The Playoff Race: Kansas City Royals Are IN!!!
By John Viril
Wow. I can hardly believe I’m writing these words. The Kansas City Royals broke the longest playoff drought in major United States sports by clinching a wild card berth with their 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday. The Playoff Race: Kansas City Royals Are IN!!!
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Jeremy Guthrie pitched 7 shutout innings, Nori Aoki slammed an inning-changing triple, and Greg Holland notched his 46th save to put Kansas City in the playoffs.
The ordeal is over Royals’ fans. You don’t have to be embarrassed to admit you root for KC Blue!
From fly balls that hit seagulls, to cutoff throws that hit players in the back, to pop flies that dropped as outfielders trotted toward the dugout—the Kansas City Royals endured 28 seasons of humiliation before getting to this one, sublime moment on Friday night. In front of a Chicago crowd that came to honor the retiring Paul Konerko, the Royals celebrated a playoff berth.
Any Kansas City fan that can manage to be cynical on a day like this needs to check into the nearest psychiatric facility, because there is NOTHING that can make you happy.
Kansas Ctty fans, break out your Royals gear, kick back, and enjoy this Saturday afternoon that will henceforth be known around KC Kingdom as Blue Saturday. For one day, we should just BE ROYAL!
A.L. CENTRAL
| Rk | Tm | W | L | W-L% | GB | Strk | pythWL | Home | Road | ExInn | 1Run | last10 | last20 | last30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DET | 89 | 71 | .556 | — | L 1 | 86-74 | 44-35 | 45-36 | 6-6 | 23-20 | 5-5 | 12-8 | 18-12 |
| 2 | KCR | 88 | 72 | .550 | 1.0 | W 2 | 83-77 | 42-39 | 46-33 | 5-7 | 22-24 | 6-4 | 10-10 | 16-14 |
| 3 | CLE | 84 | 76 | .525 | 5.0 | W 2 | 81-79 | 47-32 | 37-44 | 13-8 | 25-21 | 7-3 | 11-9 | 17-13 |
| 4 | CHW | 72 | 88 | .450 | 17.0 | L 4 | 70-90 | 39-40 | 33-48 | 6-8 | 27-24 | 4-6 | 9-11 | 13-17 |
| 5 | MIN | 69 | 91 | .431 | 20.0 | W 1 | 73-87 | 35-46 | 34-45 | 6-7 | 21-24 | 6-4 | 8-12 | 11-19 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
The Central division remains up-for-grabs after the Twins stomped the Tigers 11-4 in Detroit. The loss allowed Kansas City to pull within 1 game of the A.L. Central lead with 2 games to play.
Not only could the Royals tie the Tigers (forcing a playoff on Monday), Kansas City could outright win the Central if the Tigers lose both of their remaining games while Kansas City wins its final two.
How about that, Royals fans?
A.L. WILD CARD
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
The Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners remain locked in a battle for the final open playoff spot in the American League. Right now, the Mariners need to win their final 2 games, and Oakland needs to lose their final 2 games, for Seattle to pull into a tie for the 2nd wild card. If that were to occur, the Mariners and A’s would play a tie-breaker game on Monday.
As things stand now, Kansas City would host the A’s for the wild card game at Kauffman Stadium.
While I would love seeing a playoff game at The K, I wonder if the Royals might be better off in the 2nd wild card and playing on the road. KC is only 3 games over .500 at home, while sporting a 13 game bulge over even on the road.
I guess beggers can’t be choosers. Right now, I’m just happy that the Royals earned an invite to the party.
Regardless of what happens down the road, this is a good day.