2014 World Series
Game 3 - Series ties 1-1
First pitch: Friday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: San Francisco -120, Kansas City +110, Total: 7

With the World Series now deadlocked at one game apiece, the Royals and Giants head west on Friday night to do battle at AT&T Park.

After not being able to get out of an early hole in the series opener, Kansas City put together a nice performance in Wednesday's Game 2 to tie this series up. The Royals took a tie game into the sixth inning where they blew the game open with a five-run frame which was capped off by a two-run homer by 2B Omar Infante in the 7-2 win. OF Lorenzo Cain had gone hitless over his previous two contests, but pulled it back together with a 2-for-4 night in Game 2, which gives him four doubles and 11 runs in the postseason so far. San Francisco once again struck first in this game, as OF Gregor Blanco took Yordano Ventura deep for a solo homer to open things up, but the club could not get much going after that, hitting 1-for-8 with RISP and recording strikeouts in five of their final six outs. With a double in the game, 3B Pablo Sandoval has now hit safely in his past seven contests while getting six doubles and scoring eight runs in these playoffs. Taking the mound on Friday night will be RHP Jeremy Guthrie (0-0, 1.80 ERA) for the Royals, as he goes up against RHP Tim Hudson (0-0, 3.29 ERA) of the host Giants. On the year, Kansas City has been spectacular on the road, going 51-34 (.600), while San Francisco is a strong 49-37 (.570) at AT&T Park. This season, the Royals have dominated the Giants, coming away victorious in 4-of-5 games while outscoring them 24-15. There are no new injuries to either side, as Kansas City is healthy, while San Francisco has 2B Marco Scutaro (back) and OF Angel Pagan (back) out for the rest of the year.

Guthrie could quite possibly be one of the most unexciting pitchers to have such an extended career as he has had an ERA above 4.00 in each of the past four seasons while getting under that mark just three times in his eight years as a full-time starter. He struck out a mere 5.5 batters per nine innings over the regular season, but provided his club with 200 or more frames for fifth time in six years. While Guthrie has had a long career (275 games, 248 starts), he has made just one start in the postseason which came in this year's ALCS where he was solid after throwing five innings of one-run baseball where he allowed three hits and struck out two. Guthrie has not done well in his three career outings against the Giants though, going 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA and 1.98 WHIP while giving up four homers in 14.2 innings pitched. SS Brandon Crawford (4-for-4, 1 HR), 3B Pablo Sandoval (3-for-6, 2 doubles, 2 RBI) and OF Michael Morse (3-for-8) have done well in limited at-bats against the veteran, while OF Hunter Pence and C Buster Posey are a combined 1-for-9 with 3 K's in the matchup. The Royals bullpen once again put up goose eggs on Wednesday night to improve to 35-18 (.660) this year with a 3.17 ERA and 1.22 WHIP while successfully saving 59-of-71 (83%) games. Closer Greg Holland (1.00 ERA, 6 saves) has appeared in nine of Kansas City’s 10 playoff games while allowing four hits, and has struck out 13 batters in nine frames.

Tim Hudson is another pitcher that does not get most batters out with a strikeout as he whiffed 5.7 batters per nine innings in the regular season while relying on control (1.6 BB/9) and the ability to keep the ball in the park (0.71 HR/9) as his main assets. After his clubs lost his first six playoff starts, San Francisco pulled out victories in both contests where Hudson was the starter this year, making him 1-3 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in his 12 career games (11 starts) in the postseason. In his time facing Kansas City, Hudson is 3-4 with a 4.12 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, while allowing five homers and walking an unusually high 22 batters over 67.2 innings. OF Alex Gordon and SS Alcides Escobar have gone 5-for-11 with a homer and 2 RBI combined when facing Hudson, while OF Josh Willingham is a woeful 2-for-23 (.087) with eight strikeouts against the 39-year-old righty. San Francisco’s relievers have been outstanding all season, combining to go 37-15 (.712) with a 2.95 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, and are 51-for-70 (73%) in save attempts. Closer Santiago Casilla (0.00 ERA, 4 saves) has given up just two hits while going 4-for-4 in save chances over his seven playoff innings thus far.