Going against preseason predictions and beating all the odds just to make it into the postseason, the Royals and Giants seemingly breezed their way through their given division series and championship series rounds on their way to the World Series. So evenly matched, as teams with a great pitching staff, lineup and bullpen, you had to figure that this year’s Fall Classic was going to be a great one. And, as I predicted, it surely has been exciting so far.
In game one on Tuesday night in Kansas City, Madison Bumgarner of the Giants took on the Royals and their best pitcher James Shields. For the Royals’ fan base, this game was something that they haven’t been able to experience in a long time, with the Royals last having made the postseason in 1985. But unfortunately for them, things didn’t start off too well, with three runs being scored in the very first inning by the Giants, off a Pablo Sandoval RBI-double and a Hunter Pence two-run home run.
From there, things simply got worse for the Royals. The Giants scored yet again in the fourth and the seventh, plating a couple of runs each inning, to take the score up to 7-0. With Madison Bumgarner on the mound, the Royals faced an impossible climb to reclaim the game, as despite a solo home run from Salvador Perez in the seventh, that would be the only run Bumgarner allowed, giving up just a total of three hits.
With the Giants taking the decisive 7-1 game one victory, you began to wonder whether or not this was going to be as competitive of a World Series as it had been advertised to be. But all thoughts of that were erased in game two, as things were much more thrilling for the better part of the game.
However, things didn’t start off looking too good for the Royals once again. The first batter of the game, Gregor Blanco, blasted a solo home run off the Royals’ flamethrowing Yordano Ventura, who became the first rookie to start a World Series game for the Royals in their history. From there, though, the Royals answered back, scoring a run in both the first and second innings off of the Giants’ Jake Peavy.
The Giants would tie the game in the top of the fourth inning, before the wheels came off in the sixth. Jake Peavy, who had been fairly good 
through this point in the game, was lifted after allowing the first two batters of the inning to reach base. His replacement, Jean Machi, allowed an RBI-single before being lifted for Javier Lopez, who recorded one out before he was replaced by Hunter Strickland. That would turn out to be a big mistake.
Strickland, who hasn’t done much of anything in the postseason for the Giants, gave up a two-run double to Salvador Perez, followed by a two-run homer by Omar Infante — the fifth home run Strickland has allowed this postseason, tying the postseason record.
Jeremy Affeldt would come on following Strickland’s removal, finishing out the inning without any more runs, but over the course of the 32 minute inning, the damage had been done. The Royals’ unbelievable bullpen subsequently shut down the game, securing them the 7-2 win.
The Royals and Giants now head to San Francisco tied at a game apiece. If either team can sweep the three games, which begin on Friday, the 2014 World Series Champion can potentially be crowned at AT&T park. But although baseball is unpredictable, it’s likely that the series will head back to Kansas City for game six and (possibly) seven in the final days of October.
