By Jeremy Kahn

When the 2014 season very few people thought that this version of the San Francisco Giants would make another run towards the postseason.

Obviously, people forgot that this is an even year and in the past two even years, the Giants made a great run to two World Series titles in 2010 and 2012.

Well, this is an even year and once again, the Giants are on their way back to the World Series for the third time in the past five years.

Awaiting the Giants in the World Series is the Kansas City Royals, a team that returned to the postseason for the first time since 1985.

These two teams faced each other back in the second weekend in August, and the Giants left Missouri’s largest city with three consecutive losses after being swept by the upstart Royals.
Despite opening with a 42-21 record, and a nine and a half game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers early in the season, the Giants faltered and slipped into the Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Behind a Brandon Crawford grand slam, the Giants shutout the Pirates 8-0 to move on to the National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals, the best team in the National League in 2024.

The Giants could have cared less the Nationals were the best team in the NL, as they defeated them in four games, including a 18-inning thriller that saw Brandon Belt hit a solo home run to give them a 2-1 victory.

Moving onto the NLCS for the third time in five years, the Giants would be an underdog against the St. Louis Cardinals in a rematch from the 2012 NLCS that saw the Giants comeback from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Cardinals in seven games.

Once again, the Giants came up with some heroics, as they won Game Three on a walk-off throwing error by Michael Wacha and then clinched the pennant on a walk-off three-run home run by Travis Ishikawa.

The World Series begins on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, and will continue there on Wednesday before heading to the Bay Area over the weekend.