Jason Vargas (l.) and Ryan Vogelsong will be on the mound in Game 4.
Jason Vargas (left) and Ryan Vogelsong will be on the mound in Game 4. (USATSI)

Kansas City Royals at San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. ET (Fox)

Thanks to some timely hits, Jeremy Guthrie and their shutdown bullpen, the Royals won Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night (KC 3, SF 2) and now lead the best-of-seven games series 2-1. They've guaranteed one thing: Monday's return to Kansas City will be for Game 6 or a parade.

The Giants have opted not to use ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner on short rest in Game 4 even though he said he's ready. The 25-year-old threw a career-high 256 innings in 2014. Bumgarner insteas will start Sunday's Game 5, when he'll either try to save the Giants season or try to give them a 3-2 series lead. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's preview Game 4.

Pitching Matchup: RHP Ryan Vogelsong (8-13, 4.00 ERA, 2.60 K/BB in 184 2/3 innings) vs. LHP Jason Vargas (11-10, 3.71 ERA, 3.12 K/BB in 187 innings)

Royals vs. Vogelsong: The Royals and Giants played a three-game interleague series in August (KC won all three) but Vogelsong did not pitch in the series. Because Vogelsong has been a journeyman who's spent his entire MLB career in the NL, he has very little experience against the Royals hitters.

Omar Infante leads the way with 13 plate appearances against Vogelsong. The rest of the Royals have eight -- four by Josh Willingham, three by Norichika Aoki and one by Vargas. Willingham and Aoki are not expected to start Game 4 and Vargas is a pitcher. Infante is 9 for 13 (.692) against Vogelsong, all singles. No walks, no strikeouts, nothing. Very straight forward matchup.

Game 4 will be Vogelsong's seventh career postseason start and third of these playoffs. All of that experience has helped him learn how to control his emotions. Here's what he told reporters Friday:

I think the biggest thing is just the experience of curbing the emotions. It's definitely a situation where you have to be locked into the game and your thoughts need to be on the game, but you have to take a quick second to look around and take it all in. Just look at (Tim Hudson's) situation, first time being here, you never know when you're going to get here or get back.

But I think the experience factor is just knowing how to deal with the emotions, slowing the game down, like you do every game. Other than that, each game brings its own emotions. But the big thing is just knowing how to curb them.

In his two previous postseason starts this October, Vogelsong limited the Nationals to one run in 5 2/3 innings in the NLDS before getting clobbered for four runs in three innings by the Cardinals in the NLCS. His career postseason record is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA.

Giants vs. Vargas: Unlike Vogelsong, Vargas did pitch when these two clubs met in August. He limited the Giants to two runs in five innings of work. Game 4 will be Vargas' first outing at AT&T Park.

Giants hitters have put up a .357/.362/.518 batting line in only 58 combined plate appearances against Vargas, so not much of a sample. Michael Morse leads the way with 13 plate appearances and is 3 for 13 (.231) with a solo home run. Light-hitting utility infielder Joaquin Arias is 4 for 6 (.667) with two doubles against Vargas, but he won't start Game 4.

Despite the relative lack of experience against San Francisco's hitters, Vargas knows they are dangerous and his Game 4 pregame preparation is important. Here's another quote from Friday:

They've got a really good lineup.  If you're not prepared to go in and face a team like this, it's going to be a long day.  But just like they do their homework, we do our homework.  We go out there with our game plan and see who comes out on top.

Vargas has made only two career postseason starts, both in these playoffs. He held the Angels to two runs in six innings in the ALDS, then held the Orioles to one run in 5 1/3 innings in the ALCS.

What to Watch: Vogelsong has a history of throwing harder in the postseason than during the regular season. He averaged 93.02 mph with his sinker in his first two October starts this year compared to 91.02 mph during the regular season. According to FanGraphs, the Royals were the second-worst team in baseball against sinkers in 2014. Only the Marlins were worse. Vogelsong attributed the postseason velocity bump to "extra adrenaline."

• Royals co-ace setup man Kelvin Herrera threw 27 high-stress pitches in Game 3 -- he threw more balls (14) than strikes (13) -- after throwing 32 equally high-stress pitches in Game 2. It was noticeable when his velocity was closer to 96-98 mph for much of his appearance in Game 3 rather than his usual 99-101 mph (via Brooks Baseball):

After the game, manager Ned Yost said he didn't know if Herrera would be available in Game 4. It would really change the complexion of the middle innings if he's unavailable.

• I'm still amazed with the Royals' speed, they have only one stolen base in their past seven postseason games. They've been caught three times and had another runner picked off first. It obviously hasn't hurt them -- they're 6-1 over this stretch -- though getting back to creating havoc on the bases would improve their chances of winning. It's what they do.

• Royals closer Greg Holland closed out Game 3 with ease for his seventh save of the postseason. That ties Koji Uehara (2013), Brad Lidge (2008), Troy Percival (2002), Robb Nen (2002) and John Wetteland (1996) for the single-postseason record. One more save and the record will be his alone.