MLB Kansas City Royals

How Can Kansas City Royals Score On San Francisco Giants Reliever Yusmeiro Petit?

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By @DLaC67

Yusmeiro Petit San Francisco Giants

Jamie Squire – Getty Images Sport

The Kansas City Royals enter do-or-die mode today, as they begin the first of hopefully two more World Series games at Kauffman Stadium. Confidence in KC remains remarkably high, and once again Royals’ batters are thrilled to get an at-bat against any pitcher that isn’t Madison Bumgarner.

San Francisco Giants starter Jake Peavy now has a 7.05 ERA and a BAA of .320 in his postseason career. In 37 innings pitched, Peavy has allowed 16 BB and struck out 19 batters.

With San Fran just one win away from a title, we could see Yusmeiro Petit on the mound as soon as Peavy shows signs of being hittable. The same could be said for Tim Hudson in a possible Game 7 start. Petit is a huge question mark for the Royals, and his success during these playoffs is well documented.

Petit hasn’t allowed a run to score in his 12 innings this postseason, and he already struck out 13 batters. This emerging Giants reliever allowed as many hits this season (four) as BB, so perhaps KC can get a key rally started by simply being patient. San Francisco has walked three times as many batters as the Royals in this series (18 to 6), but Kansas City can’t afford to wait and stare at first-pitch strikes against either the savvy journeyman reliever or the wise veteran starter.

Because of Petit’s recent success and Peavy’s recent struggles, KC’s game plan should revolve around scoring early on Peavy. Returning home and adding DH Billy Butler to the lineup should help turn that plan into a successful reality in Game 6. Butler’s success against Peavy is remarkable, and his chances against Petit should be solid if he can get ahead in the count.

Petit consistently throws fastballs away in the zone when he falls behind in the count, and Butler has a .714 batting average on middle-and-away fastballs when he has the advantage in the count this season. I know that’s a specific stat, but it doesn’t just apply to Butler. Petit isn’t the only pitcher who is at his most hittable when he leaves fastballs in the middle of the plate, but he’s been so good that the Royals must aim to attack him in very specific situations.

If they can score early on the veteran grinder Peavy or stay patient enough to get ahead in the count on Petit, the Royals might just be able to hand the game over to their historically good bullpen with the lead and live to see another day of World Series baseball. Sounds simple enough, right?

Doug LaCerte is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DLaC67, “like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.

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