Oscar Taveras, the Cardinals’ vibrant top outfield prospect, and his girlfriend were killed in a Sunday afternoon car accident near his home on the Caribbean island. He was 22.

Several of the best prospects in baseball will collide on Saturday in the ninth annual Fall Stars Game, the yearly All-Star Game for the Arizona Fall League. This year’s contest will feature 14 players on MLBPipeline.com’s Top 100 Prospects list, headlined by No. 1 overall prospect Byron Buxton.

Former Royals manager Dick Howser left an impression on his players and fans in Kansas City with his personality and results, including the 1985 World Series title.

Unable to process it, unable to believe the death of his friend Oscar Taveras, Juan Perez mourned and cried, understanding that steps away, the Royals and Giants were playing Game 5 of the World Series. What Perez could not have anticipated was that he would enter the game and play such a critical role in the Giants’ victory.

The Pirates made a host of roster moves Saturday, headlined by the acquisition of infielder Justin Sellers from the Indians for cash considerations.

The Giants’ 3-2 loss to the Royals in Game 3 on Friday night in San Francisco played out much like the first two games of this World Series did. The team whose bullpen outperformed the other’s won.

Tim Hudson, at 39 years old, waited a long time for his World Series debut, but the Royals put the pressure on early in Game 3 so the Giants’ veteran right-hander had little time to take in the experience.

Before some fans at AT&T Park had even finished taking their seat, Alcides Escobar hammered the first pitch of the game from Tim Hudson for a double. He scored later in the inning on a groundout to give the Royals a lead they’d never surrender in their 3-2 victory in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday.

A few hours before World Series Game 3, Michael Morse was sick — a flu bug, he thinks — leaving the Giants potentially without their best bench bat in a critical game. Yet by the time manager Bruce Bochy approached him in the middle innings to ask what he could contribute, Morse was feeling well enough to hit.

Kelvin Herrera was 16 years old the last time he stepped into a batter’s box in a competitive baseball game. And yet, there he was on Friday night, called upon to bat in a one-run game in the World Series. He promptly struck out on three pitches, but not before fouling off a Sergio Romo fastball.

Even though Ryan Vogelsong has never started a game against the Royals, there is little they can throw at him in World Series Game 4 that he has not already seen.

Major League Baseball used its biggest stage for the sixth year in a row to hold a live Stand Up To Cancer moment for a capacity crowd and a global FOX viewing audience.

World Series pregame ceremonies typically involve famous people, celebrity anthem singers and great players from the team’s past. The Giants had all of that prior to Game 3 of the World Series on Friday, but they also included a neat twist — honoring an unassuming fan for simply being selfless and decent.

Pablo Sandoval entered Friday night’s Game 3 a career .333 postseason hitter, with six home runs, 18 RBIs and 12 doubles in 34 games. He finished his night 0-for-4 with a groundout in the ninth inning, which snapped his string of reaching safely in 25 consecutive postseason games dating back to Game 4 of the 2012 NLDS.

Ned Yost adapted to National League rules with a drastic lineup change, and after his Royals pulled out the 3-2 win that gave them a 2-1 advantage in this Fall Classic, only one word could accurately depict him: Genius.

A Royals team that was under .500 as recently as July 22 is now two wins away from claiming the World Series crown. And a Giants team that has owned even-year Octobers of late faces its first World Series deficit in the Bruce Bochy era. It’s going to be fascinating to see how Ryan Vogelsong and the Giants respond and whether Jason Vargas and the Royals can seize control in Game 4 tonight at AT&T Park

The Royals’ remarkable fielding combines with a deep pitching staff to give them the ability to win low-scoring games. Kansas City is probably better constructed to compete in the National League and it showed with a 3-2 win over the Giants in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night.