Astros vs. Royals: ALDS Game 5 Preview & Prediction

Trailing 6-2 and six outs away from elimination in Game 4 of their ALDS series with the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals kicke things into high gear with a five-run eighth which propelled them to a heart-stopping 9-6 victory in Houston. Now the series shifts back to Kansas City for a decisive Game 5. Who's moving on to the ALCS? Who's going home. Here's our Astros vs. Royals: ALDS Game 5 Preview & Prediction.

Pitchers: 

Collin McHugh (HOU) [19-7, 3.89 ERA] vs. Johnny Cueto (KC) [11-13, 3.44 ERA]

Projected Starting Lineups: 

Houston Astros

2B Jose Altuve
RF George Springer 
SS Carlos Correa  
LF Colby Rasmus
DH Evan Gattis
CF Carlos Gomez
3B Luis Valbuena 
1B Chris Carter
C Jason Castro

Kansas City Royals

SS Alcides Escobar
2B Ben Zobrist 
CF Lorenzo Cain
1B Eric Hosmer
DH Kendrys Morales
3B Mike Moustakas
C Salvador Perez 
LF Alex Gordon 
RF Alex Rios 

Key To The Game: 

Kansas City starter Johnny Cueto was all over the place in the first three innings of Game 2, giving up four runs and generally spotting his fastball way too high for Houston hitters to tee off on. He settled down over his final three, but 10 baserunners in six innings won't get the job done in Game 5. Cueto needs to temper his nerves and work the black early and often to keep Astros hitters off balance and force them to come after his breaking stuff.

Prediction: Royals win 6-4

We already have one home run-or-bust team in a League Championship Series (the Cubs), but we're not getting two. Cueto does just enough early in this one to keep Kansas City neck-and-neck before the Royals put together one of their patented conveyor belt singles extravaganzas in the late innings to pull away.

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Related Topics: Collin McHugh, Carlos Correa, Colby Rasmus, Salvador Perez, Johnny Cueto, Mike Moustakas, Jose Altuve, Eric Hosmer