KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Almost an hour had passed, and the postgame party had moved from the field to the Kansas City clubhouse, where victory champagne was once again flowing. Yet as sheets of rain fell at Kauffman Stadium, thousands of celebrating Royals fans refused to leave.
They had waited 29 years to soak in moments like these.
“This is a special time in the city right now and they’re enjoying this as much as we are,” winning pitcher James Shields said. “This is the best atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of.”
Alex Gordon hit a bases-clearing double in the first inning, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas each homered and the wild-card Royals finished off a three-game sweep of the mighty Los Angeles Angels with an emphatic 8-3 victory Sunday night in the AL Division Series.
The scrappy team with the unorthodox manager, popgun offense, dynamic defense and lights-out bullpen will open the AL Championship Series against the Orioles beginning Friday night in Baltimore. Kansas City went 4-3 against the O’s this year.
“I’ve never seen this group of kids so confident on the big stage,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It’s really fun to see their development and watch them come into the postseason and just really take their game to the next level.”
The power-hitting Angels, 98-64 in the regular season, became the second team in the divisional era that began in 1969 to have the best record in the majors and get swept out of the playoffs, STATS said. In no small coincidence, the Royals dealt the same humiliating fate to the New York Yankees in the 1980 ALCS.
Stalking around the mound amid an electric atmosphere, Shields lived up to his “Big Game James” billing. The Royals’ ace gave up homers to Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, but otherwise held in check a suddenly punchless Los Angeles lineup.
Shields was helped, too, by diving grabs by center fielder Lorenzo Cain on back-to-back plays. All told, the highest-scoring team in baseball managed six runs in the entire series.
“Anything happens in the playoffs,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “You don’t go in with any badge saying you won the most games, and you’re certainly not going to get any points for that going into the playoffs.”
Kansas City showcased great glovework in every game, especially by its fleet outfielders. In this one, Cain’s catches in the fifth inning preserved a five-run lead.
The Royals coasted the rest of the way to their seventh straight postseason victory dating to Game 5 of the 1985 World Series, the last time they were in the playoffs. George Brett, the star of that team, watched from an upstairs suite and raised his arms when ace closer Greg Holland fanned Trout for the final out.
“We feel like we belong,” Cain said, “that we can play with anyone.”
The Royals are certainly proving it.
Orioles 2, Tigers 1
DETROIT — Nelson Cruz, Buck Showalter and an unheralded bunch from Baltimore swept aside Detroit’s Cy Young winners.
Cruz, who led the majors with 40 homers this season, sliced a two-run homer for his latest big postseason hit, and the Orioles held off the Tigers on Sunday to reach the AL Championship Series for the first time since 1997.
Bud Norris outpitched David Price in Game 3 of the AL Division Series. The Tigers scored in the ninth and put the tying run on second with no outs, but Orioles closer Zach Britton escaped the jam and lifted Showalter into his first LCS in 16 seasons as a big league manager.
“This is fun to watch. Believe me, I’m happier than you can imagine,” Showalter said. “But most of it comes from getting to see the players get what they’ve put into it.”
“We’ve got a lot to go and we’re grinding,” outfielder Adam Jones said. “If we play as a team, we can do anything.”
Detroit won its fourth straight division title this year, and the Tigers have been one of baseball’s most star-laden teams in recent years thanks to general manager Dave Dombrowski’s shrewd trading and owner Mike Ilitch’s aggressive spending. But after reaching at least the ALCS the last three seasons, Detroit couldn’t make it there this year. The Tigers remain without a World Series title since 1984 — a drought one year shorter than Baltimore’s.
“It’s disappointing. You feel like you let the fans down and you feel like you let the organization down,” said Brad Ausmus, who replaced Jim Leyland as Detroit’s manager after last season. “You feel like you let the Ilitches down. So it’s disappointing, no question. But there is nothing we can do about it now.”
By wire sources