Rounding Third: Royals hope to party like it's 1985

Oct 21, 2014 - 3:05 PM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Kansas City Royals are back in the World Series for the first time in 29 years.

If they want to nail down their first title since that 1985 season, though, they'll have to get past a team in the San Francisco Giants, who will be vying for their third World Series championship in five years.

It's destiny versus dynasty, as Kansas City kicks off the 110th edition of the Fall Classic against the Giants on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.

It's also the final act on what's been an absolutely terrific postseason for Major League Baseball.

A big reason the baseball playoffs have been so exciting has been the run of the Royals, who became the first team in the history of the sport to open the postseason with eight straight wins.

All this from a team that not only was four games under .500 on June 1 and eight games out of a playoff spot on July 21, but behind by four runs in the eighth inning of their wild card game just three weeks ago.

That resiliency, though, and, of course, one of the better bullpens in the history of baseball has the Royals four wins from their second world title in history.

"I think this city has been waiting for this for a long time, and the fact that we're doing it in the fashion that we are is tremendous," said James Shields, Kansas City's Game 1 starter. "This is our goal in spring training, and we had one mind-set, and that was to go to the World Series and win it. And to be able to be here on this big stage is exactly what we've been working really hard for all season long."

No team signifies small ball more than Kansas City, which won 89 games this season thanks in large part to its ability to play defense and manufacture runs. The Royals also led the AL with 153 stolen bases, but their 95 home runs were the fewest in baseball.

Kansas City, though, has found its power stroke in the playoffs, swatting eight home runs in its eight games. It still relies on its speed, however, and has swiped 13 bases in the playoffs.

If you are looking for a star on this Royals team, good luck.

Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, and Mike Moustakas get most of the attention considering how highly regarded they were coming up through the organization, but Lorenzo Cain might be the most underrated player in the game.

As much as you want to talk about the timely hitting and the tremendous outfield play of Cain and Gordon, the Royals are in this position because of their bullpen.

Kansas City relievers allowed two runs in five innings in Game 1 against the O's, but pitched 11 2/3 scoreless innings the rest of the way. The three- headed monster of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland pitched to a 0.61 ERA over 14 2/3 frames.

"It's definitely been the model for us," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "It started out, find a way to get the ball to Holly in the ninth inning. With Kelvin's emergence this year, it turned into, 'Let's just find a way to get through six and we're going to be in great shape.'"

How much does Kansas City rely on its bullpen? Well, no Royals starter has recorded an out after the sixth inning this postseason.

As is the case with Kansas City, San Francisco can score from a number of different ways. All six of its runs in its Game 5 NLCS clincher versus the St. Louis Cardinals were scored on home runs, but the Giants have hit only five homers this whole postseason.

In fact, before Thursday's outburst, 12 of their previous 22 runs were scored without recording a hit.

The Giants bullpen has been just as dominant as Kansas City's but gets nowhere near the recognition. The group, which is spearheaded by closer Santiago Casilla, has pitched to a 1.78 ERA in the playoffs and has struck out 30 batters in 35 1/3 innings.

Kansas City's 'pen is 6-0 with six saves, and San Francisco is 5-1 with five.

The one glaring edge the Giants have, though, is Game 1 starter Madison Bumgarner, who is easily the best starting pitcher in this series. He's followed up a spectacular regular season with an equally impressive postseason, as between the NLDS and NLCS, Bumgarner has a 1.42 ERA in four starts over 31 2/3 innings this postseason.

There is nobody who could have predicted this World Series matchup at the start of the season. Heck, nobody could have seen this coming at the start of the postseason.

But, here we are, two wild card teams with less than 90 wins each in the regular season.

They almost mirror each other in the way they play, too. Both have great bullpens, neither really relies on the long ball and both can score in a number of different ways.

As evenly matched as they are, the Royals just seem to do everything a little better. The Giants were able to take advantage of some St. Louis mistakes in the NLCS. But the thing we've seen with the Royals in these playoffs is that they don't make a whole lot of mistakes.

And they seem to take advantage of every one made by the other team.

If I was going to make a case for the Giants, I may point toward their postseason experience, considering it's pretty much the same group that won titles in two of the last four years.

But, how overwhelmed are the Royals going to be? They have just opened the postseason with eight straight wins. Experience isn't an issue. Especially when Game 1 is in Kansas City.

Either way, it should be an entertaining series. But I'm rolling with the Royals' momentum.

PREDICTION: ROYALS IN SIX

WORLD SERIES MVP: ALEX GORDON