San Francisco Giants stretched their World Series lead to 2-0 over the Detroit Tigers after Madison Bumgarner repaid the faith of his coach.
Bumgarner, back after losing both his starts in the playoffs, started over Tim Lincecum and pitched his first scoreless outing since mid-August in response.
Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo finished with perfect relief to shut out the Tigers.
"It definitely feels a whole lot better than having our backs against the wall," said Bumgarner after the match.
"But you can't relax. We've got to keep pushing."
Detroit's best chance of scoring came during the second innings, after Prince Fielder was thrown out at the plate while trying to score off Delmon Young's double.
Hunter Pence led off the seventh with a single off Doug Fister, who needed treatment after being hit on the head by Gregor Blanco's line drive, and reliever Drew Smyly walked Brandon Belt.
Despite the defeat, Tigers manager Jim Leyland remained supportive of his side.
"We got two hits tonight," he said afterwards.
"I'm certainly not going to sit up here and rip my offense because last night I thought we had some pretty good swings. Cabrera hit a bullet tonight."
Game three takes place at Detroit's Comerica Park on Saturday.
