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Royals' Shields on postseason struggles: 'I'm a big believer in amnesia'

H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Royals send their ace to the mound for Tuesday's Game 1 of the World Series, and they're hoping his arm is better than his memory.

James Shields' poor postseason results conflict with his "Big Game James" moniker, but to hear him tell it, he doesn't remember the struggles.

"I'm a big believer in amnesia," Shields noted Monday. "I've been doing it my whole entire career, and I've had a bunch of bad outings, and I've also come back from them, so I'm not too really worried about it." 

The box score has a better memory.

Shields has allowed 29 earned runs in 50 1/3 playoff innings, sporting a bloated 5.19 ERA and 1.47 WHIP over nine career postseason outings. He earned the victory in his only World Series start, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of the 2008 World Series. 

More recently, Shields has had trouble making good on his nickname.

The Royals right-hander has yet to record an out past the sixth inning in three starts this postseason, surrendering 21 hits and three homers in 16 innings.

To his credit, Shields has been an important piece in the Royals' remarkable run this year. The 32-year-old reached the 200-inning benchmark for the eighth straight season, and provided a young Kansas City staff with the type of veteran presence it was missing before the Royals acquired him 2012.

"I came over here with one mindset, and that was just to be myself," Shields said. "I can only do so much out on the field. I pitch once every five days, and my job is to go out there and try to get a win every five days. ... I feel like I'm a leader on the pitching staff, and I have high expectations of our starting rotation."

Shields will need to be more than a leader Tuesday with San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner on the mound.

The NL Championship Series MVP owns a 2.67 ERA this postseason, striking out 60 batters in 67 1/3 innings.

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