Royals clinch first post-season appearance since 2015
Always October!
With the Twins losing to the Orioles tonight, the Royals have clinched their first post-season appearance since they defeated the New York Mets in the 2015 World Series.
The Royals are one game behind the Detroit Tigers, but own the head-to-head tiebreaker if they can catch them. The Royals are currently the #6 seed and the Tigers are the #5 seed, with the Tigers hosting the Chicago White Sox this weekend.
The Wild Card series will be a best-of-three series held Tuesday-Thursday with all games at the site of the higher seed. If the Royals finish as the #6 seed, they will travel to Houston to play the #3 seed Astros, who won the Western Division. If the Royals clinch the #5 seed, they would travel to Baltimore to play the #4 seed Orioles, who are the top Wild Card team. All Wild Card games will air on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN 2.
The winners advance to the American League Divisional Series for a best-of-five series with a 2-2-1 home field format. The winner of the #4 vs. #5 game would play the #1 seed, which is currently the Yankees. The winner of the #3 vs. #6 game would play the #2 seed, currently the Guardians. You can find the complete post-season schedule here.
The Royals are just the second team to make the playoffs one year after losing 100+ games, joining the 2017 Twins. This will be tenth post-season for the Royals in their history, and their second appearance as a Wild Card team:
- 1976 American League Western Division winner - lost in ALCS to the Yankees
- 1977 American League Western Division winner - lost in ALCS to the Yankees
- 1978 American League Western Division winner - lost in ALCS to the Yankees
- 1980 American League Western Division winner - lost in World Series to Phillies
- 1981 American League Western Division second-half winner - lost in ALDS to the Athletics*
- 1984 American League Western Division winner - lost in ALCS to the Tigers
- 1985 American League Western Division winner - won World Series over the Cardinals
- 2014 American League Wild Card - lost in World Series to Giants
- 2015 American League Central Division winner - won World Series over the Mets
*-strike-shortened season