It looked like we were on our way to a Game 6 in the National League Championship Series when the St. Louis Cardinals took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday. In reality, we were on our way to a dramatic walk-off home run and a World Series date between the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants.
Travis Ishikawa hit the first ever series-ending home run in NLCS history in the bottom of the ninth to propel the Giants to yet another World Series. Remember, this is the team that took home the 2010 and 2012 championships, and it seems poised to keep the every-other-year streak going.
However, America’s new team of destiny, the Royals, stands in the way as it looks to complete a magical postseason run with a World Series title of its own.
Here is a look at the complete schedule for the Fall Classic:
It’s not just the fact that the Royals are participating that makes this World Series incredibly unlikely. ESPN Stats and Info noted why this is a historical anomaly:
The Royals’ magical run started with an improbable extra-innings comeback against the Oakland Athletics in the Wild Card Round. It continued when they swept the top-seeded Los Angeles Angels and their mighty lineup and then handled the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. Baltimore just happened to hit more home runs than any other team in baseball during the season, but it didn’t matter.
Kansas City has not lost a single postseason game yet and is winning with a combination of timely hitting, shutdown relief pitching, speed, athleticism, defense and the more-than-occasional bunt. Manager Ned Yost discussed the proceedings, via Paul White of USA Today:
There's no better weapons. Speed and the defense and the bullpen.
It goes back to playing the game the way the game was built to be played. It's exciting baseball. I think we've made a bunch of new fans throughout the country. They've fallen in love with our team, our athleticism, our energy.
America may have fallen in love with the Royals, but the Giants bring experience and poise to the table. While Kansas City seemingly rarely even sniffs third place in its own division, let alone a spot in the World Series, the Giants have made a habit out of this. They won the titles in 2010 and 2012 and, as ESPN Stats and Info noted, simply don’t lose in the playoffs:
A few days off will do the Giants some good because it means ace pitcher and NLCS MVP Madison Bumgarner will be well rested and they can set the rotation accordingly. Bumgarner has been an absolute machine in the postseason, pitching 15.2 innings against St. Louis with three earned runs, 12 strikeouts and three walks.
He also shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card Round just to get San Francisco into the final four of the National League.
Trying to predict the 2014 MLB postseason has been something of a fool’s errand, as surprises, upsets and simply illogical things continue to happen. It may drive statisticians mad, but a team that heavily relies on the sacrifice bunt is only four wins away from a championship.
Talent tends to win out over the course of a long 162-game regular season, but the small sample size of the playoffs means a single bad bounce or walked batter can swing the pendulum of the entire series.
That being said, the thought here is that the Royals have unlocked their perfect formula to a World Series title. Sure, it helps that they have home-field advantage because the American League won the All-Star Game, but the dominating bullpen means Kansas City just has to grab a lead in the first six innings.
Its small-ball approach allows it to scrape together enough runs to do just that. There is no reason to expect anything different in the World Series.
Behind a seemingly unstoppable bullpen, the Royals will outlast the Giants down the stretch enough times to take home the World Series trophy.
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