Giants aim to stay hot, Royals try to sink Jake Peavy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Momentum is a tricky concept, especially in the context of a postseason series.

The Kansas City Royals won eight consecutive games this postseason before running into a buzzsaw by the name of Madison Bumgarner. The balls that fell in for hits in the Royals previous playoff wins didn't in Game 1 of the World Series and as a result they find themselves facing a deficit heading into Game 2.

"We just couldn't find any holes," designated hitter Billy Butler said. "We spotted 'em some runs early and a good pitcher like that, he's done a good job of keeping those leads."

The Royals' best chance to get on the board came in the third inning, when their first two hitters reached base, but they couldn't push even one run across.

"The outcome changes if we do something there with second and third and nobody out," Butler said. "We didn't get it done tonight. That's a game changer."

So step one to the Royals getting back in the series is making the most of their opportunities. They ranked fourth in the majors during the regular season with a .271 average with runners in scoring position, but were 0-for-3 in the third inning of Game 1.

And after that, they didn't get another at-bat with a runner in scoring position the rest of the game.

These Royals know how to handle adversity. They were three games under .500 (29-32) in mid-June before reeling off 10 consecutive wins.

"Obviously, we haven't dealt with it this postseason but I like the way we've dealt with it throughout the season," said outfielder Alex Gordon. "We're the same people everyday whether we won the game or lost the game, the attitude and the personality stayed the same so we'll be fine."

In Game 2, the Royals will be facing a familiar foe in Giants starting pitcher Jake Peavy.

"We've seen him. He's a competitor," Gordon said. "A lot of emotions out there and he really attacks you. He's got good stuff and it's going to be a challenge, but we like who we have on the mound too so it's going to be a good matchup."

Indeed, Royals starter Yordano Ventura tied Game 1 starter James Shields for the Royals team lead with 14 wins and their ERAs (3.21 for Shields, 3.20 for Ventura) were almost identical.

"He's a tremendous competitor, even for as young as he is," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "I can't recall too many pitchers in my career that have his type of composure, his type of confidence and his type of stuff at that young an age."

The Royals will need a strong start out of Ventura, who has a 4.85 ERA in three appearances this postseason.

With the blowout loss in Game 1, Yost was able to save his best bullpen arms for later, going with Danny Duffy, Tim Collins and Jason Frasor.

With a travel day on Thursday, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland could be asked to pitch more than an inning in Game 2.

If Ventura can go even five innings and turn a lead over to the bullpen, the Royals have to like their chances.

On the other side, the Giants already have stolen the home field advantage. A win in Game 2 would make it much more likely they won't have to come back to Kansas City for Game 6.

Peavy went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 12 starts for the Giants during the regular season – and has been even more effective in the playoffs. In two starts, he's 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA.

He's also an excellent choice to get the ball in Kansas City since one common denominator throughout his career is that he's been very successful when pitching in spacious ballparks.

He won the 2007 NL Cy Young Award as a member of the San Diego Padres. He also has a career ERA of 2.90 in his seven starts at Kauffman Stadium.

VIDEO: Giants rout Royals in Game 1

According to Fangraphs, Peavy was one of the most extreme fly-ball pitchers in the majors this season – ranking eighth among starters with a 42% fly-ball rate.

And as the Giants center fielder Gregor Blanco showed in running down a long drive from Eric Hosmer in Game 1, the Royals don't have a monopoly on fleet-footed outfielders in this series.

"I love it. It has huge gaps and I just like to run," Blanco said. "Everytime that our outfield do their job catching (the ball), that frustrates the opposing team. They've been doing it all playoff, us too."

Giants manager Bruce Bochy tipped his hand a bit in Game 1, pinch-hitting for starting left fielder Travis Ishikawa with a much better defensive player, Juan Perez, in the fourth inning.

"That was a really easy move for me because we're winning the game," Bochy explained. "It's good to get those early runs, and we had some real nice at-bats early in the game."

If the Giants can get to Ventura early in Game 2, the sooner they'll be able to replace Ishikawa in left field. He had only played eight games in left field in his entire career before starting there in nine of the Giants' 10 games this postseason.

One other key for San Francisco is having another reliable bullpen arm if the game stays close into the late innings.

That's one reason Bochy went to rookie Hunter Strickland for the final inning of Game 1 with the outcome well in hand.

Strickland, 26 throws harder than any other Giants pitcher and he didn't allow a run in seven September innings after he was promoted from the minors.

However, he gave up four home runs in four appearances in the NL Division and Championship Series, including two long ones to Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals.

"I always want to get back out there," Strickland said. "This is what you dream about."

He was able to retire the Royals in order in the ninth to close out a 7-1 victory. Adding Strickland to the bullpen mix of Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla could give the Giants a bullpen that can go toe-to-toe with the fully rested Royals, especially if Game 2 turns out to be a bit more competitive than the series opener.

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