Tonight at 8:07 p.m. ET on TBS the Baltimore Orioles, down 2-0 in the American League Championship Series, will try to begin clawing back in the series in Kansas City when they take on the Royals. Live stream the game free by clicking this link; Royals fans can tune in to the radio broadcast on KCSP 610, while Orioles fans may do likewise on 1090 WBAL. The Royals will send former Oriole Jeremy Guthrie to the hill to take on Wei-Yin Chen.
The Orioles are certainly in a hole after losing the opening two games in their own building. No team has more momentum than the Royals, who prior to this year had been starved of postseason play for almost three decades. With a chance to clinch a World Series berth at home with three straight games in Kansas City, the Orioles will be in as hostile an environment as possible.
That doesn't worry O's manager Buck Showalter though, who is preaching a business as usual approach.
"You've got to win four games," Showalter said. "You've got to keep from losing three. And that's obviously oversimplifying it. But you look at teams that compete during the course of the season, they compete on the road, too."
The Orioles entered the series with the most home runs in the American League this season, and the most prolific home run hitter in the AL (Nelson Cruz). The Royals, on the other hand, were billed as the squad that would try to kill the O's with speed while limiting the long-ball with an underrated pitching staff.
So far they've limited the Orioles to just one home run off the bat of Adam Jones, and swatted four of their own. The previously punchless Royals have ridden Alex Gordon (.375, 1 home run, 5 RBI) and Mike Moustakas (.375, 2 home runs, 3 RBI) to a power-laden 2-0 lead that they say hasn't surprised them.
KC has also been killer all postseason in close games, winning four extra-inning tilts. "Over the past few years we've played a lot of close games," Royals closer Greg Holland said.
"The reason we're here now is we've learned how to win those games. When you learn how to win those games, it kind of builds on itself and you know you can."
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