No, not caught on the fly. It was too far in front of CF Blanco. Yes, as you say, it shoulda been better played.
Gordon ending up at 3rd base added way too much stress and anxiety for Giants fans. For Royals fans it was a glimmer of hope against an imposing and almost-unbeatable Bumgarner.
No, it would have taken a full sprint and diving catch to have a chance, and even then it wasn’t a great chance. In that situation, the right call is to concede the single and avoid any chance of an extra base hit. Blanco realized that too late and ended up in the perfectly wrong position.
ETA: damn page 2! What Bullitt said.
No. As you mentioned, Bumgarner’s unfailing focus and endurance outweighed anything the rest of the Giants did.
For the Royals to counter Bumgarner in the eyes of the Baseball Gods they would have needed one of their own God-favored players, like Yordano Ventura coming back to pitch in his second straight game, or Lorenzo Cain (who had built up great favor with his defensive gems and hitting prowess throughout the playoffs) being the one flying around the bases to score. Alex Gordon simply hadn’t done enough to be blessed (or perhaps… isn’t fast enough?).
Not only do they not add up, but they are extremely generous to the wild card teams anyway. According to them, the AL Wild Card was more likely to be champs than any other team save the Nationals, and the NL Wild Card was favored above the Angels and Orioles.