Royals' Shields to start Game 1 of World Series; Ventura gets the ball for Game 2

As expected, the Kansas City Royals will send James Shields to the mound for Game 1 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday with right-hander Yordano Ventura to follow in Game 2, reports Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star.

Though he's known affectionately by his moniker "Big Game James," Shields hasn't exactly dominated through the first three rounds of the postseason. The 32-year-old right-hander owns a 5.63 ERA over three starts thus far and has not pitched beyond the sixth inning in any of his last seven postseason outings, a stretch that dates back to October of 2008.

Ventura, meanwhile, will look to improve upon his mediocre outing in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series when he takes the mound for his first career World Series start Wednesday in Kansas City. The hard-throwing 23-year-old yielded four runs on five hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings in his last start, an eventual 6-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles, though he tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Los Angeles Angels in Game 2 of the ALDS.