The San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals will meet in the World Series, a pairing that seemed very unlikely even just a few weeks ago.
Both teams secured Wild Card spots, and have taken off ever since then. Coming into the series they are a combined 16-2, with the Royals boasting an undefeated record thus far.
Kansas City will have home-field advantage thanks to the American League's victory in the All-Star Game.
Regular Season Records:
San Francisco: 88-74, 2nd place in NL West
Kansas City: 89-73, 2nd place in AL Central
Season Series: Royals won 3-0, August 8-10 in Kansas City
Key Stat: The bullpens have been strikingly similar with their postseason dominance. Coming into the series their respective bullpen ERA's are 1.78 (Giants) and 1.80 (Royals).
San Francisco Outlook: The Giants return to their third World Series in the last five years. They knocked off the St. Louis Cardinals in walk-off fashion to clinch the National League pennant with a 4-1 series victory.
Madison Bumgarner continued his dominant run through the playoffs by throwing another 15.2 innings, allowing just three earned runs.
Travis Ishikawa has played an unlikely hero this postseason, as he now leads the Giants with seven RBI.
Meanwhile, Pablo Sandoval has a .326 postseason batting average, recording a hit in all but one game so far.
Kansas City Outlook: The Royals have cruised past every team in their path to the World Series, recording a perfect 8-0 record this postseason.
Led by a nearly untouchable bullpen and an aggressive mindset on the basepaths, the Royals lead the postseason with 13 steals and are second in bullpen ERA at 1.80 (only the Giants have a lower ERA at 1.78).
Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer have combined to hit six home runs and drive in 13 runners, anchoring a lineup that has won games with the long ball after hitting just 95 all season.
What to watch for: Both teams are built around a small-ball approach and a shutdown bullpen. Despite the Royals hitting for more power in the postseason, they are still a team that at its core wins games with station-to-station baseball.
The biggest factor for which team continues their impressive postseason run will be how well they perform in clutch situations.
San Francisco hasn't been hitting many runs in, but they have found ways to score regardless. The Royals have had more power than expected, but they continue to do most of their damage on the bases.
What they're saying - Giants:
Experience, luck may not be enough to beat Royals (CSNBayArea.com)
A recap of the Giants/Royals season series (McCovey Chronicles)
What they're saying - Royals:
Jarrod Dyson is testament to Royal's persistence (Wichita Eagle)
Royals: August sweep of Giants 'doesn't mean anything' (Official Site of the Kansas City Royals)
For More News & Rumors Check Out The Team Pages:
San Francisco Giants News & Rumors
Kansas City Royals News & Rumors
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