Eric Hosmer pumps his chest after hitting a RBI double iin the second inning.(Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kanas City Royals, most who were not even born the last time an event of this magnitude took place in town, now have a chance to make believers out of everyone.
They have heard about the 1985 miracle team, George Brett and Hal McRae, Frank White and Bret Saberhagen, and, of course umpire Don Denkinger.
Now they have the chance to make their own history.
The Royals will be playing Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night against the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium.
They made sure of that Tuesday night, derailing that cable car parade in the Bay, with an 10-0 victory over the Giants that wasn't even as close as the score indicated.
The Royals jumped all over Giants starter Jake Peavy, scoring seven runs in the second inning, sending him to the showers after recording just four outs and leaving fans scrambling to find their nearest ticket broker.
This wasn't a game. It was a validation.
The Royals still aren't going away, turning this series into a thrill-ride, with enough twists, turns and drips for another generation to remember.
"Oh, man, somewhere inside of me," Royals manager Ned Yost said after Game 4, "secretly I had hoped it would go seven games for the excitement and the thrill of it."
The Royals certainly have proved they're not afraid of anyone — that is anyone not named Madison Bumgarner. Considering that the Giants ace threw 117 pitches in Game 5 on Sunday, he won't be available to pitch more than two, perhaps three innings of relief tonight.
If the Giants are going to capture their third World Series title in five years, and win their 10th consecutive postseason series, they'll need a few more pitchers to chip in.
Bumgarner is 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in his two starts this World Series. The rest of the Giants rotation is 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA, surrendering 28 baserunners in 14 2/3 innings.
The Giants will be sending out Tim Hudson for the deciding game. The Royals are going with Jeremy Guthrie. It's a rematch from Game 3, when neither pitcher got out of the sixth inning. At 39 and 35 respectively, Hudson and Guthrie make up the oldest starting pitching matchup in a World Series Game 7, according to ESPN.
The truth is the designation of a starting pitcher is nothing but a formality.
"We'll start Jeremy Guthrie," Yost said before Game 6, "and be backed up with everybody we got."
Ditto for the Giants.
"Any time you can get to a Game 7," Guthrie said, "you realize anything can happen. My memories of a Game 7 probably go back to Jack Morris, '91. I remember that game, I was 12 years old. So certainly, could appreciate the effort that he gave, and the magnitude of that game, to be able to pitch like he did and win the World Series."
Morris pitched 10 shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves Braves, winning the title for the Minnesota Twins.
In this Game 7, either manager would settle for five, even four shutout innings.
There is no favorite, considering how evenly matched these two teams have been when Bumgarner doesn't start, but if history holds true, the Royals are the pick.
The last visiting team to win Game 7 of the World Series was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
If you go back to the last 15 times a home team forced a Game 7 in the World Series or the League Championship Series, 14 of them came away with the title.
The only exception was the 2006 New York Mets.
Game 6 was a clunker, resurrecting memories of 2001 when the Arizona Diamondbacks returned home to beat the New York Yankees, 15-2, in Game 6, and winning Game 7 off closer Mariano Rivera, 3-2.
Royals starter Yordano Ventura suffocated the Giants' lineup, pitching seven shutout innings, and yielding just three hits, Peavy gave up six hits to the 11 batters he faced, hiking his career World Series ERA to 12.00 with a .400 batting average.
Yet, the sellout crowd of 40,372 refused to leave, savoring every single bit of the humiliation, and cheering as if the game was ever in doubt.
Hey, when you've been waiting 29 years for a playoff berth, who can blame them for wanting to clear their throats in anticipation of Game 7.
"We really want to win for them,'' Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said, "as much as we do for us.''
No longer does Yost have to give a fake name when he orders his coffee at Starbucks. Royals GM Dayton Moore no longer has to listen to talk about his job security. And Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Moustakas and every other player on this team no longer have to worry about paying for their next meal in town.
This is Game 7.
They believe it's their time.
GALLERY: WORLD SERIES -- GIANTS vs. ROYALS
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