Jake Peavy getting a lot of advice on facing Royals

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jake Peavy will get by with a lot of help from his friends in Game2 on Wednesday night.

Peavy did not face the Royals for the Red Sox this season before being traded to San Francisco, so several of his former teammates have been texting him with advice.

“In all those texts, it was about how to beat the Kansas City Royals, and different bits,” Peavy said. “A tidbit from Dustin Pedroia talking about positioning of your middle infielders, to prevent them from making the slides they want to take, to my pitching buddies talking about pitches and what to go to, when and where.

“They’re feeling a part of the preparation because they know what I’m going through now in trying to put together a game plan, and they’re all helping. It means a lot because there is no better advice that you can get than from your peers who have lived it and played against the same Royals team as well.”

Whatever Peavy did in 2013 did not work. He faced Kansas City twice and allowed seven runs in 11 innings.

Manager Bruce Bochy said he and the staff are using Peavy as a resource, saying, “It’s obvious we’ve asked him a lot of questions.”

Short bench: With Michael Morse as the designated hitter, and the Giants not adding a position player for the Series, Bochy has a four-man bench consisting of Andrew Susac, Matt Duffy, Juan Perez and Joaquin Arias for the games in Kansas City. It’s effectively a three-man bench, because Bochy is reluctant to use his backup catcher as a pinch-hitter early in the game.

Bochy will face a conundrum if Morse reaches base late in a game with the Giants down a run or two. If Bochy uses Perez to run for Morse, then puts Perez in left field, he will lose the DH.

San Francisco Giants' Jake Peavy heads to the field before the Giants play the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Tuesday, October 21, 2014. San Francisco Giants' Jake Peavy heads to the field before the Giants play the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Tuesday, October 21, 2014. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Jake Peavy getting a lot of advice on facing Royals 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Bochy said he will not let that stop him from using Perez that way if he feels the need for Perez’s speed.

Strickland returns: With the Giants leading by six runs after Javier Lopez pitched a scoreless eighth inning, Bochy gave the ninth to Hunter Strickland, who had allowed four homers to left-handed hitters in the earlier rounds.

Bochy no doubt wanted to see how Strickland would look against lefty Eric Hosmer after altering his delivery slightly to ensure he was not tipping pitches.

After striking out right-handed-hitting Lorenzo Cain, Strickland got Hosmer to roll over on a ball and ground out to second base. The rookie then ended the game by striking out pinch-hitter Josh Willingham.

“It was awesome, especially after I gave up a couple of homers,” Strickland said. “I was honored that Bochy gave me the chance again.”

Briefly:Pablo Sandoval reached base for the 24th consecutive postseason game, matching the fourth-longest streak in history. Miguel Cabrera holds the record at 31. ... The Giants’ seven-game World Series winning streak matches the sixth-longest ever. The Yankees hold the record at 14. ... Tim Lincecum, absent on the mound this postseason, also was absent for pregame introductions. He said he was late coming out of the training room to get dressed and did not want to run onto the field after the whole team was out there.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.