Madison Bumgarner continued his postseason dominance against (what had been) the hottest team of October on Monday night as the San Francisco Giants’ ace pitcher held the Kansas City Royals to one run in seven innings. Hunter Pence smacked a home run in the first and the Giants never looked back as they stormed out to a 1-0 series lead thanks to a 7-1 win. Now, it’s on to Game 2 as the Royals look to tie the series up before it shifts to San Francisco. Of the past 10 World Series, the winner of Game 1 has gone on to win the whole thing nine times. In other words, for the Royals, there’s no time like the present to buck a trend.
Game Time: October 22nd at 8:07 PM ET
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Television Broadcast: FOX
Series: Giants lead 1-0
Starting Pitchers:
San Francisco Giants – Jake Peavy
Season Stats (with the Giants) – W-L record of 6-4, ERA of 2.17
Kansas City Royals – Yordano Ventura
Season Stats – W-L record of 14-10, ERA of 3.20
Betting Odds (via BetDSI):
Point Spread: Royals (-1.5)/Giants (+1.5)
Over/Under: 7
Overview:
Game 2 will feature a classic battle of experience and youth. On the one hand, the Giants will start Jake Peavy who is no stranger to the playoffs (or the World Series for that matter). Last year, Peavy won the World Series as a member of the Boston Red Sox. This year, he’s pitched two games in the playoffs for the Giants. In the NLDS against Washington, Peavy pitched 5 2/3rd innings while giving up two hits and no runs. Against St. Louis in the NLCS, Peavy only lasted four innings. He gave up two runs and four hits in that appearance. Peavy is 1-5 with a 6.42 ERA at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals will be sending out a much younger pitcher in Yordano Ventura. Ventura had a very rough postseason debut as a relief pitcher against the Oakland A’s in the wild card game, giving up two hits and two runs in a third of an inning. He then threw a very good game against the Angels (seven innings pitched, five hits, one earned run) and one sub-par game against the Orioles (five and two-thirds innings pitched, five hits, four earned runs).
There are plenty of contrasts to be had but the Royals are not going to go away quietly. Expect the team to give the Giants all they can handle as a 2-0 series deficit heading into San Francisco has got to be out of the question for Kansas City.
