The Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles are the last teams standing in the American League.
While no one would have expected this pairing to represent the ALCS at the start of the season, it's anything but surprising now, given the way these teams dominated in their respective ALDS sweeps.
Regular Season Records:
Kansas City: 89-73, 2nd place in AL Central
Baltimore: 96-66, 1st place in AL East
Season Series: Royals won 4-3
Key Stat: The Royals led baseball with 153 steals in the regular season, while Baltimore finished last with 44. The Orioles paced MLB with 211 home runs, while the Royals finished with a league-worst 95.
Kansas City Outlook: The Royals remarkable run continued with a sweep of the Angels in the ALDS. Kansas City won two extra inning games on home runs from Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas to knock off the top seed in the American League.
The Royals pitching was outstanding, allowing just six runs in 31 innings pitched against a stacked Angels lineup.
James Shields will take the ball in Game One for Kansas City, but Yordano Ventura has arguably been the best Royals starter so far, after allowing just one run in seven innings of work during his Game Two start in the ALDS.
Kansas City added five more steals against LA, including Billy Butler's fifth career steal.
Baltimore Outlook: Despite having a better record than the Tigers, Baltimore seemed to be the under-dog in the series. They put that thought to rest quickly, dispatching Detroit in three games.
After a blowout win in Game One, the Orioles squeaked out back-to-back one run wins to take the series.
While Nelson Cruz and Delmon Young got most of the credit for their clutch hits, the starting rotation deserves just as much recognition for their performance.
Wei-Yin Chen struggled in his start, but Chris Tillman and Bud Norris both put together impressive starts against a tough Tigers lineup. They combined to allow just two runs in 11.1 innings.
What to watch for: The Royals continue to wreak havoc on the basepaths, allowing them to build rallies without much power (though they hit a few clutch home runs in the ALDS).
The run game is going to play a crucial role for both teams - the Royals trying to keep it going, while the Orioles attempt to shut it down.
Whichever team can have the most success with this aspect of the game is going to give themselves a huge advantage.
What they're saying - Royals:
ALCS might come down to battle of bullpens (Pine Tar Press)
Royals, Orioles: Very similar, except when they're not (Kings of Kauffman)
What they're saying - Orioles:
World Series Odds: Orioles now favorites to win it all (Camden Chat)
Seven players who could be key to deciding ALCS (The Baltimore Sun)
For more coverage check out the Chat Sports team pages:
Baltimore Orioles News & Rumors
Kansas City Royals News & Rumors
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