The wildcard series throws up three sweeps, with the Rangers ensuring all three division winners appear in the Division Series in the AL. In the NL, the Cardinals prevent an all-West match up while the Marlins take out the division-winning Brewers to face the Mets. The only match up to go the distance was the all-East match up, with the Red Sox dropping the first came but coming back to win games 2 and 3 to set up a division series meeting with the Royals. It will be a third post-season match up between the teams, all at the Division Series stage, both previous series having been won by the Royals. The most recent was 2044, the Royals winning 3-1.
The Royals took the regular season series 5-1, which always gives Stewart cause for concern. They are a bat-first team, with the 4th most runs scored in the league, against 10th-best runs against. 1B Chris Foley and LF Bobby Elliott are their two biggest threats, Foley batting .311 to lead the team while Elliott had 43 HRs and 108 RBIs, both team highs. They will be missing former Royal Chris Albright but do have DH Gilberto Matos batting three.
On the pitching side, former Royal Chris Kuehn leads the rotation, although none of the starting rotation had an ERA below 4.00. Another former Royal, Joe Davis, will be in the bullpen, one that is led by Sam Horowitzs 2.60, 37 save season, and Tim Deckers 2.30 ERA.
Game 1 in Kansas City: Ben Lane vs Jesus Guerrero (2046 Trade CIN)
Boston wins 7-3
Guerrero: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R
Lane (L): 4.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R
Ernesto Soriano (W): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Boston HRs: Bobby Elliott (1st, 2R), Johnny Powell (5th, 2R)
Tim Decker (BOS) injured while pitching DTD 2 weeks
POTG: Bobby Elliott (BOS)
1-0 Boston
Game 2 in Kansas City: Cason Willard vs Bret Green (2037 1st Round)
Kansas City wins 4-3 (10)
Willard: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R
Green: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R
Juan Anaya (W): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Mike Smithers (L)(BS): 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R
Luis Danys Rhodes (BS): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R
Boston HRs: Dave Parks (9th, 2R)
Kansas City HRs: Edgar Mir (9th)
1-1 Series Tied
Game 3 in Boston: Mike Asbury vs Chris Kuehn (2046 Free Agent)
Kansas City wins 6-3
Asbury (W): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R
Kuehn (L): 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R
Anaya (SV): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Boston HRs: Powell (1st, 2R)
Kansas City HRs: Tonguar Zimmerman (3rd), Bobby Nickelberry (7th, 2R)
Luis Santana (BOS) injured collision at base DTD 2 weeks
Joe Davis (BOS) injured while pitching OUT 1 week
Johnny Powell (BOS) injured running the bases DTD 1 week
POTG: Bobby Nickelberry (KC) 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
2-1 Kansas City
Game 4 in Boston: Benton Geldart vs Shammond Fairwell (2043 1st Round)
Boston wins 7-5
Fairwell (W): 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R
Geldart (L): 5.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R
Boston HRs: Luis Ramirez (6th), Ben Swanson (7th, 2R)
Kansas City HRs: Zimmerman (3rd), Luis Aceves (8th), Jadon Tezeno (8th)
Gilberto Matos (BOS) injured running the bases OUT pending
2-2 Series Tied
Game 5 in Kansas City: Lane vs Green
Kansas City wins 7-4
Lane (W): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R
Green (L): 2.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R
Rhodes (SV): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R
3-2 KANSAS CITY WINS
Series MVP: Luis Aceves (KC) 9-22, HR, 2 RBI