World Series: Can the Kansas City Royals rebound in Game 2?
By Brian Draus
Oct 22, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost before game two of the 2014 World Series against the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
After getting beaten soundly 7-1 last night in Game 1 of the 2014 World Series, the Kansas City Royals will send Yordano Ventura to the mound to avoid heading to San Francisco in an 0-2 hole. Can they do it?
Here is what the Royals must do.
1. Get off to a good start
Since the Giants have a good bullpen (albeit not as good as their own) it is crucial for them to get out to an early lead. Jake Peavy has an 1.86 ERA in the postseason thus far in ’14, and is a high emotion pitcher. It should be interesting to see if the Royals can frustrate Peavy early, therefore scoring some runs off of him.
2. Make sure Yordano Ventura handles the atmosphere and the layoff well.
Ventura is a pitcher that if on his game is un-hittable, however, if not will give up some runs. Control could become an issue, and I don’t think that the Royals want to go to the bullpen early for a second straight night. Ventura needs to get the ball to the bullpen with the lead, because if that happens it is usually automatically a win for the Royals.
3. Get a lead before the 7th inning
As I stated above, the Royals are as sure of a thing as anyone in baseball with the lead late. It may be tough to do, but if that happens they should win.
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4. Come through with runners on base
The Royals had runners on second and third with no outs in the 3rd inning last night, and failed to score. That cannot happen if the Royals want to win. It is that simple. The Royals need to play small ball well, something that didn’t happen that inning in Game 1.
5. Play perfect defense
The Royals defense was okay last night, but not as good as it has been. If they can get back to the way they have been playing in the field, they will have a much better chance of winning.
This will be a tough game to win, especially when Ventura’s can be erratic is situations that he hasn’t been in. The Giants took it to the Royals last night, and will look to put their foot on their throats headed back to the bay area. If that happens is yet to be determined, but this is definitely a must-win game for Kansas City.
Source: ESPN