World Series preview: Royals and Giants put postseason streaks on line in battle for crown

There are a lot of different angles that can be analyzed heading into this sure-to-be fascinating World Series matchup between the Kansas City Royals, who have not appeared in a Fall Classic since 1985, and the San Francisco Giants, who have won two of the last four.

Is it David vs. Goliath? Dynasty vs. Drought? Or maybe you prefer the quick, aggressive and fearless newcomers vs. the composed, resilient and opportunistic former champions. They all aptly describe this series on multiple levels, but when looking at where these two teams have come from in 2014 and where they hope to go, the stories are essentially the same.

They both controlled their respective divisions for a time, only to fall behind the preseason favorites down the stretch. They both advanced in the do-or-die wild card round. They both were perceived as underdogs, yet dominated in the LDS and LCS rounds without home field advantage. And they enter the World Series with impressive postseason streaks intact.

For Kansas City, they’ve won an MLB record eight straight games to begin the postseason. For San Francisco, it’s eight straight wins in postseason series. Maybe irresistible force vs. immovable object fits better, because it’s difficult to imagine either team losing four games between now and November.

Someone has to fall though, and we’ll let you decide which way you’re leaning after we break this series down.

SCHEDULE
Game 1: Tuesday at Kansas City, 8:07 p.m. ET (Fox)
Game 2: Wednesday at Kansas City, 8:07 p.m. ET (Fox)
Game 3: Friday at San Francisco, 8:07 p.m. ET (Fox)
Game 4: Saturday at San Francisco, 8:07 p.m. ET (Fox)
Game 5:* Sunday at San Francisco, 8:07 p.m. ET (Fox)
Game 6:* Tuesday, Oct. 28 at Kansas City, 8:07 p.m. ET (Fox)
Game 7:* Wednesday, Oct 29 at Kansas City, 8:07 p.m. ET (Fox)
* if necessary

PREVIOUSLY
The Royals have swept their way through the playoffs, and they also own a sweep of the Giants this season. The Royals took all three from the visiting Giants back in early August outscoring them 16-6. That series came right in the middle of Kansas City’s 14-2 stretch that temporarily propelled them into the AL Central lead. The series included wins over Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson.

PITCHING

Game 1: Madison Bumgarner (2-1, 1.42) vs. James Shields (1-0, 5.63)
Game 2: Jake Peavy (1-0, 1.86) vs. Yordano Ventura (0-0, 4.85)
Game 3: TBD vs. Tim Hudson (0-0, 3.29)
Game 4: TBD vs. Ryan Vogelsong (0-0, 5.19) 
Game 5: Shields vs. Bumgarner
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
(postseason stats)

Bumgarner comes in riding a 26 2/3 scoreless innings streak on the road in the postseason. He’ll be on full rest coming into Game 1, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him come back on short rest if need be in this series. Veterans Hudson and Peavy have done an excellent job supplementing the rotation with Matt Cain injured and Tim Lincecum banished to the bullpen. The Giants are in good shape, and Bruce Bochy also has workhorse Yusmeiro Petit available should one of the aforementioned struggle.

On the other side, Kansas City’s bullpen is its strength, but its impact in the series will be dependent on the rotation’s performance. Even though the Royals have won all three of Shields’ postseason starts, he’s looked vulnerable, allowing three home runs and 10 earned runs in 16 innings. His career postseason ERA is 5.16 in 50 1/3 innings. If that doesn’t turn around, it will put some extra pressure on the 22-year-old Ventura and a rotation likely to be filled out by veterans Jason Vargas and Jeremy Guthrie. We’ll have more on the Royals starters in a bit.

THREE KEYS FOR ROYALS

• Stay aggressive: The Royals don’t need a reminder. They’re wired to be aggressive, and that will not change with the battle-tested Giants standing in their way. Kansas City led the major leagues with 153 stolen bases during the regular season, and already have 13 steals through eight postseason games. The other nine playoff teams have combined for 15 steals. But it’s more than just steals. It’s the first-to-third speed. It’s the extra 90 feet on a ball in the dirt. It’s making the defense play a clean game. That’s what Kansas City needs to continue.

• Improved starting pitching: For Ned Yost, the ideal set up to get is six innings from his starter with the lead in tact or the game still close. Then he can turn the game over to his dominant bullpen. That’s only happened three times so far in eight games. They can survive getting 12-15 outs from a starter. Rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan has recorded some important outs in the postseason, and they’ve also used Herrera and Davis for two innings. But shortening or outright eliminating that sixth-inning gap would be helpful against the opportunistic Giants.

• Get Billy Butler going: The right-handed slugger is only 6 for 27 in the postseason (.222) and is really the only Royals regular who hasn’t made a huge impact. The Royals would like that to change with lefty Madison Bumgarner staring them down in Game 1, Butler, who hit .321 against left-handers during the regular season, was 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs against Bumgarner back in August. It’s a matchup he can win for Kansas City, but don’t underestimate his role when the series moves to San Francisco. It’s assumed Eric Hosmer will continue as designated hitter, so Butler will be called on late in some big pinch-hitting situations. 

THREE KEYS FOR GIANTS

• Score early and take command: Kansas City’s late-inning trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland will dominate the series if allowed. Including the postseason, the Royals are 68-5 when leading after six innings, 75-1 leading after seven and 82-1 when leading after eight. It will be of upmost importance for San Francisco to score early and score often to avoid the uphill battle. It will also allow Bruce Bochy to set up his bullpen, which is pretty darn good too, for the late innings.

• Slow ’em down: Despite a postseason home run binge, Kansas City’s speed remains its biggest asset. In the August series, Kansas City swiped eight bags in nine attempts, including seven successful steals on Aug. 10 with Tim Lincecum pitching and Andrew Susac behind the plate. Neither figure to be big factors here, but how the Giants handle that running game will be critical.

• Hit the long ball: The Giants cracked three big homers in NLCS Game 5, including Travis Ishikawa’s historic walk-off. Before that, they’d gone six full games (and 242 plate appearance) without a round-tripper. That’s something they can’t afford to repeat in the World Series. Granted, we know how good San Francisco is at creating run scoring opportunities without doing a lot of hitting, but the way Kansas City’s defense takes away hits should limit those chances. There’s nothing they can do about the baseballs over the fence.

FIVE IMPORTANT NUMBERS

• 32 — The percentage of Royals innings Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland have pitched in the postseason. They accounted for 14-percent during the regular season. 

• 23 — Number of postseason games Pablo Sandoval has reached base in consecutively. That’s a Giants team record.

• 2 — Number of Terrance Gore’s career plate appearances. He was a September call-up to serve as pinch-runner. In the regular and postseason he’s stolen eight bases and scored six runs.

• 1.83 — ERA of San Francisco’s bullpen during postseason. Seriously, they’re pretty good too.

• 90 — This is the first World Series featuring two teams with less than 90 wins. Kansas City finished 89-73 during the regular season. San Francisco finished 88-74.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813