2014 World Series
Game 7: Series tied 3-3
First pitch: Wednesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Kansas City -130, San Francisco +120, Total: 7

After a huge offensive outburst on Tuesday, the Royals will host the Giants in a decisive World Series Game 7 on Wednesday night.

San Francisco is the more experienced club here with World Series victories in both 2010 and 2012 while it has scored 27 runs (4.5 per game) over the first six games of this series. In Game 5 at home, the club was able to run away with a 5-0 shutout thanks to the arm of Madison Bumgarner, but the script was flipped on Tuesday when Kansas City rolled to an 11-0 victory to force a Game 7. San Francisco had a mere six hits in the shutout loss as starter Jake Peavy (1.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 K's) had yet another poor playoff outing. The team was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while 3B Pablo Sandoval was 1-for-3 to improve his strong World Series numbers to 9-for-25 (.360) with two doubles, 4 RBI and four runs. Kansas City has put itself in this unfathomable position after a dominant Game 6 as it scored its most runs of this postseason (11) behind 15 hits. The Royals were 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position as they backed a clutch performance from their starter Yordano Ventura who tossed seven shutout innings while allowing a mere three hits (but also five walks) and striking out four. OF Lorenzo Cain was the MVP of the ALDS and came through on Tuesday with a 2-for-3 night while driving in three, making him 7-for-22 (.318) with two doubles, 4 RBI and four runs in the World Series. For this last game of the season, the pitching matchup will peg San Francisco RHP Tim Hudson (0-1, 3.72 ERA) against RHP Jeremy Guthrie (1-0, 2.70 ERA) for Kansas City. On the year, the Giants are 48-41 (.539) when playing on the road while the Royals are 48-40 (.545) when playing within the confines of Kauffman Stadium. Overall this season, Kansas City holds a 6-3 record against San Francisco and has done well when playing at home in that time; going 5-1. Trends show that the Giants are 74-47 (.612) when the total is between 7 and 8.5 runs this year, while the Royals have gone 10-0 after scoring nine or more runs this season. The injury situation remains the same for this contest, as San Francisco’s OF Angel Pagan (back) and 2B Marco Scutaro (back) are out, while Kansas City has no significant omissions from its lineup.

Tim Hudson had quite the comeback season after a brutal injury in 2013 and his 3.57 ERA was his best since 2011 while he put up career-best control numbers (1.6 BB/9). He managed just 5.7 strikeouts per nine innings over the year while forcing batters to hit the ball on the ground 53.1% of the time. In his previous 15 seasons, Hudson had never pitched past the NLDS, but has started three contests in these playoffs while allowing eight runs on 18 hits with 15 strikeouts (1 walk) over 19.1 frames. Overall in his postseason career (13 games, 12 starts), he is 1-4 with a 3.53 ERA and 1.26 WHIP, while allowing six homers in his 74 innings. In his career against the Royals, he is 3-5 (6-6 team record) with a 4.17 ERA and 1.32 WHIP while allowing five homers in his 73.1 frames against them. SS Alcides Escobar (3-for-8, 1 double, 1 RBI) has done well in his limited at-bats against the veteran, while OF Josh Willingham (2-for-32, 8 K's) and 2B Omar Infante (6-for-26, 2 RBI, 4 K's) have done poorly in the matchup. The Giants bullpen has gone an incredible 38-15 (.717) this year with a 2.94 ERA and 1.06 WHIP while successfully saving 51-of-70 (73%) games. Closer Santiago Casilla (0.00 ERA, 4 saves) has given up just two hits in his 7.1 frames this postseason, but has not pitched since Game 3.

Jeremy Guthrie has made a living with giving his clubs consistency, as he has been able to pitch at least 200 innings in five of his past six seasons while having an ERA between 4.04 and 4.76 in that time. The way he wins games is with control, as he has walked a mere 2.2 batters per nine innings while failing to strike out too many hitters (5.5 K/9). He has done well over his first two playoff starts this year, giving up three runs on seven hits over his 10 frames while his team has won two close games. When facing the Giants, Guthrie is 1-1 (3-1 team record) with a weak 5.49 ERA and 1.68 WHIP, but he has given up just three runs (2 ER) on eight hits over his past two starts against them (10.1 IP). No player on San Francisco’s active roster has more than eight at-bats against the righty with OFs Gregor Blanco, Michael Morse, SS Brandon Crawford and 3B Pablo Sandoval combining to go 11-for-20 (.550) with a homer and 3 RBI while OF Hunter Pence (1-for-7, 3 K's) has not done well against him. The relievers for the Royals have gone a stellar 35-19 (.648) this year with a 3.27 ERA and 1.24 WHIP, and are a tremendous 60-for-72 (83%) in save opportunities. Closer Greg Holland (0.90 ERA, 7 saves) has been a beast this postseason with four hits allowed and 13 strikeouts while saving 7-of-7 games over his 10 appearances (10 IP).