Diamondbacks Afternoon Links: Royals force Game 7

Oct 28, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon (4) and third baseman Mike Moustakas (8) celebrate after defeating the San Francisco Giants during game six of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

So far the 2014 World Series has seen a lot of one sided affairs, and not a whole lot of drama. That continued last night in game 6. The Royals poured it on scoring early and often beating the Royals 10-0 and setting up something that everybody thought was going to happen when this series started: A winner take all game 7 tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

Yordano Ventura scattered three hits over seven shutout innings of work. He was staked to a big early lead thanks to a seven run second. I think this game is going to be close. Its amazing that a 162 game season can come down to just one game, but that is the story for both the Royals and the Giants.

The game will be close, but I think the Royals will pull it out. First of all home teams are 22-3 in game 6 and game 7’s during the Wild Card era. Tim Hudson not Madison Bumgarner will start for the Giants, and Jeremy Guthrie will start for the Royals.

I think the key matchup is the Royals lineup vs. Hudson. Hudson loves to pitch in the lower half of the zone, more specifically on the outer half. The Royals are the best contact team in the majors, and they love hitting the lower part of the zone. The Royals also hit .290 on pitches outside of the zone (Low Zone Rate) during the regular season.

Expect to see both Madison Bumgarner and Yusmeiro Petit, but I think the Royals will get to Hudson early. I will take the Royals over the Giants 4-2.

Meanwhile, Dbacks pitching prospect Kaleb Fleck hopes to be apart of the Dbacks future in the bullpen. Fleck had 17 saves, a 7-3 record, and a 2.56 era in 63 and a third innings last season at Double A.

This is what Fleck said about pitching in the Fall League:

“Pitching in the Fall League has been a great experience. Things have been pretty smooth. They have gone well,” Fleck said.

I think he is proving that the Dbacks bullpen future is more than just Jake Barrett.

Here are some stories about the Dbacks and around Major League Baseball for your reading pleasure:

Dbacks.com:

http://m.dbacks.mlb.com/news/article/99850772/d-backs-arizona-fall-league-overview

azsnakepit:

http://www.azsnakepit.com/2014/10/29/7086013/hello-my-name-is-randall-delgado-dbacks-expectations

azcentral.com:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2014/10/28/arizona-diamondbacks-derrick-hall-crowds-tv-contract-mlb/18080639/

espn.com

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11784571/arizona-diamondbacks-sell-nearly-10000-corn-dogs-25-apiece