The Kansas City Royals suffered their first loss of the postseason at the wrong time. The team went 8-0 in the playoffs to reach the final series of games, but dropping Game 1 in a bad way certainly hurts their momentum going forward. The San Francisco Giants got the bats moving while capitalizing off quality pitching to secure the 7-1 victory and look to do the same as Kansas City must bounce back.
Game 2 of the World Series will be a battle of experience. The Giants will sent Jake Peavy to the mound while Kansas City puts their faith in rookie Yordano Ventura. History is certainly not on the side of the Royals. They are trying to become just the third team in the past 18 years to rally from being down 0-1. The Giants on the other hand are eyeing their third World Series title in the past five years. San Francisco has been here before while Kansas City could be suffering from first-time nerves.
The Giants handed the Royals their first loss with true efficiency. Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence got two hits apiece. Pence gets credit for a two-run home run while Sandoval continues his .400 batting average in the postseason. Meanwhile Madison Bumgarner pitched another solid game. Peavy will try and do the same. He went four innings in his last start while being 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in the postseason. He gave up just four hits in that outing against the St. Louis Cardinals. However, the pitcher is 1-5 with a 6.42 ERA in Kauffman Stadium while several members of the Royals lineup have solid numbers against the pitcher.
Ventura's postseason debut has been a mixed bag. He got roughed up against the Athletics in a relief appearance while giving up four earned runs in five innings against the Baltimore Orioles. At home, the rookie is 5-7 with a 3.27 ERA in his last 16 starts. It was the bats that remained quiet for the Royals. Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain combined to go 0 for 6 against the Giants as the team managed just four hits. If they are going even things up, that must change.
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