(SportsNetwork.com) - The Kansas City Royals are back in the World Series for the first time in 29 years. If they want to nail down their first title since that 1985 season, though, they'll have to get past a team in the San Francisco Giants who will be vying for their third World Series championship in five years.

Kansas City kicks off the 110th edition of the Fall Classic against the Giants on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.

TSN1410 pregame coverage begins at 4:00, with the opening pitch at 5:00pm PT.

A matchup nobody envisioned at the beginning of the playoffs, let alone the start of the season, the Royals and Giants become the first World Series matchup between wild card teams since the Los Angeles Angels beat San Francisco in 2002.

Kansas City's run in October has been nothing short of spectacular, as it has become the first team in major league history to start its postseason with eight consecutive wins.

The Royals have won 11 straight playoff games dating back to 1985 and another victory tonight would tie them with the Yankees (1927-32, 1998-99) for the longest streak in postseason history.

The Royals rely on their speed, defense, timely hitting, and, of course, one of the better bullpens in postseason history.

No team signified small ball more than Kansas City, which won 89 games this season thanks in large part to its ability to play defense and manufacture runs. The Royals also led the AL with 153 stolen bases, but their 95 home runs were the fewest in baseball.

Kansas City, though, has found its power stroke in the playoffs, swatting eight home runs in its eight games.

If you are looking for a star on this Royals team, good luck.

James Shields is the closest thing the Royals have to an ace and he will be on the hill in Game 1, once again trying to live up to his "Big Game" moniker.

This will be his third start this postseason and he is 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA.

"I think this city has been waiting for this for a long time, and the fact that we're doing it in the fashion that we are is tremendous," said James Shields. "This is our goal in Spring Training, and we had one mindset, and that was to go to the World Series and win it. And to be able to be here on this big stage is exactly what we've been working really hard for all season long."

Shields will be pitching on 10 days' rest after being skipped over for the Royals' Game 4 clincher versus Baltimore because he had to pass a kidney stone.

While Shields' career postseason ERA sits at 5.19, he did have his best showing of the season against the Giants, a four-hit shutout back in August.

San Francisco, meanwhile, has made a habit recently of winning titles in even years, as the Giants ended a 56-year drought by beating the Texas Rangers in 2010, then swept the Detroit Tigers in 2012.

With a series win over the Royals, the Giants would join the Yankees as the only clubs over the last 40 years to boast three championships during a five- year span.

"I was amazed at the Yankees on what they accomplished. It's not that easy," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "I mean, first of all, you've got to get there. Then the road to get there now is a lot more difficult than it used to be. It used to be two pennant winners going at it, and now you have to go through some playoffs, and this year we had the extra one with the (wild card) playoff game."

Like the Royals, San Francisco's run this year began with a wild card win, but it had a much easier time, as Madison Bumgarner blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Then the Giants took out the NL's best team, the Washington Nationals, in four games, before beating St. Louis in five games.

The Giants clinched their sixth NL pennant since moving to San Francisco in dramatic fashion on Thursday, as Travis Ishikawa stroked a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, setting off a wild celebration.

If there is one advantage the Giants will have against the Royals, it will be their starting staff, namely Bumgarner, who will start Game 1.

If there was no Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw we may very well be talking about an NL Cy Young Award for Bumgarner, who set career-high marks in wins (18) and strikeouts (219) and pitched to a 2.98 ERA.

That has carried over into the postseason, as the southpaw tossed a four-hit shutout to beat the Pirates, but then absorbed the lone loss in the NLDS for the Giants and only allowed two earned runs in seven innings.

Bumgarner was named the NLCS MVP, as he held the Cardinals to three runs in eight innings in Game 5 after throwing 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 1. Bumgarner finished the series with a 1.72 ERA in his two starts.

Between the wild-card game, the NLDS and NLCS, Bumgarner has a 1.42 ERA in four starts and 31 2/3 innings this postseason.

"Honestly, I feel the best I've felt all year for the last probably two months," Bumgarner said.

Bumgarner was also one of the best road pitchers in the league this season, going 11-4 with a 2.22 ERA in 18 starts away from AT&T Park. Both of his postseason wins this season have come on the road.

These teams actually met in the regular season, as the Royals completed a three-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium.