3 World Series Game 1 prop bets to consider

The Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants will square off in the Fall Classic beginning Tuesday, providing baseball bettors with one final chance to pad their bankrolls. Besides betting the usual money line, run line, and total, prop bets will be offered on a game-by-game basis.

Here's a look at three prop plays to consider for Game 1:

Will Madison Bumgarner be the winning pitcher?

Yes +170

The Giants ace will have the element of surprise in his favor as he pitches against an American League foe. The Royals lineup is also loaded with left-handed hitters, who should have trouble matching up against the southpaw as demonstrated by the chart below:

Royals batters are only hitting a combined .218 lifetime off Bumgarner, who loves pitching on the road and should thrive at Kauffman Stadium in Game 1.

Total strikeouts thrown by James Shields

Over 5 -110

Big Game James racked up 180 strikeouts during the regular season and, like Bumgarner, will have the element of surprise against the National League's best. Shields has 15 strikeouts in 16 postseason innings to this point. So if you like him to pitch six innings in Game 1, he should exceed five strikeouts. Giants batters have not had success against Shields in the past as demonstrated by the chart below:

Total number of players to throw a pitch

Over 7.5 -120

The number of pitchers used in the opener should be eight or higher for a number of reasons. Firstly, both managers have well-rested bullpens at their disposal. The long layoff from the championship series has provided both teams the chance to rest all of their pitchers. Everyone will be available and managers won't hesitate to play matchups.

Secondly, Royals manager Ned Yost loves going to his bullpen early in games and who can blame him? His predictable plan of deploying Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland has been almost automatic in the postseason, regardless of how his starter has fared. You have to figure the Royals will do their part and use at least four pitchers in the contest. Kansas City has also shown a tendency of forcing extra-innings games in these playoffs, which would surely increase the chances of winning this bet.

So that means Giants manager Bruce Bochy also needs to roll out four pitchers. The mastermind didn't hesitate to play matchups with his prized stable of relievers in the National League Championship Series, calling on an average of 4.8 pitchers per game. If Bumgarner wears down in the later innings, you can bet he will call on left-handers Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt to try and shut down Alex Gordon and/or Eric Hosmer in high-leverage situations.

All odds courtesy of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook