Royals, Orioles finish sweeps, willmeet in ALCS, beginning in Baltimore on Friday.
With early jump, K.C. completes humbling of L.A.
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KANSASCITY, Mo.— Almost an hour had passed, and the postgame party had moved from the field to the Kansas City clubhouse, where victory Champagne was once again flowing. Yet as sheets of rain fell at Kauffman Stadium, thousands of celebrating Royals fans refused to leave.
They had waited 29 years to soak in moments like these.
“This is a special time in the city right now, and they’re enjoying this asmuch aswe are,” Game 3 winning pitcher James Shields said. “This is the best atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of.”
Alex Gordon hit a basesclearing double in the first inning, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas homered and the wild-card Royals finished a three-game sweep of the mighty Los Angeles Angels with an 8-3 victory Sunday night in the AL Division Series.
The team with the popgun offense, dynamic defense and lights-out bullpen will open the AL Championship Series against the Orioles on Friday night in Baltimore. Kansas City went 4-3 against the O’s this year.
“I’ve never seen this group of kids so confident on the big stage,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “It’s really fun to see their development and watch them come into the postseason and just really take their game to the next level.”
The power-hitting Angels, 98-64 in the regular season, became the second team in the divisional era that began in 1969 to have the best record in the majors and get swept out of the playoffs, Stats said. In a coincidence, the Royals dealt the same fate to the New York Yankees in the 1980ALCS.
Stalking around the mound amid an electric atmosphere, Shields lived up to his “Big Game James” billing. The Royals’ right-hander gave up homers to Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, but otherwise held in check a suddenly punchless Los Angeles lineup.
Shields was helped by diving grabs by center fielder Lorenzo Cain on back-to-back plays. All told, the highest-scoring team in baseball managed six runs in the entire series.
“Anything happens in the playoffs,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “You don’t go in with any badge saying you won the most games, and you’re certainly not going to get any points for that going into the playoffs.”
Kansas City showcased great glovework in every game, especially by its fleet outfielders. In this one, Cain’s catches in the fifth preserved a five-run lead.
The Royals coasted the rest of theway to their seventh straight postseason victory dating to Game 5 of the 1985 World Series, the last time they were in the playoffs. George Brett, the anchor of that team, watched from an upstairs suite and raised his arms when closer Greg Holland struck out Trout for the final out.
Kansas City played a 12inning thriller against the A’s in the wild-card game and two 11-inning games in Anaheim before returning home to a raucous, adoring crowd.
Trout staked his team to a first-inning lead, but Angels starter C.J. Wilson quickly got into trouble. The left-hander gave up consecutive singles and a four-pitch walk in the bottom half to load the bases for Gordon, whose slicing two-out double gave Kansas City a 3-1 lead.
Sensing the game already slipping away, Scioscia marched to the mound and handed the game to his bullpen. It didn’t fare a whole lot better.
The Royals kept up the pressure. Hosmer’s two-run shot came in the third inning. Moustakas connected in the fourth.
By that point, the Angels— their high-priced offense having fizzled and pitching having failed them— were slumped over the railing of their dugout. They spent the final five innings bundled against the October chill, periods of rain making their night miserable.