World Series Game 7 – Royals, Giants Ready to Make History

World Series Game 7: San Francisco Giants (+115) at Kansas City Royals (-150, 7 o/u)

After being on the brink of elimination last night, the Kansas City Royals forced a Game 7 with a 10-0 blowout at Kauffman Stadium.

The final game of the season will feature the Giants’ Tim Hudson (0-1, 3.72 ERA in the postseason) against the Royals’ Jeremy Guthrie (1-0, 2.70 ERA in the postseason) in a rematch of Game 3 (which the Royals took 3-2). In that game, Guthrie went five innings and gave up four hits and two earned runs. He was even better in his other start this postseason; in the ALCS against Baltimore, Guthrie again went five strong and surrendered just three hits and one run.

Said Kansas City’s DH Billy Butler, “We’re confident. Jeremy, every time out, gives us a chance to win.”

As for it being a World Series Game 7, Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said, “This is what we all prepared for. This is why we play the game.”

The Giants will rally around Hudson, who gave up three runs and four hits over 5.2 innings in Game 3, taking the loss.

Even though the stakes couldn’t be higher, Hudson is going to relish the moment. “I’m no different than anybody else. As a kid, you think about it. As a big leaguer, you think about it. You wonder if you’re going to have an opportunity to do it. Sixteen years in the big leagues, I’m finally getting that chance. I can’t wait to get out there and have some fun,” said Hudson.

The secondary storyline for the Giants involves manager Bruce Bochy and whether ace Madison Bumgarner will make a relief appearance if needed. Bumgarner last pitched in Game 5 (on Sunday), throwing 117 pitches en route to a complete game shutout.

Asked whether “MadBum” would be ready to pitch on three days’ rest, Bochy said, “We’ll see where he’s at and how he’s doing out there. 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.”

Even though the small market Royals are a great story this season, the Giants money line (+135) is too good to pass up.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped from its original.)