By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Royals will take on the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Division Series tonight at Yankee Stadium, looking to knot up the series at one game apiece after falling 6-5 on Saturday.
Yes, the opener between Kansas City and New York lived up to expectations, chock full of twists, turns and unexpected heroes. A sellout crowd in the Bronx lent to the atmosphere, though Royals manager Matt Quatraro said he didn’t believe it impacted his pitching staff, which issued an uncharacteristic eight walks.
“I don't think it was the stadium,” Quatraro said. “I think we've been here, we've played here, we've been in big environments. It's not the stadium. We just didn't execute pitches. When we did, they fouled them off.”
The Royals will look for a better pitching performance in game two, and will be sending one of their aces to the mound to do that.
Cole Ragans couldn’t have been more impressive in his postseason debut last Tuesday against the Orioles, when he went six scoreless innings before exiting early with left calf cramps. Ragans said at the time he didn’t want to push it when feeling the cramps because he wants to pitch long into October, and now he’ll get a second opportunity against the Yankees on Monday. Ragans made one start against New York this season and allowed two runs -- a two-run homer to Soto -- in six innings at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 11.
Meanwhile for the Yankees, Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.96 ERA) enters the postseason having made a career-high 32 starts this year, rebounding from a dismal debut campaign in pinstripes. Rodón was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts against the Royals this season. He has appeared in two previous playoff games (one start) with the White Sox in 2020 and ’21, when he permitted four runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Rodón will be the first lefty the Royals will face this October, so they might be switching up the lineup based on handedness. However, second baseman Michael Massey has taken such good at-bats and played such good defense this postseason that Quatraro might still have him in the lineup, even if it is further down in the order and not hitting leadoff.
Boone noted Ragans’ reverse splits (.723 OPS vs. lefties, .595 vs. righties) as a reason why the lineup would still contain a left-handed presence in Game 2. The batting order that Boone went with for Game 1 threatened, but was unable to break through for a big inning, despite putting up six runs. They may give it another try on Monday.
First pitch in Game 2 of the ALDS will be at 6:38pm, pregame will air at 6 on KFEQ. The game will be televised on TBS, TruTV, and streamed on Max.