MLB Kansas City RoyalsSan Francisco Giants

Giants vs. Royals: World Series Game 1 TV Schedule, Preview, Prediction

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By @Spencito6

Madison Bumgarner vs. James Shields

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World Series Game 1: San Francisco Giants vs. Kansas City Royals

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014 at 8:07 p.m. EST

Probables: Madison Bumgarner (18-10, 2.98 ERA) vs. James Shields (14-8, 3.21 ERA)

Breakdown: Fans haven’t had baseball for three days now, but the wait is almost over! On Tuesday night predictions get thrown out the window and we get to see who actually gets it done on the field. It’s hard to imagine we’d see two Wild Card teams squaring off in the Fall Classic, but it’s been a fun ride. You have the Giants, who for whatever reason only enjoy being champions every other year, and the Royals, who have answered a 29-year playoff drought with an 8-0 record on their way to the World Series.

The most intriguing part about Game 1 is the pitching matchup, which pairs two dominant aces who have had terrific 2014 campaigns in Bumgarner and Shields. Through four starts this postseason, Bumgarner has posted a 2-1 record accompanied by a 1.42 ERA and 28 strikeouts. In two starts against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS, he went 1-0, allowing just three earned runs while striking out 12 over 15.2 innings.

The thing is I don’t think Kansas City cares how great Bumgarner has been; they won’t be intimidated.

Shields will toe the rubber for the Royals, and while his postseason hasn’t been as been as strong as he hoped (1-0 record in three starts, 10 earned runs and a 5.63 ERA over just 16 innings of work), he is a leader for this team and has the ability to be dominant on any given night. As the ace of the Royals staff, he will surely forget about the past and focus on just going out and doing his job in Game 1.

Offensively these two teams aren’t the biggest juggernauts, but their respective lineups get the job done. These squads are more likely to grind it out to get the win. The Royals like to steal bases and play small ball. The Giants like to take what teams give them and get timely hits. We finally saw San Francisco hit some home runs in the NLCS and it did wonders for them, but unfortunately that’s not their game so I don’t see them keeping it going.

That being said, I think catcher Buster Posey, who’s batting .302 this postseason, will continue to be a major spark for the Giants offense, along with Brandon Belt whose timely hitting has produced six RBIs so far this postseason. Travis Ishikawa really broke out in the the NLCS where he earned three RBIs in two separate games with big hits.

For the Royals, Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon have led the charge with eight and nine RBIs respectively. Hosmer has a team leading .448 batting average this postseason as well. Early on in the ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles, Mike Moustakas found some rhythm at the plate, but in the final two games he went 0-for-7. I think it will be important for both he and Billy Butler, who’s batting just .222 this postseason, to get going against San Francisco. It’s been all hands on deck for Kansas City, as they have 10 different players with at least one RBI.

Prediction: For San Francisco they have to focus on two things to win Game 1. The first is getting to Shields early and often to make Kansas City exhaust their bullpen. The Royals’ late inning trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland have been the definition of shut down this season. Including the postseason, Kansas City is 68-5 when leading after six innings, 75-1 when leading after seven innings and 82-1 when leading after eight. That is unbelievable but true. Their bullpen doesn’t blow leads.

The second key for the Giants is slowing down the Kansas City running attack around the bases. They are fast, and they’re great at picking the right pitches to steal on. So far this postseason the Royals have stolen 13 bases and none of their opponents could figure out a solution to stop them.

All things considered I’m going with the Royals to win Game 1. I can’t keep picking against these guys, because every time I do they prove me wrong. I’m finally on board. “Big Game” James Shields will show up on the biggest stage, hand things off to his bullpen with a lead in the sixth and as always Kansas City will grind out a win.

Spencer German is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Spencito6. “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

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