Frank Lorenzo
Kansas City Royals (+113) at San Francisco Giants (-118, 7 o/u)
After their eight-game playoff win streak was snapped in game one, the Kansas City Royals bounced back in game two with a 7-2 victory. With the series tied 1-1, the Royals will look to steal back home field advantage tonight, sending Jeremy Guthrie to the mound to face Tim Hudson (8:07 p.m. Eastern at AT&T Park).
Kansas City Royals (+113) at San Francisco Giants (-118, 7 o/u)
After their eight-game playoff win streak was snapped in game one, the Kansas City Royals bounced back in game two with a 7-2 victory. With the series tied 1-1, the Royals will look to steal back home field advantage tonight, sending Jeremy Guthrie to the mound to face Tim Hudson (8:07 p.m. Eastern at AT&T Park). This will be the first game for the Royals at San Francisco since 2005.
“We showed them that we have fight in us, and I think they knew that already,” said Royals DH Billy Butler, whose RBI single in the sixth inning gave KC a 3-2 lead. “But we stepped up big there as a team, and that gave us some confidence.”
Guthrie has just one start in these playoffs, which ended in a no decision. He went 5.1 innings giving up three hits and one earned run in game three of the ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles. KC won the game 2-1.
For the Giants, Tim Hudson will be tasked with silencing the Royal bats. The 39-year-old has 11 career post-season starts under his belt, but will be making his first career World Series start tonight. Hudson has won 214 regular season games in his career.
The Giants are hoping home field can provide a real advantage, as the dimensions and elements at AT&T Park present challenges for visiting teams, especially opponents like the Royals who rarely visit the Bay Area.
“It’s a big park; right field is tricky. The wind does a lot of different things in the outfield, so our guys are used to it,” Giants designated hitter Michael Morse said. “It’s tough. It’s tough out there. But everybody’s a professional.”
San Francisco is the slight favorite at the moment, listed at -118 to win game three; Kansas City is +113 and the over/under sits at 7.
(Photo credit: Bspangenberg (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped from its original.)
