World Series Schedule: TV Info, Championship Dates and More

After a bevy of wild twists and turns throughout the 2014 MLB postseason, it's only fitting that two previously unexpected World Series contenders—the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants—are set to face off on baseball's grandest stage.

These teams didn't exactly flourish during the regular season, but they did enough to stay alive heading into October. From there, the Royals went an astounding 8-0 through AL opponents, and the Giants navigated a difficult path through NL competition.

Here's what's even more interesting: These clubs reached the World Series in very similar fashion. Solid starting pitching, fantastic performances from the bullpen and clutch hitting were pivotal components to the success of both the Royals and the Giants.

We're in line for an epic showdown between two evenly matched teams. As we impatiently await the championship series to commence, let's first take a look at the complete World Series schedule and preview the similarities between its competitors.

Game	Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	Channel
1	Tue., Oct. 21	Giants at Royals	8 p.m.	Fox
2	Wed., Oct. 22	Giants at Royals	8 p.m.	Fox
3	Fri., Oct. 24	Royals at Giants	8 p.m.	Fox
4	Sat., Oct. 25	Royals at Giants	8 p.m.	Fox
5*	Sun., Oct. 26	Royals at Giants	8 p.m.	Fox
6*	Tue., Oct. 28	Giants at Royals	8 p.m.	Fox
7*	Wed., Oct. 29	Giants at Royals	8 p.m.	Fox

Live Stream: MLB.tv (requires subscription)

*denotes "if necessary" games.

World Series Preview

Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press

The similarities between the Giants and the Royals throughout the postseason are simply astounding. Only the smallest of fractions separate these teams in virtually every major statistical category.

At the plate, Kansas City has been slightly more efficient. A .259 team batting average is the byproduct of a nice mix of small ball and home run ability. Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain continue to provide solid at-bats while Mike Moustakas has gone yard four times.

While the Giants may not have quite as much power of late, they do have a not-so-secret weapon in Pablo Sandoval. He's already batting .326 in the playoffs, and we should expect that number to improve should he continue his remarkable streak in the World Series, per MLB's official Twitter account:

Starting pitching has been decent for both of these teams; however, their respective bullpens are arguably the biggest reason for playoff success.

Yusmeiro Petit has been outstanding for the Giants as a multi-inning reliever, going nine consecutive innings without allowing a run. Just as impressive, reliever Jeremy Affeldt and closer Santiago Casilla have yet to allow a runner across home plate, either.

On the flip side, Kansas City has seen plenty of production from the hard-throwing Kelvin Herrera, closer Greg Holland and the dominant Wade Davis. All three have been pivotal in the Royals' improbable playoff run.

Just how effective are these bullpens? Here's a very similar side-by-side comparison, via MLB:

The numbers cannot get much closer than that.

Predicting a 2014 World Series winner won't be an easy task. We should expect a chess match between these two teams in a series that has a very good chance to go a full seven games. While these two teams may not have been regular-season powerhouses, they have produced some incredible performances in October.

Expect that trend to continue until a world champion is crowned.