KANSAS CITY: Unbeaten in their first Major League Baseball playoff appearance since 1985, the Kansas City Royals advanced to the World Series by defeating the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 yesterday.
The Royals, who won their only World Series title 29 years ago, became the first Major League Baseball team to win its first eight playoff games in a season by finishing off a four-game sweep of the Orioles in the best-of-seven American League final.
“It has been awesome,” Royals slugger Eric Hosmer said. “But we’re not done yet.”
Kansas City will play host to the National League winner, either the St Louis Cardinals or San Francisco Giants, in game one of the best-of-seven championship final next Tuesday.
“We’re going to try to make this season even more special,” said Royals outfielder Alex Gordon. “It has been an amazing run. We’re playing pretty good baseball.”
Should the Royals win their World Series opener, they would equal the all-time longest major league playoff multi-year win streak -- 12 games set by the New York Yankees between 1927-1932 and matched by them in 1998-1999 -- even with a 29-year gap between wins three and four.
The Royals captured the 1985 World Series by winning the final three games to defeat Missouri state rival St Louis in the maximum seven games.
Since then, Kansas City fans had suffered the longest drought of any major league team without a playoff game, but were rewarded for their patience this October when the Royals beat Oakland in the wildcard game, swept the Los Angeles Angels in the best-of-five division series and dispatched an Orioles squad seeking its first World Series berth since winning in 1983. Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain was named the Most Valuable Player of the series after going 8-for-15 at the plate, scoring five times and driving in another run while making several spectacular diving catches to deny Baltimore base hits.
Mewnwhile, San Francisco rallied from a three-run deficit Wednesday to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 and move to the brink of winning their Major League Baseball play-off series.
The Giants seized a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven National League final and could advance with a victory in game five Thursday at San Francisco.
The Cardinals have never recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series. But the Giants know it can be done, having rallied from the deficit to beat St Louis on the way to the 2012 World Series crown.
Agencies
