Series breakdown
A look at the best-of-seven World Series between the Giants and Royals:
Schedule
Game 1, today, at Kansas City, 5:07 p.m.
Game 2, Wednesday, at Kansas City, 5:07
Game 3, Friday, at San Francisco, 5:07
Game 4, Saturday, at San Francisco, 5:07
x- Game 5, Sunday, at San Francisco, 5:07
x- Game 6, Oct. 28, at Kansas City, 5:07
x- Game 7, Oct. 29, at Kansas City, 5:07
x-if necessary.
TV: Fox 28 Radio: 700-AM/1080-AM
Projected lineups
San Francisco Giants
CF Gregor Blanco (.260, 5 HRs, 38 RBIs)
2B Joe Panik (.305, 1, 18)
C Buster Posey (.311, 22, 89)
3B Pablo Sandoval (.279, 16, 73)
RF Hunter Pence (.277, 20, 74)
1B Brandon Belt (.243, 12, 27)
DH Michael Morse (.279, 16, 61)
LF Travis Ishikawa (.252, 3, 18 Pirates, Giants)
SS Brandon Crawford (.246, 10, 69).
Kansas City Royals
SS Alcides Escobar (.285, 3, 50, 31 SBs)
RF Nori Aoki (.285, 1, 43, 17 SBs)
CF Lorenzo Cain (.301, 5, 53, 28 SBs)
1B Eric Hosmer (.270, 9, 58)
DH Billy Butler (.271, 9, 66)
LF Alex Gordon (.266, 19, 74, 12 SBs)
C Salvador Perez (.260, 19, 70)
2B Omar Infante (.252, 6, 66)
3B Mike Moustakas (.212, 15, 54)
Projected rotations
Giants
LH Madison Bumgarner
(18-10, 2.98 ERA, 219 Ks, 217 1/3 IP)
RH Jake Peavy (7-13, 3.73 Red Sox, Giants)
RH Tim Hudson (9-13, 3.57)
RH Ryan Vogelsong (8-13, 4.00).
Royals
RH James Shields (14-8, 3.21, 227 IP, 180 Ks)
RH Yordano Ventura (14-10, 3.20, 159 Ks)
LH Jason Vargas (11-10, 3.71, 128 Ks),
RH Jeremy Guthrie (13-11, 4.13, 202 2/3 IP, 124 Ks).
Relievers
Giants
RH Santiago Casilla (3-3, 1.70, 19/23 saves)
RH Sergio Romo (6-4, 3.72, 23/28 saves)
LH Jeremy Affeldt (4-2, 2.28)
LH Javier Lopez (1-1, 3.11)
RH Jean Machi (7-1, 2.58, 2 saves)
RH Hunter Strickland (1-0, 0.00 in 9 games)
RH Yusmeiro Petit (5-5, 3.69 in 39 games, 12 starts)
RH Tim Lincecum (12-9, 4.74, 1 save in 33 games, 26 starts).
Royals
RH Greg Holland (1-3, 1.44, 46/48 saves)
RH Wade Davis (9-2, 1.00)
RH Kelvin Herrera (4-3, 1.41)
LH Brandon Finnegan (0-1, 1.29 in 7 games)
RH Jason Frasor (3-0, 1.53)
LH Danny Duffy (9-12, 2.53 ERA, 113 Ks in 31 games, 25 starts)
LH Tim Collins (0-3, 3.86 in 22 games).
What to watch for
• Lights Out Late. Both teams rely on stingy bullpens, so runs could be hard to come by in the late innings. Holland has six saves and a 1.13 ERA in eight postseason games. Davis is 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA, and Herrera has a 1.08 mark in seven appearances. All three have struck out 10. Bochy’s expert use of the bullpen has been the biggest reason for San Francisco’s remarkable October success. Affeldt has made 18 straight scoreless appearances in the postseason, Casilla 17 and Lopez 15. .
• Big-Game Bum. The 25-year-old Bumgarner has stepped forward as the Giants’ staff ace. The NLCS MVP is 5-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 11 postseason games, matching Bob Gibson and Mike Mussina as the only pitchers with five straight postseason starts of at least seven innings with seven or fewer baserunners allowed. Bumgarner has thrown 15 scoreless innings in World Series play, winning both his starts while striking out 14 and yielding five total hits.
• Big Game James. Shields is the rare Royals player with World Series experience. He pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings for Tampa Bay in a 2008 win over Philadelphia. Kansas City traded a bevy of top prospects to the Rays to acquire Shields before the 2013 season. He went 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA in three playoff starts this month and is 3-4 with a 5.19 mark in nine career postseason outings.
• Managing Expectations. Looking for his third championship in five years, Bochy is building a Hall of Fame resume. Ned Yost was once fired by Milwaukee in the middle of a playoff race, and some of his curious decisions have exasperated Royals fans. Yost made all the right moves against Baltimore, though, and now he’s the toast of the town. With both bullpens stacked and the benches often in play, this could become an interesting chess match.