World Series capsule

A look at the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals, which begins Tuesday night:

SEASON SERIES Royals won 3-0.

MATCHUPS

This marks the first World Series in a full season in which both teams won fewer than 90 games. One of them will become the sixth wild card to win a championship. The only other time both World Series participants were wild cards was 2002, when the Angels beat Barry Bonds and the Giants in seven games. … These teams have met only 12 times in interleague play. The only opponent the Giants have faced fewer times is Tampa Bay (nine). Kansas City hasn’t played in San Francisco since 2005. … The Royals have won nine of the 12 meetings, including a three-game sweep at home this summer when they beat Bumgarner, Hudson and Lincecum, stealing seven bases in the finale. Shields pitched a four-hit shutout to beat Hudson on Aug. 9. Royals relievers didn’t allow a run in 61/ innings. Gordon had two home runs and four RBI in the series. Butler and Perez also homered for Kansas City. … Posey will be tested by a team that led the majors with 153 stolen bases during the regular season and had 13 in the playoffs. The Giants allowed 107 stolen bases, tied for seventh-most in the majors. Posey threw out 17 of 76 potential base stealers. … Bumgarner did a good job shutting down the running game, allowing seven stolen bases on 17 attempts. Nine of the 10 caught stealings were started on pickoff throws by Bumgarner. … Hudson allowed 15 stolen bases on 18 attempts. … Pence is 0 for 11 in his career against Shields. … Butler (14 for 33 with 3 home runs), Gordon (10 for 28) and Escobar (9 for 22) have thrived against Peavy. … Affeldt was a Royals draft pick in 1997 and spent his first 4½ major-league seasons with the team. … Kansas City will have had five days off before the World Series opener, San Francisco four. … The Royals have home-field advantage thanks to the American League’s victory in the All-Star game. The team with home-field advantage has won the past five World Series.

BIG PICTURE

GIANTS After winning the World Series in 2010 and 2012, the Giants (88-74) are hoping to make every other year a pattern. San Francisco missed the playoffs following each of those championships but returned this season as the second National League wild card. … The Giants advanced by beating Pittsburgh 8-0 in the wild-card game behind a four-hitter from Bumgarner and a grand slam by Crawford. … San Francisco knocked off NL East champion Washington in four games in the NLDS, winning three onerun games and an 18-inning marathon during a low-scoring series that featured only 18 runs. … After that, the Giants eliminated the Cardinals in the NLCS, winning it in Game 5 on Ishikawa’s threerun home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the first home run to end an NLCS and the first to send the Giants to the World Series since perhaps the most famous drive in baseball history — Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” in a 1951 playoff vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers. … The Giants went 243 plate appearances without a home run before hitting three in the clincher. … Before the home run barrage, San Francisco had been the masters of small ball, with only 10 of its previous 22 runs scoring on hits. … The Giants have won 15 of their past 17 postseason games under Manager Bruce Bochy. … After relying on stellar pitching during their past two title runs, the Giants are more balanced this year, finishing fifth in the NL in runs and seventh in ERA. But the starting pitching stepped up in the playoffs with a 2.40 ERA through 10 games. Petit has been a valuable long man out of the bullpen, too. … Workhorse righthander Matt Cain made just 15 starts this year because of a season-ending elbow injury, and two-time Cy Young Award winner Lincecum was removed from the rotation. He has not pitched in the postseason.

ROYALS After ending a 29-year postseason drought, the Royals (89-73) continued their winning ways with a perfect run through the playoffs to capture their third pennant. They rallied twice in the American League wild-card game for a 9-8 victory in 12 innings against Oakland, then won their first two ALDS games on the road against the Los Angeles Angels in 11 innings on home runs by Moustakas and Hosmer. That made Kansas City the first major-league team to win three consecutive extra-inning playoff games. The series clincher was much easier, an 8-3 victory at home for a threegame sweep of the Angels, who had the best regular-season record in the majors at 98-64. … The Royals won four close games against Baltimore to sweep the ALCS, making them the first team to open a postseason 8-0. Along the way, they’ve captivated a city starved for sports success. … The Royals also took the last three games of the 1985 World Series against St. Louis, so they’ve won 11 consecutive postseason games in a span of three decades. That’s one victory short of the major-league record. … Kansas City wins with solid starting pitching, a nasty bullpen, daring on the base paths and sensational defense. During the regular season, KC ranked last in the majors with 95 home runs but first with 153 steals. Then the Royals powered up in the playoffs, too. They hit eight home runs, including four by Moustakas and two by Hosmer. … Finnegan pitched for TCU in the College World Series in June.