Finally we’re here. After a marathon 162 regular season games, the ten teams are set for baseball’s postseason, starting with a interesting pair of Wild Card games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Opening this year’s festivities are the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals, the winner of which will play the Los Angeles Angels in a best-of-five divisional round series.
Can the A’s forge that all-AL West showdown? Or will Kansas City extend their magical playoff run? Read on for a complete breakdown of this American League Wild Card match and while you’re at it you can also check out our preview of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
When: Tuesday, September 30, 2014, 8:07 PM ET
Line: Oakland Athletics (EVEN) at Kansas City Royals (-110); total 6.5 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Oakland Athletics
When Oakland general manager Billy Beane decided to acquire the services of pitcher Jon Lester back in July, sacrificing the A’s best hitter Yoenis Cespedes in the process, he envisioned the 30-year-old as the ace that will finally help the Athletics get over the hump in the postseason. That plan will be put to the test Tuesday when Lester pitches to keep the Athletics alive to play another day.
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Oakland Athletics are fortunate to be playing in the wild card game in the first place. They barely just made it into this knockout game after stumbling in the home stretch, finishing the regular season in a 16-30 tailspin.
Sonny Gray helped the A’s avoid slipping into a secondary playoff game with the Mariners with a six-hit shutout against the Texas Rangers Sunday to seal the one-game lead in the wild card race.
The A’s now have one day off to get focused on their winner-take-all game with the Kansas City Royals. Play-in games like this are often decided by the pitching the teams can summon for the decisive day, and luckily for Oakland they will have one of the premier pitchers in the game today on the mound.
Jon Lester (16-11) has a 6-4 record in the postseason with an ERA of 2.11. He also owns the lowest ERA in World Series history among pitchers with 20 or more innings with an incredible 0.43 clip. He will take the mound Tuesday coming off his most successful regular season yet in his illustrious career. Lester posted the lowest ERA of his nine-season career, posting an ERA of 2.46. The 219.2 innings he logged this season was also a career-best.
Lester is also undefeated in three games against Kansas City this season with an ERA of 2.61. In his last game against the Royals last August 12, he allowed three earned runs on six hits in six strong innings to give the A’s a huge 11-3 win.
In that case, he will rely on A’s right fielder Josh Reddick to set the ball rolling for Oakland. He is hitting .480 (7-of-25) in his last six games with one homer and seven RBIs. He tripled in one run and scored another in their wild card-clinching game against the Rangers on Sunday.
Reddick has hit well against Royals’ starter James Shields. He is 4-of-6 (.667) lifetime against Shields with two HRs and three RBIs.
The Athletics are 5-5 in their last 10 away games.
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Betting on the Kansas City Royals
Kauffman Stadium will surely be rocking on Tuesday night as the Kansas City Royals will play their first postseason game in 29 years.
Getting the start for the Royals is pitcher James Shields and with the way he has performed this season, it is hard to argue otherwise. He has been the rock of a young Kansas City rotation, pitching 227 innings this season en route to a 14-8 record and a solid 3.21 ERA.
The one thing he will bring to the table for Kansas City in this wild card game is his postseason experience. During his time with the Tampa Bay Rays, Shields went 2-4 record in the playoffs with a 4.98 ERA. In the 2008 World Series, he earned the Rays their only win, pitching 5.2 innings of shutout ball.
Shields has handled the Oakland A’s particularly well this season. In his two starts against Oakland this year, he has allowed a total of five runs in 14 innings of action getting a win and a no-decision. He is 6-4 lifetime against Oakland in 15 career starts.
The Royals have won five of their seven meetings with the A’s this season thanks in large part to the play of their right fielder Nori Aoki. He went 9-of-22 with six runs scored in the seven games he played against Oakland. Aoki won’t be intimidated by Lester, either, as he is batting .444 (4-of-9) against the A’s right-hander this season with two RBIs.
The Royals are 4-6 in their last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Athletics (EVEN) win by two runs to set up an ALDS clash with the Angels.
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