ALCS Schedule 2014: Royals vs. Orioles Series Coverage Guide and Predictions

While it might not have been the matchup most were expecting, the Baltimore Orioles will take on the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 American League Championship Series.

According to Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter, Baltimore came into the season with 40-1 odds to win the World Series while Kansas City was at 50-1. This outside view obviously did not affect those in the clubhouses because the two squads were able to play their way into the playoffs and are now one step away from a pennant. 

Each team was able to earn a sweep over a difficult opponent in the first round. The Royals knocked off the Los Angeles Angels, which had the best record in baseball this season. The Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers despite facing three Cy Young Award winners in a row (Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and David Price).

These squads will look to keep their momentum going against each other and will try to earn a ticket into the World Series.

Here is a look at the upcoming series with predictions for the highly anticipated slate of games.

Game	Date	Matchup	Time	TV
1	Friday, Oct. 10	Royals at Orioles	TBA	TBS
2	Saturday, Oct. 11	Royals at Orioles	TBA	TBS
3	Monday, Oct. 13	Orioles at Royals	TBA	TBS
4	Tuesday, Oct. 14	Orioles at Royals	TBA	TBS
5*	Wednesday, Oct. 15	Orioles at Royals	TBA	TBS
6*	Friday, Oct. 17	Royals at Orioles	TBA	TBS
7*	Saturday, Oct. 18	Royals at Orioles	TBA	TBS

Pitching Battle

Travis Heying/Associated Press

While the order for the entire series is not yet known for either team, the Royals know exactly who they are sending out for Game 1: "Big Game James." Andy McCullough of The Kansas City Star reports James Shields will get the ball for Kansas City on Friday:

The interesting note is this means Shields will start three of the team's first five postseason games. Considering he has now made eight playoff starts in his career on a squad full of players who have never reached this level before, this makes a lot of sense.

Meanwhile, Shields has also had a lot of success against the Orioles, winning both of his starts against them in 2014 with a 3.21 ERA. The only person on the roster with at least a .300 batting average against Shields with a minimum of 10 at bats is Adam Jones (.304), and no one has more than two home runs. 

Beyond Shields, the Royals have more experience in Jason Vargas as well as a pair of youngsters with electric stuff in Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy. McCullough joked about how good Ventura can be when he is on:

With Greg Holland, Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera coming out of the bullpen, Kansas City will be a tough team to score against in this series.

Even with these players, though, the Orioles still have the advantage in the late innings with a bullpen that ranked sixth in the majors with a 3.10 ERA. A lot of this has to do with the talent on the roster, but the real credit has to go to manager Buck Showalter, who has become a master of managing his relievers.

Andrew Miller, who came over from the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline, explained his admiration for the managerial decisions, via Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com:

"

All of us in the dugout are sitting there guessing, what's the right move? Whatever he does seems to be the right one. I've had a lot of great coaches, a lot of great managers, but I don't know that I've ever seen anybody as prepared as Buck Showalter. I think it pays off. I think the staff as a whole is really, really special and I think it goes a long ways.

"

The Orioles starting rotation might not have big names that intimidate opposing teams, but Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen and Bud Norris have pitched well all year into the playoffs. Still, the important thing is that Showalter knows he can go to his bullpen early if needed and trust it to put zeros on the board.

You might not see complete-game shutouts from either team in this series, and few of the starters will make eye-opening starts, but the full staffs will keep each game low-scoring.

Offense

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Without Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and Manny Machado, many expected the Orioles lineup to fall apart. However, it simply keeps coming through with big hits.

Joe Simpson of TBS made this proclamation during the last series:

Adam Jones and Nelson Cruz are the big hitters on offense, but almost everyone who steps up to the plate has home run power. When Baltimore gets a few players on base, you always have to be scared of a two- or three-run shot.

On the other hand, the Royals utilize a different strategy to score runs. With only a few real power threats (and no one with over 20 home runs this season), they have to rely on speed and timely hitting to get onto the scoreboard.

As Damon Salvadore of the Latin Post noted, this has led to success all season:

The problem is this is harder to replicate every game, especially when the .240 batting average in the postseason catches up to them.

Kansas City can win low-scoring games but could end up getting in trouble in back-and-forth battles.

Prediction

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

The Royals have become fan favorites in this postseason with young players seemingly having fun. Patrick O'Neal of Fox Sports West discusses the energy on display in the home games:

It seems clear this team will be a playoff contender for many years to come.

Unfortunately for this squad, the Orioles have the advantage in too many aspects of the game. Even if the starting pitchers struggle, the bullpen and lineup have shown the ability to put it all together to consistently win games.

With Showalter making great moves throughout the year and Royals manager Ned Yost seemingly getting away with mostly bad ones, this will catch up to the Royals, and the playoff run will end here.

Prediction: Orioles win in six games

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