Royals Sweep Orioles, Head To World Series

By Ed Carroll | Oct 15, 2014

Sep 26, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Kansas City Royals fans hold up signs and celebrate after their team defeated the Chicago White Sox to clinch a American League wild card playoff berth at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

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The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1, in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, earning the Royals the American League Championship and a trip to the MLB World Series in their first postseason in nearly thirty years.

Thirty years have been a long, long time for Kansas City Royals fans. Prior to this season, the Royals last made the playoffs in 1985, when the won the World Series. There have been five U.S. presidents, and the Royals have had eight winning seasons in the 29 years since: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 2003, 2013 and 2014. You’d be forgiven if you don’t remember the Royals during any of those seasons, except this one, because these Royals matter.

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The Kansas City Royals’s triumphant return to October will continue on to the World Series, as after beating the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1, in Game Four of the American League Championship Series, the Royals, for all their detractors, faults, and quirks, are the AL champs, and Kansas City’s “royal” ride in the MLB playoffs remains undefeated.

Kansas City’s win in Game Four featured plenty of chances for second-guessing manager Ned Yost, and Yost continued ignoring all the snarky comments and doing things his way. Yost tabbed left-hander Jason Vargas to start the game, despite ace James Shields being rested enough to start and Vargas being the team’s fourth-best starting pitcher. Vargas responded with 5.1 innings of two-hit baseball, leaving the game in the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead.

The Royals offense started early, in the bottom of the first. After Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar lead off with an infield single (that deflected off the glove of Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy), Baltimore starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez hit Nori Aoki with a pitch. Then, #Yosting began.

SEE ALSO: Kansas City Royals Set Record With 8th Straight Win To Start Playoffs

Yost called for centerfielder Lorenzo Cain to bunt. In the bottom of the first. With no outs. And of course, it ended up working, logic and win probability be damnned. After both runners advanced on the bunt, first baseman Eric Hosmer hit into a fielder’s choice for the Royals, scoring Escobar, but catcher Caleb Joseph missed the catch from Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce, allowing Aoki to score for a 2-0 Kansas City lead.

Gonzalez was able to recover and get out of the first inning without further damage, and pitched well for Baltimore, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned), walking four (one intentional) and striking out four in 5.2 innings of work. Gonzalez kept the O’s in the game, but Baltimore’s offense couldn’t get much going against Vargas or the Royals bullpen.

The Orioles would get a run back in the top of the third on a leadoff home run by third baseman Ryan Flaherty, but didn’t score again that inning. It’s a bitter finish for a surprising Orioles team, who few predicted to make the playoffs, let alone have the second-best record in the American League. But Baltimore’s home-run-reliant offense disappeared in the ALCS, and despite playing well in most of the series, the Orioles were simply outperformed by Kansas City the entire time.

Lorenzo Cain was named the MVP of the series.

For highlights of the Kansas City Royals’s 2014 playoff run, please click on the next slidescreen.

Next: It began with making the playoffs

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