By Morris Phillips

If the 110^th World Series has you captivated so far, wait until you see what happens next.

The San Francisco Giants will either complete their unlikely run to a World title, minus several well-known stars replaced by new ones, or the Kansas City Royals will win the final two games and complete their even more unlikely climb to the top after a nearly 30-year absence from the post-season.

The Giants have the momentum, but the Royals know how to snatch it. Since trailing 4-1 in the third inning Saturday night, the Giants have scored the last 15 runs in the series to win Games 4 and 5.  In that stretch, the Giants have been positively hitterish, needing just 64 plate appearances to produce 19 base hits and four doubles.  The Giants’ shortened approaches at the plate have been obvious as the Kansas City middle infielders Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar along with centerfielders Lorenzo Cain and Jerome Dyson have seen way too many balls fall in around them.

In that same stretch, the Royals have been stymied at the plate with six base hits, three doubles and 12 strikeouts.  Nine Royals came to the plate with a runner in scoring position in those 15 innings, and none of them hit.

Compounding Kansas City’s frustration is the likelihood that they will see all five of the Giants’ pitchers that authored that scoreless stretch again, if needed.  And why were those pitchers (Bumgarner, Petit, Affeldt, Romo and the embattled Hunter Strickland) so successful in mowing down the Royals?  According to Madison Bumgarner who pitched the historic, complete game shutout in Game 5, the approach is no secret.  In fact, it plays simply as bacon and scrambled eggs.

“The key is being able to throw strikes on both sides and getting ahead of guys, moving the ball around, staying out of the hitter’s counts and that’s it.” Bumgarner said.

What the Royals have to counter all the Giants’ momentum is simple as well.  They are, at least according to the majority of journalists covering the event, the best team left in the post-season.  They’ve lost just once at home in the playoffs and 40,000 screaming fans will ratchet up the pressure on the Giants while having a calming effect on their Royals.  In Game 6, if the Giants don’t jump out quick, or fall behind, Kansas City could rebound in a hurry.

“We’ll see a very good pitcher or two good pitchers there,” a wary Bruce Bochy said after Sunday’s win.  “We know it’s not over until you get that fourth (win).  These guys aren’t going to change.  They’re going to go out there and grind it out.”

“Trust me, if we’re in the position I would much rather be here than there with our fans,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said Monday.  “I think home field advantage is huge.  I appreciate the efforts of John Farrell and the American League All-Stars for providing that for us this year.  But yeah, it’s going to be a lot (more fun) going into Game 6 here than it would be in San Francisco.”

Neither team will have a bunch of surprises on Tuesday.  The Giants will start Jake Peavy, who has a history of brief starts in the post-season.  If Peavy can get the Giants into the fourth or the fifth, he’ll be a success.  But Peavy might be successful even if Bochy stays with him for as little as two or three innings.  If Peavy goes short, the Giants’ second hottest pitcher in the post-season, Yusmeiro Petit, could pick him up in short order.   Petit has pitched 12 plus innings without allowing a run in the post-season, etching his name in the record books on the list of pitchers with the longest stretch of scoreless innings to start a post-season.

The Royals will look for the lead early and the opportunity to turn to their three best bullpen arms, maybe even earlier than the sixth inning as they’ve been previously advertised.  Of the three bullpen stars (Wade Davis, Kelvin Hererra and Greg Holland) Hererra’s arm is the most elastic and suited for two innings of work or more.  But Yost said Monday that all three have asked for the additional work if needed on Tuesday.

Offensively, the Giants’ simple batting approach in the previous two games was money.  But in Kansas City—with the Series title in reach—the Giants may change their approach, and look to take bigger swings, especially against Kansas City Game 6 starter Yordano Ventura.  The 23-year old from the Domincan Republic is labeled a thrower, needing to overwhelm hitters with his 90 mph-plus velocity more so than is ability to locate and set up hitters.  Ventura’s approach could open the door for Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt and others to swing for an early Giants’ lead.

Of course, the regular season numbers don’t weigh a whole lot, but Ventura’s vulnerability isn’t an obvious.  He allowed just 14 home runs in 31 regular season starts, and in 18 1/3 innings pitched in the post-season he’s allowed three round trippers.  So Ventura’s post-season rate is higher, but not dramatically so.

NOTES: Petit clearly is the guy to watch in Game 6 for Giants’ fans.  He hasn’t pitched since Saturday, setting up the Venezuelan sensation for another stint of length on Tuesday.  Also, Bumgarner figures to be ready for Game 7 relief in the same middle-relief role Petit will assume in Game 6.  In each of his three post-season appearances, Petit has gone at least three innings, including his six-inning stint against the Nationals in the 19-inning, NLDS Game 2 Giants’ win.  Petit has allowed four hits, four walks and no runs with an impressive 13 strikeouts.

Petit’s rate for allowing home runs continue to trend in the right direction on the eve of Game 6.  In Petit’s big-league career (399 regular season innings pitched) he has allowed 66 home runs, almost one for every six innings pitched.  But in 2014, Petit allowed just 12 round-trippers in 117 innings of work, or one home run every nine plus innings, and in the post-season he’s been flawless, no home runs in 12 innings.