AL Wildcard Gameday Thread: A's @ Royals - 9/30/14

[Chimi]

A's Lineup

Crisp CF

Fuld LF

Donaldson 3B

Moss DH

Reddick RF

Lowrie SS

Vogt 1B

Soto C

Sogard 2B

Lester P

Royals Lineup

Escobar SS

Aoki RF

Cain CF

Hosmer 1B

Butler DH

Gordon LF

Perez C

Infante 2B

Moustakas 3B

James Shields P

Edited September 30, 2014 by Chimi

[Angels_Make_Me_Drink]

Let's go Royals!

[CAAngelsLifer]

At this point it's pretty much all up to Jon Lester. I feel like he's the only constant here.

You just never know what you're going to get with the rest of them.

KC had a GREAT night last night so hopefully some of that energy translates into another great "Show Me State" performance. You know it's going to be loud! It would be wonderful to see both the Patriots AND A's lose in the same city in a 24 hour period. 

[Hollyw00d]

I want the royals, but I think Oakland will win

[Hollyw00d]

There's not a single hitter in KC's lineup that scares you, except maybe Salvador Perez and his manager has him hitting 7th

And Alex Gordon and he's hitting 6th. Lol @ yost

Edited September 30, 2014 by Hollyw00d

[vlad27]

Hoping the A's lose making the whole Lester trade useless in the process

[Angelsfirst]

I want the royals, but I think Oakland will win

+1

[Deek]

Sentimentally I want KC... but as an Angel fan - I want Oakland... KC's bullpen is so scary - and cuts a game to 5 innings (kinda reminds me of the Angels in 2002 with Shields, K-Rod, Percy)...

[CAAngelsLifer]

Well- if Cespedes was still with the A's we could look forward to seeing Billy Butler getting thrown out at first on a hit to his side of the outfield. 

[tdawg87]

I don't care who wins, all I care is that the game goes 27 innings and each team uses up every pitcher they have.

[T.G.]

The sooner the A's are irrelevant this season, the better.  Push them into oblivion...

 

Let's Go Royals!

 

I'm predicting the Royals get a couple of unearned runs early and then their bullpen shuts the A's down...

[QuinlansMinion]

Wow those lineups are scary.  Its no wonder people are picking against the Angels.

 

/sarcasm on

[Angel Oracle]

Sentimentally I want KC... but as an Angel fan - I want Oakland... KC's bullpen is so scary - and cuts a game to 5 innings (kinda reminds me of the Angels in 2002 with Shields, K-Rod, Percy)...

As dominant as Davis and Holland are, people forget how good Kelvin Herrera is as the 7th inning guy.

1.41 ERA in 70 games, and stingy on hits allowed and ZERO HRs allowed, although the Ks/BBs is just over 2/1 (59/26).  Control is his only question.

Herrera and Davis are beyond filthy in not allowing XBHs.

 

I'd rather face the much more often seen A'ths.    The Halos have much more confidence when facing them now (7-1 in past 8 games).

And their backend of the pen isn't Herrera/Davis/Holland.

And we wouldn't face Lester until game 3, and only face him once. 

Edited September 30, 2014 by Angel Oracle

[DW711]

I don't care who wins, all I care is that the game goes 27 innings and each team uses up every pitcher they have.

 

Maybe Dunn can pitch again.

[Jimmag]

I hope it goes 40 innings.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Jimmag

[fan_since79]

The Royals have four left-handed bats in tonight's lineup. The only hitters with any real success against Lester are Aoki and Hosmer.

 

Butler and Gordon have lifetime OPS's of .451 and .454 against him, respectively.

Edited September 30, 2014 by fan_since79

[DW711]

If it went 27 (or 40) innings...I still might take the under.

[CAAngelsLifer]

Found this out reading Susan Slusser's column last night- Soto has NEVER caught for Lester. This will be the first time.

Also, no Dunn. Poor guy. might have something to do with his 16 strikeouts in 35 plate appearances vs Shields, although he has a HR and 5 RBI off of him.

[QuinlansMinion]

As good as the Royals bullpen is, I still want them because of their lineup.  Oakland is capable of getting hot because they are very patient and work counts.  CJ vs Oakland is an automatic loss.  Ill take the younger more inexperienced team, and hope we can get a lead on them before the 7th inning.

[WallyWorld]

this has the makings of a 1-0 game. So I pick KC to win 10-8.

[WallyWorld]

As good as the Royals bullpen is, I still want them because of their lineup.  Oakland is capable of getting hot because they are very patient and work counts.  CJ vs Oakland is an automatic loss.  Ill take the younger more inexperienced team, and hope we can get a lead on them before the 7th inning.

 

that's exactly where my head is at.

[Chimi]

Imagine losing the ALDS to Oakland dinking and doinking the ball all over the place. No thanks.

[Angel Oracle]

As good as the Royals bullpen is, I still want them because of their lineup.  Oakland is capable of getting hot because they are very patient and work counts.  CJ vs Oakland is an automatic loss.  Ill take the younger more inexperienced team, and hope we can get a lead on them before the 7th inning.

If the A'ths had HFA, I would be more in line with this thinking. 

The A'ths though are just average on the road, while KC was the best road team in the AL.    

[T.G.]

I wonder what's going through Adam Dunn's mind... this might be his only shot at playing in the postseason and he's not in the starting lineup.

[fan_since79]

I wonder what's going through Adam Dunn's mind... this might be his only shot at playing in the postseason and he's not in the starting lineup.

 

Wouldn't that be ironic, if they lose and he doesn't make an appearance!