For the first time since 1985, the Kansas City Royals will take part in the MLB playoffs. Kansas City will host the Oakland Athletics for the AL Wild Card game at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night. James Shields will oppose Jon Lester in this play-in game for the right to advance to the Divison Series round against the Los Angeles Angels. We are going to bank on the host Royals as they end the season for the A’s.
Royals banking on ‘Big Game James’ tonight
Kansas City will hand the ball to James Shields on Tuesday night in the hopes of sending the Royals to the Division Series against the Angels. Shields has plenty of post-season experience after pitching for Tampa Bay in the 2008 World Series. He won the only game of that series for the Rays, who lost in five games to the Phillies. He will be facing a team that has stumbled into the playoffs after almost botching their chances.
Athletics ask their own star acquisition for a win
Jon Lester, acquired at this year’s trade deadline from Boston, will take the mound on Tuesday for Oakland. Despite the addition of Lester, Jeff Samardzija, Jonny Gomes, Adam Dunn and Jason Hammel, the A’s collapsed over the final two months of the season to lose the AL West, the top Wild Card spot and barely make it into the playoffs. Many experts blamed their collapse on the trade of Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox in the Lester deal.
On Tuesday night, the MLB playoffs take center stage as the American League Wild Card game pits the Royals against the Athletics in Kansas City. We will place our bet over at SportsBetting.ag, where the A’s are favored on the road. We are going to drop 10 percent of our bankroll on the host Royals and the -102 money line.
