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Royals, Giants set for winner-take-all Game 7 in Kansas City

Oct 29, 2014 - 2:17 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - After a 162-game regular season and three rounds of playoffs it all comes down to this. One game. Do or die for the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants, as they battle for a World Series title in Game 7 on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium.

"It's a cool opportunity for us, the Giants and the Royals," Giants catcher Buster Posey said. "Just for baseball fans, in general, Game 7 of the World Series? It doesn't get much better."

Kansas City staved off elimination on Tuesday, as 23-year-old Yordano Ventura dominated the Giants over seven scoreless innings and the Royals scored seven times in the second inning to key a 10-0 rout.

Pitching with a heavy heart following the death of his good friend Oscar Taveras over the weekend, Ventura put forth his best effort of this postseason, as he allowed just three hits and recorded his first win of the playoffs.

"He had that look in his eye," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "It didn't matter how many runs we scored he was going to go out and win that game."

The Royals have now won their last eight games when facing elimination.

Kansas City will try to win just its second-ever title and first since 1985 tonight behind righty Jeremy Guthrie, who has been as good as any pitcher in baseball since the start of September and defeated the Giants in Game 3.

"I feel like I'm in a good position to pitch well, as I've been all season long," Guthrie said. "And that's a good place to be, to not have to worry about being fatigued or not have to worry about any lingering soreness. I feel that whatever I bring to Game 7 will be my best."

Guthrie gave up a pair of runs in five innings in the win over the Giants and became the first pitcher in baseball history to earn a victory without allowing a walk or striking out a batter.

He has won six of seven decisions since falling to Oakland on Aug. 12 and has allowed one run or less in six of those 10 starts in that span. He's only given up three runs in 10 innings this postseason.

"My memories of a Game 7 probably go back to Jack Morris, '91," Guthrie said. "I remember that game. I was 12 years old, so certainly could appreciate the effort that he gave and the magnitude of the game, to be able to pitch like he did and win the World Series."

And thanks to Ventura, the Royals' incredible bullpen triumvirate of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland will be fully rested.

San Francisco, meanwhile, will rely on veteran righty Tim Hudson, who has given up seven runs 11 1/3 innings of his last two starts. Hudson lost to Guthrie and the Royals on Friday and surrendered three runs in 5 2/3 frames.

However, the 39-year-old, who will be the oldest pitcher to start a Game 7, was terrific in his NLDS start versus Washington.

"When you're a little kid in the backyard, you always think of World Series games and hitting home runs to win a Game 7 of the World Series or pitching in a big game, a Game 7 of the World Series," Hudson said. "So I'm no different than anybody else. It's something that as a kid growing up you think about it, as a Big League player you think about it, and you often wonder if you're ever going to have the opportunity to do it.

"Sixteen years in the Big Leagues, I finally have that chance. I mean, I'm really, really excited about it. I can't wait. I can't wait to get out there tomorrow and have some fun."

Of course, San Francisco will likely go to ace Madison Bumgarner at some point. Bumgarner tossed a four-hit shutout on Sunday, but should be available out of the bullpen for Game 7.

"This guy's human. You can't push him too much," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "We're confident in Hudson."

Bumgarner has allowed one run over 16 innings in his two starts against Kansas City.

"We'll see where he's at and how he's doing out there," Bochy said. "I can't tell you exactly how far he could go or how many pitches he could go. I think you read him and see how he's doing out there."

Recent history is also on the Royals' side as the home team has been victorious in each of the last nine World Series Game 7's. In fact there hasn't been a road team to prevail in this situation since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates upended Baltimore.

Furthermore, 13 of the last 14 teams to win a Game 6 at home to force a Game 7, in either the LCS or World Series rounds, went on to win Game 7. The only exception was the 2006 Mets, who lost NLCS Game 7 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Also nine of the last 10 teams to lose Game 6 with a 3-2 lead have gone on to lose the series.

The last team with a 3-2 lead to lose Game 6 and win the series was the 1997 Marlins, and prior to them, the last such occurrence was the 1975 Reds.

And the Giants, who are trying for their third championship in five years, have lost their previous four winner-take-all World Series games. However, they have won their last seven elimination games, five of which have come on the road.

Should the Giants win they would become the first team since the 1975 Cincinnati Reds to rally back and win a Game 7 on the road after falling in Game 6.