World Series 2014: Updated Predictions Before Orioles vs. Royals ALCS Game 3

The 2014 MLB postseason has featured more twists and turns than an M. Night Shyamalan movie. The underdog Kansas City Royals are ahead 2-0 in the American League Championship Series against the Baltimore Orioles, and the St. Louis Cardinals drew even with the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series with some late-game heroics.

That said, the weekend's playoff games were quite eventful.

Monday brings the third game of the ALCS, and the Orioles will attempt to right the ship in Kansas City. Meanwhile, the Giants and the Cardinals have a travel day as the NLCS prepares to move to San Francisco. Before another postseason pitch is thrown, let's predict which teams will earn coveted trips to the World Series.

World Series Picks

American League

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

The Royals are this year's Cinderella team. They've defied the odds on numerous occasions, beginning with a wild-card victory over the Oakland Athletics, moving on to a sweep of the 98-win Los Angeles Angels and following that up with a 2-0 ALCS lead over the Orioles.

That isn't to say Baltimore doesn't have a chance of climbing back into contention. After all, while the Orioles don't have any flashy names in their pitching rotation, they are solid all the way through. That depth earns them an advantage in Game 3, with Wei-Yin Chen set to take the mound.

It's a different story when it comes to the bullpen, though.

The Royals bullpen has been phenomenal so far in this series. The team boasts several capable relievers, as Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland have all been lights-out against Baltimore. Here's a great example of how Davis has been denying batters left and right, via MLB:

That's bad news for an Orioles team that can't get the same quality production out of relievers such as Darren O'Day, who has racked up two losses against Kansas City in this series.

Both teams have firepower at the plate, but with Kansas City suddenly discovering the long ball to go with its savvy baserunning, it's difficult not to give them the upper hand on offense right now as well.

It will be rather surprising if this series doesn't conclude in Kansas City.

Prediction: Royals in five

National League

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

After Madison Bumgarner continued his flawless postseason streak in Game 1 and the Giants disposed of Adam Wainwright early, it looked as if San Francisco was ready to run away with the series. However, the Cardinals showed resilience, and a walk-off home run by Kolten Wong was the end result, evening the series.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, height means nothing to Wong—especially in the postseason:

The Cardinals' victory in Game 2 shows exactly how evenly matched these two teams are. Both have deep rotations, bullpens that are playing very well, power at the plate, solid defense and plenty of playoff experience.

Simply put: Calling the winner of this series is as unpredictable as flipping a coin.

At the moment, the Giants hold a slight edge, having won a road game in St. Louis; however, the Cardinals have plenty of momentum thanks to Wong's late-game heroics.

These teams are evenly matched on the mound in Game 3. John Lackey is set to make the start for St. Louis, and in his one postseason appearance so far this year, he went seven strong innings, allowing just one run for a 1.29 ERA. Meanwhile, Tim Hudson gets the call for the Giants, and he went 7.1 innings, allowing one run for a 1.23 ERA in his lone start.

Because these teams are even across the board, the edge has to go to the team that has the most home games remaining in the series. With three games left in San Francisco and just two remaining in St. Louis, the nod goes to the Giants here.

Prediction: Giants in seven