ALDS: Royals sweep the Angels with offensive onslaught

The Kansas City Royals defeated the Los Angeles Angels in game three of the American Division Series by a score of 8-3 in front of 40,657 fans at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals completed their sweep or in this case “royal flush” of the Angels and are now on their way to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 1985.

Tonight though was really the icing on the cake for the Royals so far in the 2014 postseason.

Unlike in their past three games, the American League Wild Card and games one and two of the A.L. Division Series, all of which went into extra innings and took a lot of heel digging to scrap out a win, game three was differrent. Game three for the Royals was a nine inning affair that appeared to be over from the start.

The game began with a glimmer of hope for the Angels off the bat of Mike Trout. Trout sent, his first ever postseason hit, a home run over the left field wall in the first inning off of Royals’ starter “Big Game” James Shields.

That glimmer of hope would fade fast into the Missouri night sky for the Angels. Starting pitcher C.J. Wilson would only go two-thirds of the first inning before being pulled by manager Mike Scioscia following an Alex Gordon bases-clearing double that left the game at 3-1 Royals. It was the beginning of the end for the team from Anaheim.

The 1-0 lead that the Angels had before Gordon’s triple would be their only lead of the night, the rest of the evening would be all Royals and a carousel of Angels pitchers following Wilson’s removal from the game. No matter who Scioscia put into the game, he did not look comfortable with his decision.

Whether it was Vinnie Pestano who came in after Wilson or Fernando Salas later in the game, Scioscia never seemed satisfied. Scioscia’s moves looked more like someone who knew the inevitable was coming rather than that of a manager of trying to somehow salvage his season.

In total, eight pitchers would come in for the Angels. The Royals, on the otherhand, got six solid innings from Shields before turning it over to the pen to close out the game.

The night was all Royals offense. Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas both sent balls out for home runs, each collecting two long balls during the what ended up being just a three-game series. Kansas City’s offensive onslaught continued throughout the game.