Giants vs. Royals: Latest World Series 2014 Predictions and Vegas Odds

The San Francisco Giants are one win away from winning their third World Series title in five years. They're one win away from joining the ranks of various dynasties throughout baseball history. They're one win away from demystifying America's favorite baseball team over the past month. 

But the Kansas City Royals aren't dead yet, folks, even if their bats were lifeless in Game 5. Can they muster up one more comeback story in this series, though?

Let's break down what's to come in Game 6 and perhaps beyond.

Odds

Team	Moneyline	Spread
San Francisco Giants	+130	+1.5
Kansas City Royals	-140	-1.5
			Total = 6

Predictions

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Spoiler alert: I think the Royals are still going to win this thing. I thought they would win this series in seven games, and that's still on the table. I thought, like every team before them, that they would struggle against Madison Bumgarner, and that has proved to be true. 

Thankfully, the Royals are done with Bumgarner. Or are they?

If the pitcher is to be believed, he may yet still make a cameo, as he told Ken Rosenthal, per Fox Sports: MLB after the game:

More than likely, he would be used in relief in that contest. But even that scenario has to be frightening for the Royals. Bumgarner is, quite simply, the best October pitcher of his generation. 

Of course, the Royals want to come into the late innings with a lead anyway. Or at least that was the formula before Game 4, as the team's back end of the bullpen has been superb. In general, the Royals win by running the bases aggressively, fielding their positions superbly, receiving timely hitting and closing games late.

If they falter in any of those areas, however, they are in trouble. Then again, they are also at home. Then again, the Giants have been here and done this. Trying to figure out how this one will end is a bit exasperating.

There are plenty of reasons to both like and loathe Kansas City's chances, then, as Ken Davidoff of the New York Post wrote:

"

These last two games have illustrated the Royals’ thin margin for error, which made their 8-0 run to start the postseason all the more remarkable.

Can they go 2-0 at home against this Giants club? Remember that in 1985, the Royals returned home down 3-2 and pulled off the comeback—with the considerable help of umpire Don Denkinger, whose blunder would be overturned here in 2014. Remember, too, the last team to win a Game 6 or 7 on the road is the 2003 Marlins, who eliminated the Yankees behind Josh Beckett in Game 6. Since then, home teams are a combined 4-0 in the few instances of Game 6 (2009 Yankees, 2011 Cardinals, 2013 Red Sox) and Game 7 (2011 Cardinals) the Series has offered.

None of those Series featured the dramatic experience gap we’ve seen in this one. None presented us with a team like these Royals, who have climbed so high and must summon a second wind.

"

The Royals have lost just once at home this postseason, of course, and that was against Bumgarner. They fought their way into the play-in game. They fought their way back against the Oakland Athletics. They fought their way back to win consecutive games after the Giants won Game 1. At every turn, they've defied expectations, captivated the country and come up with clutch plays at the biggest moments. 

The Giants very well may win this thing, but it's hard to imagine the Royals don't have a little magic left in the tank for Game 6. Recent World Series history favors them. Their own recent history does as well. Heck, the Royals have won every game this postseason that Yordano Ventura has pitched. 

Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Royals seemed like a team of destiny coming into this World Series, if you believe in that sort of thing. But every myth or hero story needs adversity, needs a villain who is nearly as compelling and powerful as a foil and can challenge the hero, to teach the hero something about himself or herself. 

What have the Royals learned? What do they have left in the tank?

And has the magic run dry?

I don't think so. I doubt the Royals think so. The Giants are hoping so. In Game 6, we'll find out.