For the fifth year in a row, the ALCS will see the Kansas City Royals take on the Houston Astros. The Astros have dominated so far, winning three of the first four, and four of the last five postseason match ups. Both teams swept their ALDS match ups. Over in the NL, the Dodgers will take on the Brewers, as Milwaukee are the only Wildcard team to progress to the LCS in 2045.
The Astros may not have won 118 games this year but remain the dominant team in baseball. They ranked 2nd in both runs and scored and runs against in the AL and, despite missing several key contributors surely enter the series as favourites.
J.J. Tjepkema once again fronts their rotation, and finished one win short of his second Triple Crown having led the league in ERA and K, alongside IP, BB/9, and pitcher WAR he is the runaway favourite to win his 5th Cy Young award. Jon Elfstrom (3.00 ERA) and Juan Silva (2.91) are a formidable 2-3 punch to follow Tjepkema which should mean they dont feel the absence of Juan Llamas who is three weeks from recovering from a partially torn labrum. In the bullpen, last years cheat code closer Robbie Austin is out, having ruptured a disc in miss back but his replacement in the closer role, Arturo Castillo, hasnt missed a beat, recording as 83% save rate for his 5 saves with a 1.59 ERA. Former Royals Doug Campos and Pat Keeling will pitch out of the bullpen, having contributed ERAs of 3.80 and 4.26 respectively this season/
On the hitting side, former Royal Mike Thomas led the team with a .288 average while hitting 31 HRs and 106 RBIs. He was one of three Astros to have 100+ RBIs, 3B Nelson Aguirre (115) and Wilfredo Terrazas (112) joining him while Terrazas led the team with 41 HRs. Another former Royal CF Natalino Villa will bat second while trying to stay healthy having only played in 60 games while Mike Campney is listed DTD with a sprained wrist so it will be interesting to see if the Astros risk him against his former team,
The Royals won the regular season series 5-2 but history suggests the regular season has little bearing when it comes to October baseball.
Game 1 in Kansas City: Greg Moehring vs. J.J. Tjepkema (2042 Free Agent)
Houston wins 8-5
Tjepkema: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R
Moehring: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R
Doug Campos (W): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Joe Manley (L)(BS): 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R
Arturo Castillo (SV) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Houston HRs: Jake Synder (9th)
Kansas City HRs: Jadon Tezeno (3rd, 2R), Arturo Oramas (4th), Bobby Nickelberry (5th)
POTG: Nelson Aguirre (HOU) 2-4, BB, 4 RBI
1-0 Houston
Game 2 in Kansas City: Chris Kuehn vs Jon Elfstrom (2040 Free Agent)
Kansas City wins 4-3
Kuehn: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R
Elfstrom: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R
Dan Nichols (BS)(W): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R
Castillo (BS)(L): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R
Houston HRs: Kevin Barlow (7th)
Kansas City HRs: Nickelberry (8th, 2R)
Series Tied
Game 3 in Houston: Ben Lane vs Juan Silva (2038 Scouting Discovery)
Houston wins 9-6
Silva (W): 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R
Lane (L): 4.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R
Houston HRs: Jake Snyder (3rd), Zaire Prattis (4th), Wilson Terrazas (5th)
Kansas City HRs: Luis Aceves (2nd)
POTG: Natalino Villa (HOU) 4-5, 4 RBI
2-1 Houston
Game 4 in Houston: Jeremy Ogans vs Mike Sunden (2043 Trade WAS)
Kansas City wins 4-3
Ogans: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R INJ Radial Nerve 8-9 months
Sunden: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R
Curt Bogans (W): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Castillo (BS)(L): 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R
Juan Anaya (SV): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R
Houston HRs: Snyder (2nd)
Kansas City HRs: Oramas (9th, 2R), Aceves (9th, 2R)
POTG: Sunden (HOU)
2-2 Series Tied
Game 5 in Houston: Moehring vs Tjepkema
Kansas City wins 5-1
Moehring (W): 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R
Tjepkema (L): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R INJ 1 week
Kansas City HRs: Aceves (2nd)
INJ: Bobby Nickelberry D2D Back
3-2 Kansas City
Game 6 in Kansas City: Kuehn vs Elfstrom
Kansas City wins 5-2
Kuehn (W): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R
Elfstrom: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R
Pat Ferrazzi (L): 1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R
Dan Nichols (SV): 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Kansas City HRs: Nickelberry (6th), Covete (7th)
4-2 KANSAS CITY WINS
Series MVP: Luis Aceves (KC) 7-20, 3 HRs, 6 RBIs