Kansas City Royals continue pursuit of crown v. Angels

After another extra-inning win this postseason, the Kansas City Royals look to continue on the path toward a pennant in game two of their AL Division Series  matchup against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Friday night’s mound matchup at Angel Stadium will consist of Yordano Ventura of the Royals and Matt Shoemaker of the Angels.

Kansas City pulled a 3-2 win in Game One of the series.  They now have the chance, if they win tonight, to take a 2-0 lead back home to Kauffman Stadium. The Royals will be starting the right-handed fireballer Ventura, with a fastball averaging 97 mph. The Royals have an occasionally-powerful lineup and have to score runs from a different approach. Continuing with the “need for speed” approach, skipper Ned Yost will most likely bring momentum to the offense with more stolen bases.

More from MLB Playoffs

• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
• FanDuel’s Exclusive $2,500 MLB Promo Won’t Be Around Much Longer! 
• Inside the MLB numbers: A winning record but no playoffs
• Clutch in the MLB postseason: Game-changing moments (2016-2022)
• 3 MLB longshots who can win the World Series

In their loss Thursday night, the Angels, who led the majors in runs scored during the regular season, finished with only four hits.

Tonight, the Halos need to have more production from their big bats at the dish in order to gain a solid lead on Kansas City. Pujols, Kendrick and Trout have to do more than just step up to the plate to aid in a Royals defeat, after going a combined 0-for-9 last night. The Angels’ last postseason run in 2009 was ended by Andy Pettite and the New York Yankees in Game 6 of the ALCS. Now they hope to shorten the luck of Kansas City and advance to the ALCS themselves.

Here are tonight’s lineups: