. It’s not me doing it. It’s the guys that we put out there that are doing it. We have the type of pitchers in our bullpen that can accomplish that,” he said.

Alex Gordon hit a run-scoring double for his first hit of the Series in 10 at-bats and Lorenzo Cain made two slick grabs in right field as the Royals backed Guthrie with nifty glove work. All night long, Kansas City looked perfectly comfortable playing in the tricky territory at unfamiliar AT&T Park.

Eric Hosmer had a sixth-inning RBI single in an 11-pitch at-bat against lefty Javier Lopez for his first World Series hit — on his 25th birthday.

Cain drove in the first run with a groundout after Alcides Escobar’s leadoff double in the first.

Game 4 is Saturday night, with right-hander Ryan Vogelsong trying to get the Giants even against Kansas City lefty Jason Vargas.

“We’ve got to keep grinding. It’s going to be a tough series,” said Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson, added to the starting lineup in Game 3.

Yost moved Cain from center field to right in place of Norichika Aoki for a defensive boost in the expansive outfield at AT&T Park. Cain chased down Buster Posey’s slicing line drive in the first for a pretty catch from his knees, then snagged Travis Ishikawa’s sinking liner in the second.

Gordon was moved up from sixth to second in the lineup and came through with his RBI double following Escobar’s single in the sixth.

On a night that began with a remembrance of late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, Kansas City produced just enough run support even without designated hitter Billy Butler. The Series shifted to AT&T Park and National League rules for three games.

The Giants had their six-game home winning streak in the World Series snapped. The unbeaten run dated to the 2002 wild-card club of Barry Bonds and Co. that lost in seven games to the Angels.

The Royals seemed unfazed by the fanfare and tough conditions in improving to 5-0 on the road this postseason. Of the first 56 times the World Series was tied 1-all, the Game 3 winner went on to win in 37 of those instances and four of the last five.

A cast of Giants Hall of Famers were celebrated on the field in a star-studded pregame featuring a “Play Ball!” chant by Huey Lewis.

Pinch hitter Michael Morse hit an RBI double with none out in the sixth to chase Guthrie. Yost turned it over to his fantastic bullpen, and Kelvin Herrera immediately walked Gregor Blanco.

With the hard-throwing Herrera clocking 99-101 mph on the radar gun, Joe Panik had a tough time attempting a sacrifice bunt. His high-bouncing grounder still did the trick to advance both runners, and Posey pulled the Giants to 3-2 on a groundout.

Then, the Royals shut down San Francisco the rest of the way.

“I don’t know if there’s a better bullpen, because that seventh, eighth and ninth inning, and you get a tough go when you’re facing those guys,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Hopefully you get some runs early, but Guthrie did a great job on us.”

Herrera worked 1 1/3 innings, rookie Brandon Finnegan got two outs in his World Series debut, and Wade Davis pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. Greg Holland got three outs for a save.

The four hitless innings of relief were the most in the World Series in 22 years.

“Our bullpen’s been lights out. We’ve got 100 percent confidence in (those) guys getting their job done,” Dyson said. “From an offensive standpoint, we’re just trying to put runs on the board and get them in position.”

Guthrie, who attended nearby Stanford, retired 10 straight during one stretch and combined with Hudson to retire 20 in a row. That was the longest Series streak since the Yankees’ Don Larsen and the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Sal Maglie retired the first 23 batters during Larsen’s perfect game in 1956, according to STATS.

“What a gutsy performance, and that’s one of the performances we needed right now, to be able to take this first one here,” Royals teammate James Shields said. “He went out there and pitched his heart out. He did a phenomenal job tonight.”

As a gorgeous Bay Area afternoon turned into a breezy night along the water, the 39-year-old Hudson left in the sixth to a rousing ovation from the orange towel-twirling sellout crowd.

Hudson waited 16 years for his first World Series chance only to watch Alcides Escobar hit the game’s first pitch for a double. Escobar scored on Cain’s groundout, and Hudson settled in nicely after the second. The right-hander retired 12 in a row before Escobar’s one-out single through Hudson’s legs in the sixth. Gordon followed with an RBI double.

GUTHRIE’S MARK

In a quirky stat, Guthrie became the fifth starting pitcher in World Series history to not record a walk or a strikeout through five innings and the first since Hall of Famer Greg Maddux in Game 2 of the 1996 Series for Atlanta against the Yankees.

UP NEXT

Royals: Vargas, an 11-game winner who pitched the ALCS clincher against Baltimore, attended Game 1 of the Giants’ 2010 World Series at AT&T Park against Texas with his wife as a fan.

Giants: Vogelsong is the only pitcher to yield no more than one run in his first five postseason starts. That run ended in the NL Championship Series when Vogelsong allowed four runs in three innings of a no-decision against St. Louis. … San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said he and pitching coach Dave Righetti discussed going with ace lefty Madison Bumgarner in Game 4 on short rest if trailing — something they know he can handle physically despite his heavy workload.

— Associated Press —