Surging Royals Look For O’s Sweep

Jason Vargas will take the mound as Kansas City looks to sweep Baltimore on Wednesday.

The Kansas City Royals will look to continue their unthinkable postseason run Wednesday as they look to sweep the Baltimore Orioles in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

First pitch at Kauffman Stadium is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. ET.

Winner of eight straight and 13 of its last 15, Kansas City (7-0 postseason, 3-0 home) will look to remain undefeated this postseason and advance to the 110th World Series in the process.

After defeating the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game, the Royals went on to sweep the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Divisional Series, and are now one win away from securing another clean sweep.

The Royals earned a pair of two-run victories on the East Coast before the series switched to the City of Fountains for three this week.

The Royals returned home confident and even a 24-hour rain delay wasn’t enough to throw Ned Yost’s side off track. The Royals earned a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night, moving one step closer to a first World Series appearance since 1985.

Baltimore (3-3 postseason, 1-1 road) now faces the unenviable task of digging itself out of a 0-3 hole.

Historically, of the 33 teams that have found themselves in the same situation as the Orioles, only one has successfully moved on to the World Series. The Orioles will look to follow in the footsteps of the 2004 Boston Red Sox and turn the series around, booking a first World Series berth since 1983.

With the stakes grave, Buck Showalter will turn to an arm with limited postseason experience.

Pitching matchup

With its season on the line, Baltimore will send Miguel Gonzalez (10-9, 3.23 ERA) to the mound. Gonzalez hasn’t featured in a game since the final day of the regular season.

Gonzalez will be making his second career postseason appearance, and first since Game 3 of the 2012 ALDS. In that game he allowed one run on five hits, striking out eight through seven innings, leaving the game with a no decision.

Baltimore is 0-1 in postseason play when Gonzalez takes the mound.

• Gonzalez is 1-2 with a 4.82 ERA in 3 career games (3 starts) vs. Kansas City
• Gonzalez is 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in 1 career game (1 start) at Kauffman Stadium
• Gonzalez is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 1 game (1 start) vs. Kansas City this season
• Gonzalez has not appeared at Kauffman Stadium this season
• Gonzalez is 0-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 1 career postseason game (1 start)
• Gonzalez is appearing in his first postseason game of the season

With David Price struggling this postseason, Kansas City will turn to Jason Vargas (11-10, 3.71 ERA) to lead the charge on Wednesday afternoon.

Vargas made his postseason debut in Game 1 of the ALDS, yielding two runs on three hits through six innings of play. He left the game with a no decision.

Kansas City is 1-0 in postseason play when Vargas takes the mound.

• Vargas is 2-3 with a 1.94 ERA in 8 career games (8 starts) vs. Baltimore
• Vargas is 8-7 with a 4.66 ERA in 19 career games (19 starts) at Kauffman Stadium
• Vargas has not faced Baltimore this season
• Vargas is 6-6 with a 4.53 ERA in 16 games (16 starts) at Kauffman Stadium this season
• Vargas is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 1 career postseason game (1 start)
• Vargas is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 1 postseason game (1 start) this season

Injury report

Neither club has any new injury worries to be concerned with.

In his first postseason start of 2014, can Miguel Gonzalez help the O’s avoid defeat?

Betting report

Below you’ll find significant trends and observations relating to this matchup.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Kansas City Royals odds for 10/15/2014

Kansas City (-120) opened as the favorite over Baltimore (+110) on the moneyline but most sportsbooks have the line a lot closer than that.

Kansas City is now 7-3 against Baltimore in 2014 after winning the regular season series 4-3. The two clubs split four games at Kauffman Stadium during the regular season, which is positive news for the Orioles heading forward.

Some other trends to consider:

• Baltimore is 3-3 this postseason
• Baltimore is 1-1 on the road this postseason
• Kansas City is 7-0 this postseason
• Kansas City is 3-0 at home this postseason
• Kansas City was 4-3 vs. Baltimore during the regular season
• Each team was 2-2 at Kauffman Stadium in the regular season head-to-head

The total opened at 7.5, marking a half run increase on where it’s sat for the rest of this series.

Tuesday’s game saw the total go under for the first time in the series. The total has now gone under in 13 of the last 18 head-to-head meetings between the two clubs.

The total has also gone under in seven of Baltimore’s last eight games in Kansas City.

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If the Orioles survive on Wednesday, Game 5 of the ALCS will take place at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday (4:07 p.m. ET).

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