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Angels try to even ALDS with red-hot Royals Friday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 10/3/2014  at  7:56:00 AM
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KANSAS CITY ROYALS (91-73)

at LOS ANGELES ANGELS (98-65)

American League Division Series - Game 2
Kansas City leads series 1-0
First pitch: Friday, 9:35 p.m. ET
Line: Kansas City -110, Los Angeles -110, Total: 7.5

After two straight extra-inning victories, the Royals look to take a 2-0 advantage in their ALDS versus the Angels on Friday night.

Kansas City has made its first trip to the postseason since 1985 an eventful one with a 9-8, extra-inning victory in the Wild Card game versus the A's followed by another exciting win in Game 1 of this ALDS. This contest also had some extra baseball with the big play coming in the 11th inning when 3B Mike Moustakas hit a solo home run which proved to be the game-winner. Kansas City had just four hits in the contest as the club went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and had just one stolen base after recording seven in the win over Oakland. Los Angeles had the best overall record in the regular season, but could not bring that momentum to the playoffs as it managed a meager four hits while being 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The two runs both came from homers, as C Chris Iannetta and 3B David Freese both went deep. Getting the call to toe the rubber in Game 2 for the Royals will be RHP Yordano Ventura (14-10, 3.20 ERA) as he attempts to outduel RHP Matt Shoemaker (16-4, 3.04 ERA) of the host Angels. Both pitchers are making their first career postseason start on Friday. Thursday’s win improved the Royals’ road record to an impressive 48-34 (.583, 2nd in majors), but they will have a tough task ahead of them with Los Angeles being an MLB-best 52-30 (.634) at home. Over the past three seasons, the Angels hold the edge in this series, taking 13-of-23 games (.565) overall, but have a losing record (6-7) at home in that time. For this contest, neither team has to worry about injuries to any of their offensive players.

Yordano Ventura is one of the reasons that the Royals are extremely excited about both the present and future as he used his scorching fastball, which averaged 96 MPH, to mow down 7.8 batters per nine innings. However, the 23-year-old gave up 14 homers in his 183 innings (0.69 HR/9) on the mound while struggling somewhat with his control (3.4 BB/9). His first playoff experience did not go well as he allowed a homer to his first batter faced in the Wild Card game, but hopes to pitch more like he did in September when he was 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA with one home run allowed in 37.1 IP. Ventura has never faced the Angels before and should be most cautious when facing OF Mike Trout who hit 36 homers (4th in MLB) while adding 111 RBI (2nd in MLB) and a majors-best 115 runs. Meanwhile, 3B David Freese (.260 BA) has seen his batting average drop in each of the past four seasons but did hit a solo homer in Thursday’s loss giving him eight career postseason homers to go along with a .292 average. The bullpen for the Royals has been outstanding this year, going 30-18 (.625) with a 3.29 ERA, and has successfully saved 54-of-65 (83%) games. Closer Greg Holland (1.44 ERA, 46 saves) earned his first postseason save on Thursday night as he struck out two of his three batters faced and contributed to the combined pitching line of 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K's for seven K.C. relievers in Game 1. Holland had a huge 13.9 K/9 rate in the regular season.

Matt Shoemaker was one of the better surprises in the league this year as he struck out 8.2 batters per nine innings while showing impeccable control (1.6 BB/9) over his 136 innings as a rookie. He is much different than most first-year players, as he is 28 years old and had not really shown much promise in his minor-league career, doing no better than a 4.64 ERA in the minors since 2011. Los Angeles was 9-1 in his final 10 starts of the year as he allowed a mere 11 runs in 59.2 innings pitched (1.66 ERA). Shoemaker took on the Royals twice this season with very poor results, as he was 0-1 with a 10.00 ERA and 2.33 WHIP, while he allowed 19 hits in nine innings. SS Alcides Escobar, 1B Eric Hosmer, OF Lorenzo Cain and C Salvador Perez have combined to go an amazing 14-for-22 (.636) with three extra-base hits and 3 RBI in this matchup, while 2B Omar Infante (1-for-3, 1 HR, 4 RBI) is the only player to go deep against him. The relievers for Los Angeles are 30-23 (.566) with a 3.49 ERA while being 46-for-62 (74%) in save chances. In Game 1, the bullpen allowed just one hit (the Moustakas homer) in four innings of work with two walks and three strikeouts. Huston Street (1.37 ERA, 41 saves) had a perfect inning in a non-save situation on Thursday night and was 41-for-44 in save opportunities during the regular season.


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