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James Shields and Madison Bumgarner are your World Series Game 1 starters

It's the beginning of the end...

Rob Carr

2014 World Series Game 1

San Francisco Giants @ Kansas City Royals

Tuesday, October 21, 2014, 8:07 ET

TV: FOX

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So it's come to this, a Wild Card World Series. Bud Selig's legacy can be that in his final year as commissioner, two teams that failed to win 90 games in the regular season faced off for baseball's crown. That's never happened before in a 162-game season, so hooray for history!

Bitterness aside, I think this is a pretty fun matchup, even if I've come to realize in recent weeks that I really dislike the Royals, and really don't want to see them win this thing. The two teams are fairly evenly matched, and while that does nothing to ensure anything, it would seem to at least increase the chances that we get a compelling series, something this postseason hasn't had yet.

Each team has its best pitcher on the mound, which is a nice way to kick things off.

Fun fact that probably doesn't mean as much as it sounds like, but seems worth mentioning anyway: In the 2000s, only the 2002 Angels and 2009 Yankees have come back to win the World Series after dropping Game 1.

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Today's Lineups

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Gregor Blanco - CF Alcides Escobar - SS
Joe Panik - 2B Norichika Aoki - RF
Buster Posey - C Lorenzo Cain - CF
Pablo Sandoval - 3B Eric Hosmer - 1B
Hunter Pence - RF Billy Butler - DH
Brandon Belt - 1B Alex Gordon - LF
Mike Morse - DH Salvador Perez - C
Travis Ishikawa - LF Omar Infante - 2B
Brandon Crawford - SS Mike Moustakas - 3B
Madison Bumgarner - LHP James Shields - RHP

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