Giants vs. Royals: Game 1 Time, TV Info, Live Stream and More

The World Series kicks off Tuesday (it’s almost as if they planned that for a day with no football on purpose), as the Kansas City Royals, otherwise known as America’s newly adopted favorite team, will take on the San Francisco Giants.

The pitching matchup between defending National League Championship Series MVP Madison Bumgarner and James Shields will likely play a major role in the outcome of Game 1, but both teams bring solid bullpens to the table as well.

However, there are likely to be a handful of X-factors that determine the eventual world champion as well. With that in mind, let’s take a look at one interesting X-factor in particular that could flip the idea of home-field advantage upside down.

First, here is the schedule and the broadcast information for both Game 1 and the rest of the World Series:

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)

X-factor to watch: Royals-friendly AT&T Park?

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Interestingly, there are a handful of factors that may make San Francisco’s AT&T Park friendlier for the Kansas City Royals than the Giants when the Fall Classic shifts out west.

For one, Bumgarner has been much better on the road than at home this season. He actually finished with a 2.22 ERA on the road compared to a 4.03 ERA at home and has yet to allow a run on the road in the postseason in 16.2 innings pitched.

However, this is about more than just Bumgarner.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

According to park factors on ESPN.com, AT&T Park held offenses to 92 percent of the MLB average and had the lowest home run park factor in baseball at 0.677. Basically, that means the stadium only allowed two-thirds as many long balls as an average park, largely because of the extra room in the outfield.

This won’t be a problem for the Royals because they don’t hit home runs anyway. In fact, they hit the fewest in the majors and rely almost solely on speed and timely hitting for their offense.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The Giants benefited from their stadium against the power-hitting Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers in their last two World Series because it completely impacted the way those squads approached the games.

Kansas City, on the other hand, simply puts the ball in play, and there is plenty of green grass to find in San Francisco’s outfield. If the ball reaches any of those corners or gaps, too, the Royals love to run and will likely look to pick up the extra base throughout the series. 

Kansas City’s defense should also benefit from the extra space in the outfield because of its pure speed. The Royals get to plenty of balls that many other teams wouldn’t in the field, and that will be tested in the World Series.

Mike Axisa of CBS Sports discussed AT&T Park and the Royals:

"

Playing in AT&T Park has been a distinct advantage for the Giants over the years because it is so pitcher friendly. They won't have that same advantage in the World Series this year. The Royals are basically an NL team in the AL and they're made to play in parks just like this. They're built perfectly for low-scoring games and a big ballpark like the one in San Francisco.

"

The Kansas City Royals have home-field advantage in the World Series because the American League won the All-Star Game (makes perfect sense), but it may actually prove beneficial to play in San Francisco.

Of course, all the cavernous outfields in the world cannot make up for the atmosphere in Kansas City that we have seen in the postseason, as Mike Moustakas suggested, via Vahe Gregorian of The Kansas City Star:

"

So Moustakas feels the city “has embraced us since the first day we got here. It’s kind of like they’re playing with us, too.

“They’re on the field with us every game. They’re out there, and we feel just as much a bond with them as they do with us.”

"

While the raucous crowd is certainly nice for the Royals, all hope will certainly not be lost if they lose one of the early games at home. 

There will be a perfect ballpark waiting for them on the West Coast.

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