ALCS 2014: Step-by-Step Guide for the Baltimore Orioles to Win the Series

Following their series victory over the Detroit Tigers, the Baltimore Orioles get set to begin the American League Championship Series on Friday against the dynamic Kansas City Royals.

It should be intense.

After all, the Royals got to the ALCS by coming back against Jon Lester and the Oakland A's in the Wild Card Game then pitched, threw, slugged and ran the Los Angeles Angels into an offseason full of questions after a three-game sweep.

The Orioles did the same thing—kind of. They also swept their opponent and received stellar pitching, but they took advantage of poor relief pitching, scoring 15 runs against the Tigers after the sixth inning.

Each series was brilliant theater, reminding fans of how special MLB postseason action can be.

So what do the Orioles have to do win the ALCS? Here is a step-by-step guide for manager Buck Showalter's club to reach the World Series.

Step 1: The Starters Must Go at Least Six Innings

This can be said for any team still alive in the postseason, but the Orioles starters are going to have to pitch into the seventh inning for two reasons.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

First, it will allow Showalter to make liberal use of the bullpen. In other words, he will be able to use relievers in their preferred capacity instead of being forced to go with one guy over another because he had to pitch one of them longer than usual in the game prior.

Second, the Royals made extra innings a habit this October. And if an Orioles starter is forced to leave in the fourth or fifth inning, it will put the bullpen in an almost untenable situation, especially as the series drags on.

Step 2: Be Smart on the Bases

As Angles shortstop Erick Aybar said after his club was swept by the Royals in the American League Division Series, "They made all the plays," via MLB.com's Lyle Spencer.

That's Aybar's way of saying that the Royals are explosive on defense. And it goes past making diving catches or robbing extra bases with a leaping grab at the wall.

See, the Royals outfielders can throw, making it imperative that the Orioles are smart on the bases and don't run themselves out of an inning. Look no further than the throw from Jarrod Dyson to Mike Moustakas that nailed Collin Cowgill at third base in the bottom of the eighth inning during Game 2 of the ALDS for an example of a club getting burned for being too aggressive against Dyson and company.

Of course, the Royals do more on defense than flash leather in the outfield. They are as solid as they come on the infield, and Salvador Perez is great at blocking pitches and has a cannon for an arm.

Either way, being wise with their turns at first and second and exercising caution when tagging up will help the Orioles manufacture runs.

Step 3: The Bullpen Needs to Outlast the Royals Lineup

We have seen the Royals push clubs to the limit this offseason. In the Wild Card Game, they took control in the eighth inning. The damage began against Lester, of course, but the Royals took advantage of the bullpen once he exited.

In the ALDS, they continued to put pressure on the Angels bullpen, winning twice in extra innings and scoring five runs in 7.1 frames against the relief corps in Game 3 after Angels starter C.J. Wilson was pulled with two outs in the first inning. It was an exercise in resilience.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the excellence of both staffs suggests that this will be a low-scoring series. That means Andrew Miller, Zach Britton, Darren O'Day and company are going to have to keep the Royals from gaining any traction in the later innings.

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Step 4: Throw over to First and Limit Secondary Leads

We all know baseball is a slow game. Like, really slow. But if the Orioles want to corral an efficient Royals ground game, they have got to make it move at a snail's pace.

They simply can't let a Royals club that stole seven bases in the Wild Card Game against Oakland run roughshod over them in the ALCS. If they do, the chances of winning decrease considerably.

And in case you weren't familiar, the Royals can run. Like, a lot.

	RS SB	RS CS	PS SB	PS CS
Jarrod Dyson	36	7	1	0
Alcides Escobar	31	6	1	0
Lorenzo Cain	28	5	1	0
Nori Aoki	17	8	1	0
Alex Gordon	12	3	3	0
Terrance Gore	5	0	3	0

Even Billy Butler recorded a stolen base in the ALDS. It was his first since 2012 and led to some entertaining GIFs and tweets that Andy McCullough from The Kansas City Star was kind enough to compile. 

None of this is lost on Showalter.

"It's kind of what they do, and they're very good at it," Showalter said, according to The Baltimore Sun's Eduardo A. Encina (via The Kansas City Star). "What do they say," he continued, "speed doesn't go into a slump?"

You got that right, Buck.

It won't be popular, but keeping the leads from first and second to a minimum will be imperative if the Orioles want to take away—or, more appropriately, limit—the Royals' greatest strength on offense. It must be noted that Caleb Joseph threw out 40 percent of all would-be base stealers this past season, which led the AL, but he can’t control the Royals on his own.

Step 5: Wield the Lumber

Yes, the Orioles have to be smart on the basepaths. That said, they have to ride the horse that got them to the ALCS—power.

Look no further for evidence than the fact that they led the AL in home runs (211), were second in slugging (.422) and were third in OPS (.735) during the regular season. And if you take pitchers out of the equation, they led the AL in total bases with 2,362. 

In the postseason, they are averaging seven runs per game with four home runs and four doubles in three contests. On top of that, they have a .263/.330/.424 slash line, leading all remaining clubs in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS, per ESPN.com.

The bottom line is this: The Orioles are not fast as a club. Sure, they have speed in the form of Adam Jones, but by and large, they are a station-to-station team. Without a power surge, they will be hard-pressed to find sustained success on offense.

All told, this is going to be a fantastic series between two evenly matched yet different teams. As Peter Schmuck from The Baltimore Sun recently wrote, "It's hard to separate them on paper, so the best-of-seven ALCS may come down to who has The Force with them."

For the Orioles, these five steps are a great way to ensure that momentum stays on their side.

Unless otherwise noted, all traditional, team and historical statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference. Transaction, injury and game information are courtesy of MLB.com.

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