The Kansas City Royals are still alive in the postseason chase. Even after dropping two out of three games in a pivotal weekend series against the Detroit Tigers, they remain just three games back of the Seattle Mariners for the third and final American League Wild Card spot. Unfortunately, the Texas Rangers are now standing in the way, so it certainly won’t be an easy road.
Last year, they were the second AL Wild Card team and knocked out the Baltimore Orioles in the first round before being eliminated by the New York Yankees in the ALDS. But despite a tough schedule coming up, the Royals aren’t dead yet.
From September 12-21, the Royals face the Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report named their series with the Mariners from September 16-18 as one of the most crucial matchups in the month of September.
“For lack of a better term, the Royals are the ultimate wild card in this wild-card race, liable to close what is already a minimal gap over the next seven days at home against the Angels and Twins while the M’s finish out their nine-game road trip with games against sub-.500-but-feisty Tampa Bay and Atlanta,” Miller wrote.
“When these teams met earlier this season in Seattle, it couldn’t have been much more even, splitting 2-2. Notably, that means if Kansas City takes two out of three (or all three), it would own the head-to-head tiebreaker, should it come down to that.”
This is going to be a key series for a lot of reasons. The Royals have hope in the Wild Card race and could certainly crash the party this month as they try to dethrone the Mariners for the final spot.
They have had plenty of injuries this season, but if they can get Cole Ragans healthy and back into the rotation, they’ll have a much better chance of making a run and sneaking into the final Wild Card spot.
The rotation can be the ultimate strength of the team when it is right, and it can compete with the likes of the Mariners, who also have a strong rotation. It will certainly be interesting to see what takes place in this upcoming series.
This will be one of the most pivotal matchups in terms of the Wild Card race.
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