The first game in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series takes place on Friday night.
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Marcus Stroman of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates after the team’s win in the deciding fifth game of the ALDS on Wednesday night to advance past the Texas Rangers. No line is out yet but I lean Kansas City…
Both teams needed the full five games to clinch their American League Division Series. No lineup can match the power and run production of the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays filed a protest after an umpire review ruled Rougned Odor was allowed to cross home plate.
So, where do you stand on the great bat flip?
After Toronto catcher Russell Martin caught a pitch with two out, he attempted to throw the ball back to pitcher Aaron Sanchez.
Benches cleared after Bautista’s homer, as Dyson took exception to Edwin Encarnacion’s hand gestures to the crowd before he entered the batters’ box.
And if you didn’t love his emotional and intense bat flip/throw that came after the blast – coming after controversially losing the lead earlier in the inning and after Toronto lost the first two games of the series – you don’t love theater. The Blue Jays, after a splurge at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline that brought them David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, among others, blew past the Yankees with a 41-14 surge to capture the AL East title and the No. 2 seed at 93-69.
Royals 7, Astros 2: Johnny Cueto delivered a masterpiece on his biggest stage yet, pitching eight dominant innings and leading host Kansas City over Houston and back to the American League championship series.
In the regular season the two sides were evenly matched, with Toronto taking the series 4-3 and outscoring Kansas City, 39-33. Gibbons has experience with the Royals core group, including position players Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Jarrod Dyson, Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez, and pitchers Greg Holland, Luke Hochevar and Danny Duffy. The Royals might have to rely on their relievers just a bit too much, which could cost them in their ability to win this series. All three players, aged 34, 32, and 32 respectively, have waited more than a decade for their chance at post-season ball and neither has disappointed so far. One of the best moments in Jays history was Bautista’s home run and his celebration was one of the best in the history, pure raw emotion and happiness from him after playing over 1400 games in the majors and not one playoff appearance that home run was definitely the best he had hit in his entire career.
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Note to readers: This is a corrected story.
