The San Francisco Giants Win Again

The Major League Baseball Playoffs have been remarkable this year. The San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals were both Wild Card teams, and met in the World Series.

The Royals opened the Playoffs with an extra-inning victory over the Athletics. They continued by rolling over the Tigers and Orioles.

The Giants also had a fairly simple road to the World Series, shutting out the Pirates and losing two games against the Cardinals and Nationals combined.

Momentum was continuously swayed between the Giants and Royals in the World Series. The Giants stole game one in Kansas City 7-1, but the Royals responded by winning the next two. The Giants blew out the Royals the next two games, and the Royals returned the favor to force game seven.

Both teams scored two runs in the second inning, but the Giants took the 3-2 lead in the fourth. Madison Bumgarner came in half way through the game and was clutch, pitching the rest of the game and allowing zero runs.

This marks the third time in five years that the Giants have won the World Series.
 

A Noble Year

One of the big stories in baseball this year has been the Kansas City Royals, who haven't made the playoffs since 1985 (when they won the World Series). In the preseason this year, signs did point upward for Kansas City; however, it wasn't clear just how high the team could go. They managed to get a wildcard spot and defeated the Oakland Athletics, the other AL wildcard team, in extra innings. But this was just the beginning of the Royals impressive win-streak.

They continued to win games, sweeping both the Angels and the Orioles, and have reached the Playoffs to face the San Francisco Giants, who are in the World Series for the third time since 2010.

In 2007 the Colorado Rockies, the only other team to have experienced a similar surge, swept opponents on their road to the World Series. The Rockies ended up getting swept by the Red Sox. Could something similar happen to the Royals?

The World Series begins Tuesday, October 24.