Wild Card Matchup 9/30/2014: Oakland at Kansas City 
How do the Royals stack up vs Jon Lester?
Alcides Escobar:    6/17    .353
Nori Aoki:              4/9      .444
Lorenzo Cain:        5/16    .313
Eric Hoser:             4/13    .308
Billy Butler:           4/28    .143
Alex Gordon:         4/25    .160
Salvador Perez:      3/6      .500
Omar Infante:        3/20     .150
Mike Moustakas:   3/12     .250


The top of the lineup has been very successful vs Lester, with numbers 1-4 hitting a combined .345. That being said, Lester is 3-0 vs Kansas City this year, with one of those wins coming as a member of the Red Sox. He pitched 20.2 innings and given up 6 ER. Butler, Gordon, and Infante are signs of concern for the Royals, hitting a combined .151 with a pretty large sample size for each player. Gordon and Butler combine for 21 strikeouts vs Lester.

How do the Athletics stack up vs James Shields?
Coco Crisp:            6/28    .214
Adam Dunn:          7/35    .200
Josh Donaldson:     2/9     .222
Brandon Moss:      3/14    .214
Josh Reddick:        7/22    .318
Jed Lowrie:           3/21    .143
Stephen Vogt:        2/6      .333
Derek Norris:        0/5      .000
Eric Sogard:          0/5      .000

Geovany Soto:      1/9      .111
Sam Fuld:             2/10    .200

The Athletics don't look as impressive vs Shields as the Royals look vs Lester. Josh Reddick is a bright spot; 3 of his 7 hits are homers. Shields faced the A's twice this year in, going 1-0 while pitching 14 innings and giving up 5 ER.


When Lester and Shields have been on the mound vs the Royals and Athletics this year, their teams have not lost. Something is going to have to give on Tuesday. I like the Royals in this game. Lester has pitched very well vs them this year, but the Royals have gotten a look at him three times, and have some dangerous hitters vs him at the top of the lineup. Add in a home crowd that has been waiting for postseason ball since 1985, and you get a Kansas City victory.


All stats via Baseball Reference.