The Kansas City Royals face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a series featuring two new teams to the recent American League playoff picture.
The Royals ended a 28 year playoff drought with a wild card birth, then defeated the Athletics to keep their playoff run alive.
The Angels hold the best record in baseball, appearing in the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Records:
Kansas City: 89-73, 2nd place in AL Central
Los Angeles: 98-64, 1st place in AL West
Season Series: Split 3-3 (the home team went 4-2)
Kansas City Outlook: The 2014 season has been a wild ride for the Royals. Their 28 year playoff absence came to an end behind clutch hitting and a dominant bullpen.
Assuring that their playoff stay didn't last just one night, the Royals had a thrilling comeback victory to edge Oakland for a spot in this ALDS matchup.
Alex Gordon led the Royals in home runs (19), RBI (74) and on-base percentage (.351), but got support from just about everyone with Salvador Perez (17 HR's, 70 RBI) and Billy Butler (9 HR's, 66 RBI) posting impressive stats.
The Royals bullpen is the deepest in baseball. Led by Greg Holland in the ninth (46 saves, 1.44 ERA), and Wade Davis dominating out of the eighth inning role - recording nine wins, 33 holds and a 1.00 ERA with 109 strikeouts - the bullpen finished with a 3.30 ERA
Los Angeles Outlook: The star-studded roster of the Angels finally produced, overtaking the Athletics for the AL West crown with a strong finish to the season - while capturing baseball's best record in the process.
Mike Trout produced MVP numbers, finishing with 36 home runs, 111 RBI, a .377 OBP and 16 steals.
Albert Pujols had his best season as an Angel, racking up 28 home runs, 105 RBI and playing in a team high 159 games.
The pitching staff suffered a big loss with the injury to Garrett Richards (13-4, 2.61 ERA) but the rotation is in good hands with ace Jared Weaver (18-9, 3.59) and the emerging Matt Shoemaker (16-4, 3.04 ERA)
What to watch for: This series has many factors at play, but the most important will be the strength of the respective bullpens.
Kansas City's staple this year was strong bullpen work in the late innings, but they uncharacteristically struggled in the Wild Card win against the A's - giving up six runs in seven innings of work.
The Angels have struggled finding a consistent source of effective late inning arms in years past, but with Huston Street now closing, the Angels finally have the one element they have been missing since Francisco Rodriguez.
All the games in this series should be close, meaning a sharp bullpen performance will be a huge boost to whichever team can get it.
What they're saying - Royals:
The Royals and the greatest game of a lost generation (Kings of Kauffman)
Royals win wildest wild card in 22 photos (Royals Review)
What they're saying - Angels:
Three keys for Angels vs. Royals in ALDS (Official Site of the Angels)
Having best record gives Angels only a slight edge in postseason (Orange County Register)
For more coverage check out the Chat Sports team pages:
Kansas City Royals News & Rumors
Los Angeles Angels News & Rumors
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