And we’re back to square one. The Kansas City Royals empire struck back at the San Francisco Giants in Game 2, blowing the contest wide open with a five-run sixth inning on their way to a huge 7-2 series-tying victory. Will the Royals go back to back? Or will the Giants return the favor and one-up Kansas City again? Find out more about Game 3 below. You can also check out what the experts are saying about the World Series by clicking here.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Kansas City Royals vs. San Francisco Giants Betting Preview
Series Schedule & Results
Game 1 – Tuesday, October 21, San Francisco Giants 7 vs. Kansas City Royals 1
Game 2 – Wednesday, October 22, San Francisco Giants 2 vs. Kansas City Royals 7
Game 3 – Friday, October 24, Kansas City Royals vs. San Francisco Giants – view all MLB lines
Game 4 – Saturday, October 25, Kansas City Royals vs. San Francisco Giants
Game 5 – Sunday, October 26, San Francisco Giants vs. San Francisco Giants
Game 6* – Tuesday, October 28, San Francisco Giants vs. Kansas City Royals
Game 7* – Wednesday, October 29, San Francisco Giants vs. Kansas City Royals *If necessary
Betting on the Kansas City Royals
[sc:MLB240banner ]In Game 2, the Royals’ offense clicked and their bullpen’s three-headed monster made its World Series debut in style. Kansas City now hopes that things remain the same when the team leaves the confines of Kauffman Stadium to play in the less hitter-friendly AT&T Park.
But based from the kind of style the Royals have played all season long, the scrappy team’s power on offense won’t be significantly harmed by the spacious park simply because Kansas City doesn’t rely on big bats to generate offense in the first place. In fact, the Royals finished the regular season last in home runs with 95, making them the only team that failed to hit the century mark in homers.
Instead, the Royals rely on putting balls in play, as evidenced by their .302 BABIP, which ranked 10th overall in the majors at the end of the 162-game schedule. Furthermore, the Royals well-known speed should also be a big factor in the said park. When it comes to stealing bases, no other team is better than Kansas City, which has 13 swipes thus far this postseason, the most by any team that played this October. That said, look for Alex Gordon, Terrance Gore, and Lorenzo Cain to get in the heads of Giants’ pitchers, as the trio has eight stolen bases combined this postseason.
Eric Hosmer paces the Royals’ offense, hitting .371 (13-for-35) this postseason followed by Cain who has a .350 mark on 14-for-40 batting.
On the mound, meanwhile, is Jeremy Guthrie, who’s going to make just his second appearance this October.
In Guthrie’s last start, he held the Baltimore Orioles to just an earned run on three hits in five innings of action in the Royals’ 2-1 victory in Game 3 of the ALCS. The Royals are 4-0 in Guthrie’s last four starts overall. Guthrie, though, didn’t get a win in that game as he left the mound with the score tied, leaving the Royals bullpen to do what it does best, which is to bring the opposing offense down to its knees . That was exactly what Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland did in Game 2 of the World Series, combining for three-plus scoreless innings.
Betting on the San Francisco Giants
Despite losing in Game 2, the Giants can console themselves with the fact that they managed to split their two games in Kansas City, meaning they have a chance to win the World Series at home. Winning three-straight games against the pesky Royals is a tall order, but if the Giants are to do it, then it has to start on Friday when 15-year veteran Tim Hudson makes his first career start in the Fall Classic. The Giants are 3-1 in Hudson’s last four home starts.
Hudson is winless in two starts this postseason with a 3.29 ERA, but the Giants won both games largely because of a strong bullpen.
Take for example the Giants’ 2-1 win in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Washington Nationals, where Hudson pitched well, allowing just one earned run in seven-plus innings of mound work before handing the ball to San Francisco’s assembly of hyped relievers. The next seven pitchers used after Hudson allowed no earned runs and combined for 12 strikeouts (!) – six coming from the incredibly cold-blooded Yusmeiro Petit – in 10.2 total innings in the marathon contest. The bullpen, however, has shown some cracks this postseason with Hunter Strickland and Jean Machi easily the odd-guys out in the bunch.
Strickland and Machi have ERAs of 10.13 and 11.57, respectively, with a total of eight homers surrendered this postseason. When the two are not playing, though, the Giants’ late-inning pitching is as scary as advertised with Petit, Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla. In 20.1 combined innings this postseason, the three men have a collective ERA of 0.44. Of the three, only Casilla pitched in Game 2 of the World Series, tossing just a fraction of an inning, so the Royals’ hitters can look forward to facing the troika on Friday.
Conversely, the Giants’ hitters will have another date with the Royals’ cluster of ridiculously good relievers putting the onus on the likes of Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey, and Hunter Pence to score runs early. Sandoval is 18-for-52 this postseason (.346), Posey is 15-for-52 (.288) while Pence is 13-for-46 (.283). Brandon Crawford, on the other hand, is 4-for-4 with a homer in his career against Guthrie.
Writer’s Prediction
Kansas City goes back to back, wins Game 3, 4-3. Create a betting account now, while odds are up.
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