With the 2015 MLB Season winding down we move to the American League Championship Series that begins on Friday the 16th of October 2015 with the Blue Jays of Toronto (93-89) playing the Royals of Kansas City (95-67) with the 1st game of the series being played at the Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri with game time at 8:10 PM ET and seen on FOX TV.
This ALCS brings together 2 of the best teams in this 2015 Regular Season, and only 1 will walk away as the American League Title and move on to the World Series Playoffs. These same 2 teams has spectacular comebacks in the division series playoffs to enter into this most exciting series of seven games that begins this Friday night.
For those that Bet on MLB at an online sportsbook and are fans of the Blue Jays of Toronto, they travel to Kansas City to seek the AL Championship Title carrying the momentum after their win of the Rangers of Texas 6-3 in the final game 5 of the AL Division Series.
The Toronto’s J. Bautista hit a smashing 3 run homer to put the Blue Jays in the lead in the lower half of the 7th inning at 6-3 and the final score which was the 1st playoff series win in the past 22 years. That was a great win for Toronto and it made them the 3rd team in the MLB to lose their 1st 2 series games at home, and then go on to win the series title. In this playoff the Royals have the home field advantage because they have the AL’s winning record.
Now the going for the Blue Jays will not be easier as the Royals are awaiting, and in their season games the Blue Jays won 4 of the seven games they played while outscoring the Royals 39 runs to 33 runs for the series. In this playoff the Royals have the home field advantage because they have the AL’s winning record.
In this 1st game the pressure will be put on starting pitcher M. Estrada, win the 1st game and eliminate the Royals home field advantage by winning Game 1 of this series. In Game 3 Estrada pitched 6.2 innings and allowed just 1 run as the Blue Jays beat the Rangers 5-1 and slowed down the Texas hitters who beat pitchers D. Price and M. Stroman in the Blue Jays 1st 2 game losses.
The performance of pitcher Estrada came as no surprise, considering his pitching lately, as in his 12 season games he started he pitched a total of 76.1 innings and gave up just 46 hits. However in this game as the starter he will need to perform at his best as the Royals to date in the playoffs have scored 25 runs which ranks 2nd in the MLB to date.
With the strength of the Royals, it’s important that the Toronto Offense steps up in this 1st game, and led by their 5th game hero Bautista who to date in postseason play he has had 6 hits in his 22 at bats, hitting 2 HR’s and accumulating 5 RBI’s. The Toronto team in the ultimate 8 road games that pitchers Estrada has started, they have won 6 games and lost just 2 games.
The fans of the Royals of Kansas City knows there team is not a quitter, as they rallied in game 5 from a 2 run deficit to become victorious over the Astros of Houston 7-2 to set them up for this ALDS Championship playoffs. All of the 3 games they won it the series were come from behind wins as the overcame in the 2nd and 4th games 3 some four run and 3 run deficits respectively.
Their win in that series was a result of the heroics of pitcher J. Cueto who in game 5 as in the eight innings he pitched he allowed 2 hits, 2 runs and struck out 8 hitters, and amazingly the final 19 hitters he face he retired.
Now they face the Blue Jays and they will start E. Volquez in the mound in the 1st and important home game. Unfortunately he lost his last postseason game against the Astros of Houston in his 5.4 inning pitched giving up three runs, and in Game 3 he struck out 8, and gave up 5 hits and 4 walks as he struck out 8 and the Royals beat the Astros 4-2.
Because of their great comeback in game 5 their pitcher Volquez gets another shot at pitching in these playoffs. It will not be easy as he faces the Blue Jays who in the regular season scored some 891 runs and that ranks highest 1st in the NFL. Volquez has pitched 2 times this season against Toronto and in 11.2 innings he pitched he allowed 6 runs, of which 3 were unearned and 9 hits. In those 2 games the Royals won 1 and lost 1 game.
The pitcher can’t do it all and he will need help offensively from the Royals hitters, and in this Game 1 they need solid performances from B. Zobrist who this postseason has 6 hits in 18 at bats, and then K. Morales who also in the ALDS had 5 hits in 19 at bats, as he hit 3 homers and had 6 RBI’s to date. The Royals have won their ultimate 4 League Championship games to date.
The prediction for this Game 1 is that the Blue Jays of Toronto will beat the Royals of Kansas City 7-5!