The Kansas City Royals magical season continues as the team enters the World Series after going 8-0 in the playoffs, beating the Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles. Now they enter the final set of games looking to keep their momentum alive as they face off against the San Francisco Giants who have produced some magic of their own.
The biggest question for both teams is the amount of layoff each team has had. The Royals have had five days off to prepare for the series while the Giants have been off for four days after finishing 8-2 on the National League side of the playoffs. The time off can certainly play a factor in the way each team begins the series as the Giants and Royals look to gain the first slice of momentum.
The Giants will send Madison Bumgarner to the mound in hopes that he can keep up the strong season and postseason in the final series. In his last start against the St. Louis Cardinals, Bumgarner went eight innings while giving up just three earned runs. He finished the first wave of the postseason by getting named the NLCS MVP and will look to counter the small ball of the Royals.
Kansas City is the third team to have multiple series sweeps since the Wild Card Era of the playoffs and they do not look for those numbers to stop now. James Shields will take the mound after another impressive postseason run. He handled himself well against the Orioles, going five innings in his last start for the win, but it is the bullpen that has made all of the difference for Kansas City, especially in the postseason. The combination of Jason Frasor, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis has been the best rotation in baseball and keeping the Royals alive.
The Royals will also continue to function under their small-ball style. The team turns singles into doubles into runs with stolen bases after leading the league in the regular season. Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar have gone deep when necessary. Kansas City has been the talk of baseball this postseason, but can the Giants end their Cinderella story for the championship?
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