The Kansas City Royals’ first playoff campaign in 29 long years will go on for at least three games longer. The Royals capped off a dramatic come-from-behind, extra-innings victory over the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card playoff to set up a meeting with the Los Angeles Angels in the AL Division Series.
Shortly after Game 1 of this series, L.A. hosts another series opener with Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and the Cardinals. Check out our preview of that game here, and read on for more on the Royals and Angels.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Kansas City Royals vs. Los Angeles Angels ALDS Game 1 Betting Preview and Prediction
Series Schedule & Results
Game 1 – Thursday, October 2, Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Angels – view all MLB lines
Game 2 – Friday, October 3, Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Angels
Game 3 – Sunday, October 5, Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City Royals
Game 4* – Monday, October 6, Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City Royals
Game 5* – Wednesday, October 8, Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Angels
*if necessary
Betting on the Kansas City Royals
Down four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Royals were staring down the barrel of a quick playoff exit. But some timely hitting and small ball (stolen bases and sacrifice bunts) allowed them to rally and win, 9-8, in 13 innings.
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Royals, who led the MLB in stolen bases in the regular season, had seven more in the wild-card game while Eric Hosmer got on base five times (three hits, two walks) in six trips to the plate to boost their offense that is severely lacking in power.
But despite their epic comeback, manager Ned Yost shouldn’t be completely absolved from his mishandling of the bullpen, which led to the A’s big five-run sixth inning. Yost brought on Yordano Ventura, a rookie starter who had thrown 73 pitches just two days before and promptly surrendered a big three-run home run while at least three better relievers in Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland were waiting in the bullpen.
Yost was lucky to get away with his poor decision, but he may not be so lucky if he makes a similarly egregious error against a dangerous Angels lineup. Yost was also not yet ready to discuss his starter for Game 1 against the Angels, but it’ll be between lefty Danny Duffy and righty Jeremy Guthrie.
Duffy threw just six innings in September because of a shoulder injury that caused him to miss a couple of starts. He also didn’t pitch too well in his final start of the season, where he lasted just two innings after giving up four earned runs and two home runs against the White Sox last Saturday.
Meanwhile, the 10-year veteran Guthrie has been the more reliable starter recently. Apart from a hideous six-run, 2.2 inning outing against the Tigers, Guthrie gave up just two runs in his four other starts totaling 27.1 innings. The Royals won four of his five September starts.
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Betting on the Los Angeles Angels
The Angels were the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff berth, doing so all the way back on September 16. They went just 4-7 the rest of the way, but their possible lack of sharpness takes a backseat to their much more pressing concern, which are injuries to their star players.
Slugger Albert Pujols injured his hamstring during that playoffs-clinching win back in September, a month which saw his batting average drop to .250, almost 20 points lower than his season average. And questions still remain about the availability of Josh Hamilton, who has missed 21 of the Angels’ last 22 games due to an assortment of upper-body injuries.
Good thing the Angels have the likely AL MVP in their lineup. Mike Trout is coming off another spectacular season with a .287 batting average, 36 homers, and 111 RBI and will be making his playoff debut against the Royals. In 22 at-bats against the Royals this year, Trout had nine hits, three of which were home runs, his most among non-division opponents.
With ace Garrett Richards out after a season-ending knee injury, right-hander Jered Weaver will make the Game 1 start for the Angels. For over two months, Weaver has been a picture of consistency. He’ll give up two to four runs and walk a batter or two but he’ll just about always go six to seven innings.
In short, he does enough to keep his team in the game and with a chance to win, which it has when he’s been on the mound. In his last 15 starts, the Angels have gone 11-4.
Writer’s Prediction
The Royals ride the wave of their big wild-card win to stun the Angels in Game 1.
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