KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The historical oddity of this World Series can be measured in the pitch count of Santiago Casilla. He is the closer for the San Francisco Giants — and a very good one, at that — yet for six games he has hardly been needed.
Casilla completed a strikeout in Game 1 after Tim Lincecum left with a back injury. He faced one batter in Game 3 and struck him out on three pitches. That is his total workload.
“It’s a surprise because I’ve thrown only, like, four pitches in the World Series,” Casilla said, accurately, in the Giants’ clubhouse after the Kansas City Royals’ 10-0 victory Tuesday night. “But they have a good team, very good hitting. Sometimes that’s what happens in the game. We never know how it’s going to go.”
None of the previous 109 World Series have gone quite like this. It is the first World Series with five games decided by at least five runs. The Royals won Game 3 by a 3-2 score. The other games, by the end, have been blowouts.
So Casilla has thrown only those four pitches. And Greg Holland, the Royals’ All-Star closer, has worked only two innings. Yet one of them could fire the final pitch of the baseball season in Game 7 Wednesday night and be mobbed by his teammates in a moment that will live in highlights forever.
“A Game 7 of the World Series is a gift for everyone,” said the Giants’ Hunter Pence, taking a philosophical tone. “It’s pretty special. It’s incredibly entertaining for fans. It’s incredibly entertaining for the world. It’s incredibly entertaining for the game of baseball. It’s incredibly fun to play, to compete in. Every time you step on the field, there’s infinite possibilities. You can’t predict the unpredictable.”
True enough, although Pence does not speak from experience, because he has never played in the seventh game of the World Series. He is right, though, about this: Game 7 is a rare and delicious treat for the game, and a good one can reshape the legacy of a series without a signature play.
This World Series seems a bit like 1997’s, between the Marlins and the Indians. That series, like this one, included victories by both teams in both cities, but for six games lacked an indelible moment. It was known mostly for weather extremes – heat in Miami, snow in Cleveland – until the Marlins won a gripping seventh game.
A tightly played Game 7 would naturally be welcome for this World Series, too, and history will be a compelling backdrop. The Royals can win their first title since 1985, which was also their last trip to the postseason. The Giants could become the third franchise in the last half-century to win three titles in a span of five seasons.
The Giants will also try to become the first team since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, in Baltimore, to win Game 7 of the World Series on the road. Buster Posey, the Giants’ catcher, was not aware of that oddity and asked how many others had tried since then.
Nine, he was told.
“Nine?” Posey said. “Well, I’d like to break that streak tomorrow.”
Bruce Bochy, the Giants’ manager, said his team would thrive on the chance to beat the odds because it had done so before, especially in its 2012 title run. Madison Bumgarner, this World Series’ most dominant weapon, will be ready to help, although he is not an option to start after firing a shutout in Game 5.
“You know, this guy is human,” Bochy said. “I mean, you can’t push him that much. He’ll be available if we need him, but to start him, I think that’s asking a lot. I have a good pitcher going tomorrow who has done a great job for us.”
That pitcher is Tim Hudson, who broke his ankle covering first base at Citi Field in July 2013, when he played for Atlanta. A year ago, said Hudson, who will face the Royals’ Jeremy Guthrie, he was wearing a walking boot in Auburn, Ala., wondering where his career was headed. He had never played in the World Series in a 15-year career, and picked the right place to sign.
“Very rarely do things work out the way that you hope they will in this game,” Hudson said, but for him, they have. And if he falters, he knows who could replace him in relief.
“Bum’s a stud,” Hudson said. “He’s an absolute animal. I’m sure he’ll be in the game at some point tomorrow. Hopefully, it’s late in the game.”
Bumgarner, 25, has the lowest earned run average in World Series history (minimum 30 innings), at 0.29. He also has logged 265 innings this season and would be pitching on two days’ rest. But he said he expected to be “the exact same” as usual if called upon.
As for his pitch count …
“Maybe 200, as long as you’re getting outs,” Bumgarner said. “I don’t know; I feel like pitch counts are overrated.”
If he gets to the ninth inning with a lead, of course, Bochy will use whichever pitcher he considers his best option. In Game 7, regular roles are meaningless; who can forget Randy Johnson getting the last four outs for the Diamondbacks against the Yankees in 2001?
Casilla, the lonely closer in a quirky World Series — lopsided, but even — might not get his starring role. But he is prepared, just in case.
“I wait for my opportunity,” Casilla said. “I feel ready for a win tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a big game.”
Only the biggest game of all.