2014 World Series
Game 4 - Kansas City leads series 2-1
First pitch: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: San Francisco -125, Kansas City +115, Total: 7

The Giants attempt to even up the series at two games when they take on the Kansas City Royals in game four of the World Series on Saturday night in San Francisco.

Kansas City have looked amazing while seemingly having fate on their side throughout this postseason thus far, winning 10-of-11 games while seven of them were by two or fewer runs. They started off this series with their only loss of the playoffs, but have bounced back and were victors in game two (7-2) awhile pulling out a close 3-2 win on Friday night. A sixth inning RBI off the bat of 1B Eric Hosmer (.359) was the difference for this one as the bullpen pitched four frames of no-hit baseball. SS Alcides Escobar (.313) already has five hits in this series while carrying an eight-game hitting streak into this contest in which he has three doubles, a homer, three RBIs and six runs. The Giants certainly have the edge in experience, winning the fall classic in both 2010 and 2012, but have struggled to get anything going after a strong performance in game one. They managed just four hits in Friday’s loss while going 0-for-3 with RISP and getting 3.1 scoreless innings out of their spectacular bullpen. OF Hunter Pence (.286) had one of the few hits and is 4-for-11 in the series with a double, HR, two RBIs and two runs. Attempting to aid the Royals in taking a commanding 3-1 series lead will be LHP Jason Vargas (1-0, 2.38 ERA) as he toes the rubber and faces off against RHP Ryan Vogelsong (0-0, 5.19 ERA) of the host Giants. Throughout the year, Kansas City has actually performed better when on the road, going 52-34 (.605) away from home while San Francisco is 49-38 (.563) in front of their hometown fans. With Friday’s win, the Royals pushed their record against the Giants this year to 5-1 as they have outscored them 27-17 in that time. Bettors should take notice that Kansas City is 29-8 (.784) after having won six or seven of their last eight games this season while San Francisco is 73-46 (.613) when the total is between seven and 8.5 in the 2014 campaign. The Royals continue to play with no significant injuries while the Giants will be without the services of 2B Marco Scutaro (Back) and OF Angel Pagan (Back) for the duration of the playoffs.

Jason Vargas has been on three different teams in the same number of years while putting up some respectable numbers as he has had a 3.85 ERA or better in three of the past five seasons while getting double-digit victories three times since the start of the 2011 year. He does not blow anybody away (6.2 K/9), but can manage the game with his solid control (2.0 B/9). He threw his first two postseason games earlier in these playoffs, allowing three runs over his 11.1 frames while already giving up three home runs out of his five hits and walking four. Against the Giants in his career, Vargas is 0-1 (2-1 team record) with a 3.15 ERA (1.20 WHIP) as he has allowed 19 hits over his last two outings (19 IP). C Buster Posey (2-for-7, 1 HR, 1 RBI), 3B Pablo Sandoval (3-for-9) and 1B Brandon Belt (2-for-4) have all done well in their limited looks against the righty while OF Michael Morse is 3-for-13 with four strikeouts in the matchup with one of his hits leaving the ballpark. Kansas City’s bullpen is 35-18 (.660) with a 3.14 ERA (1.22 WHIP) while saving 60-of-72 (83%) games. Greg Holland (0.90 ERA, 7 saves) has appeared in 10-of-11 postseason games in 2014 while allowing a mere four hits and striking out 13 in 10 frames.

Ryan Vogelsong had a bounce-back year in 2014, dropping his ERA (4.00) nearly two runs from the previous season’s mark of 5.73 while raising his strikeouts to a serviceable 7.4 K/9 and showed career-best control (2.8 BB/9). He looked good in his first start of these playoffs when facing the Nationals as he went 5.2 innings while allowing a run on just two hits and struck out four (2 walks). His team also won in his second outing when he took the mound against the Cardinals, but certainly did not pitch as well (3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 K). Overall in his postseason career, Vogelsong is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA (1.17 WHIP) while allowing one homer in 33.1 frames over six starts. He has never faced Kansas City in his time at the major league level but has gone agianst 2B Omar Infante plenty with poor results as the Royals batter is 7-for-11 in the matchup. Meanwhile, Vogelsong may have an easier time when facing C Salvador Perez who is a meager 6-for-44 (.136) with 10 strikeouts in the playoffs so far. The relievers for San Francisco have gone 37-15 (.712) with a tremendous 2.93 ERA (1.05 WHIP) and are 51-for-70 (73%) in their save opportunities. Santiago Casilla (0.00 ERA, 4 saves) has allowed just two hits with seven strikeouts in his 7.l innings on the mound during this postseason.