With Saturday being a day off for the American League Division Series, all four AL clubs still alive in 2014 will get a day to prepare for their all-important Game 3s.
The Tigers and Orioles are heading back to the Motor City, where Detroit’s backs are already against the wall as they trail Baltimore 2-0 in the best-of-5 series.
In other ALDS action, the Royals and Angels jet to Kansas City after KC earned a crucial sweep in Anaheim that has this series knotted at a surprising 2-0 Royals lead.
Here’s all you need to know for Game 3 of both series.
Orioles at Tigers
Where: Comerica Park, Detroit
When: Sunday, October 5
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Watch: TBS
Live Stream: MLB.tv
Series Schedule
Not only did the Tigers drop to 2-0 down in this series against Baltimore on Friday, but they did it in heartbreaking fashion.
After they had built a 6-3 lead with a run in the top half of the eighth inning, the Tigers watched as their bullpen let this one get away. The O’s scored four times in the bottom half of the frame, capped by a Delmon Young, bases-clearing double:
Game 3 sees southpaw extraordinaire David Price take the mound for Detroit. Baltimore counters with Miguel Gonzalez.
Having the strikeout master in Price toe the rubber is exactly what the Tigers need to get back into the series.
The towering lefty struck out 271 batters during the regular season over the course of a whopping 248.1 innings pitched.
His 3.59 ERA in Detroit after he was dealt isn’t jaw-dropping, but 2.44 FIP suggests that may be inflated.
Another reason for Tigers fans to be optimistic about Price’s start? He’s one of the biggest workhorses in baseball, which means it’ll minimize the amount of time that the bullpen will be out there.
That’s big, considering how bad they’ve been, via Jason McIntyre of TheBigLead.com:
As for Miguel Gonzalez, he’s had a respectable year, posting a 3.23 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.
The Tigers hitters, however, have had some success in their careers against the Mexican native, per ESPN.com.
Prediction: With Price on the mound, the Orioles bats shouldn’t make nearly as much noise. With him likely to go deep into the game, it’s not likely that Baltimore will get the chance to rough up Detroit’s bullpen, either.
With Detroit’s batters having had previous success against Gonzalez, this series should extend to at least Game 4.
Baltimore Orioles 2, Detroit Tigers 7
Angels at Royals
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
When: Sunday, October 5
Start Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Watch: TBS
Live Stream: MLB.tv
Series Schedule
The No. 11 may haunt the Los Angeles Angels and their fans for the year if they can’t come back to win this series in five games.
For the second straight game, the Royals beat the 98-win Angels 4-1 in 11 innings thanks to a home run. This time it was an Eric Hosmer two-run shot:
Including their wild-card contest, Kansas City has now played—and won—three consecutive playoff contests. They’re the first team since 1980 to accomplish that feat, per Joel Goldberg of Fox Sports Kansas City:
Heading into Game 3, the Royals must be ecstatic with where they are in this series, as Dan Shulman of ESPN pointed out:
With their staff ace on the mound and the Angels going with C.J. Wilson, it certainly looks like K.C. has a tremendous chance to close this series out Sunday.
There is hope for the Angels, though.
Shields may have the nickname “Big Game James,” but he hasn’t quite lived up to the moniker.
After his start in the wild-card game, Shields’ career playoff ERA jumped to 5.26, while his WHIP has reached an ugly 1.40.
If C.J. Wilson can replicate his last start of the regular season—where he tossed six innings of one-run ball—the Angels should be able to extend this series to at least a fourth game.
Furthermore, it seems like the Angels’ bats are due to heat up any game now.
Prediction: Despite being home with a chance to close out the series with their ace on the mound, Kansas City is disappointed as Los Angeles’ big bats wake up and provide some offense.
Los Angeles Angels 6, Kansas City Royals 3
All statistics obtained courtesy of baseball-reference.com.
Jon Reid is a correspondent for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @JonReidCSM.
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