Frank Lorenzo
San Francisco Giants (+101) at Kansas City Royals (-111, 7 o/u)
Last night, the San Francisco Giants showed why they have won two of the last four World Series (a combination of dominant pitching and clutch hitting) and they will send veteran Jake Peavy to the mound for game two tonight looking to take a stranglehold on the series. The Royals will counter with rookie flamethrower Yordano Ventura. First pitch is at 8:07 p.m. Eastern (Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri).
San Francisco Giants (+101) at Kansas City Royals (-111, 7 o/u)
Last night, the San Francisco Giants showed why they have won two of the last four World Series (a combination of dominant pitching and clutch hitting) and they will send veteran Jake Peavy to the mound for game two tonight looking to take a stranglehold on the series. The Royals will counter with rookie flamethrower Yordano Ventura. First pitch is at 8:07 p.m. Eastern (Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri).
Game one saw the more experienced Giants hammer the Royals 7-1 and steal home field advantage in the process. In game two, San Francisco will have the added comfort of an experienced pitcher to go with its veteran hitters.
After a rough start to the season in Boston (1-9 with a 4.72 ERA), Peavy did a 180 after being dealt to the Giants, going 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA over 12 starts. He has continued his solid play into the postseason and will try to use his famous curveball to keep the Royals off-balance tonight. In the regular season, batters hit just .197 against his breaking ball.
The 33-year-old right-hander knows he will be facing a hungry Royals side tonight, though. “A lot of energy, I think, on both sides,” said Peavy after game one. “We’ll have our work cut out for us, for sure.”
Peavy has two starts this postseason with a win and a no-decision, allowing six hits and two runs in 9.2 innings pitched, good enough for a 1.88 ERA.
His counterpart, Ventura, posted a 5-7 record and 3.27 ERA in 16 home starts during the regular season. In his nascent postseason career, the rookie has two starts (both no decisions) and also made a disastrous relief appearance against Oakland that almost cost the Royals the Wildcard game. He pitched a gem against Los Angeles in the ALDS, though, going seven strong and allowing just five hits and one run. The Royals will be hoping that Ventura shows up tonight.
The young Dominican is not dwelling on his up-and-down performance so far. “For me, another thing I focus on is to live day by day,” Ventura said. “Really, what happened (against) Oakland, I had moved past that.”
Kansas City is a slight favorite to bounce back and get the win, listed at -111 in the money line; San Francisco is +101.
(Photo credit: Keith Allison [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)
