The San Francisco Giants know how to play in the postseason.

They’re chasing their third World Series title in five years and got off to a strong start on Tuesday night by beating the Kansas City Royals 7-1 in Game 1.

 
How important is that? There are stats and there is psychology. The latter: The Royals lost for the first time since the playoffs began, snapping their eight-game win streak. We’ll see how they rebound.

The former: The winner of the first game of the World Series has gone on to take the title 10 times in the last 11 years and in 15 of the last 17. That’s powerful. Historically, the first-game winner goes on to win the series a bit more than 62 percent of the time. If the Giants earn another title, they’ll be only the second National League team to win three in five years (the St. Louis Cardinals did it in 1942, 1944 and 1946).

Hunter Pence’s two-run homer highlighted a three-run first inning for the Giants and Madison Bumgarner (who carries the delightful nickname MadBum) pitched shutout ball into the seventh, when he gave up a solo home run to Salvador Perez. The bullpen blanked the Royals over the final two innings.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Kansas City.

Today’s question

 
Can the resilient Royals bounce back and even the Series?

Answers in the comment box, please.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .