Orioles: AL Wild Card Series: Royals defeat Orioles to advance to the ALDS.

 Baltimore -- With a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, Bobby Witt Jr. beat out an infield single to drive in the game-winning run and send the Kansas City Royals into the American League Division Series, completing a two-game sweep of their AL Wild-Card Series.

In the sixth inning, Jordan Westburg made a diving stop and threw to first base after Witt hit a grounder to the edge of the dirt behind second base with two outs and runners at the corners. After sprinting 90 feet in 4.14 seconds, Witt was already there, allowing Kyle Isbel to score from third.

The AL batting champion delivered the game-winning hit for the second time in a row. Tuesday's series opener ended in a 1-0 win thanks to Witt's RBI single. Witt stated, "You have to take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts because you never know when it will present itself again." That's what makes this game enjoyable. These situations here are the reason we do what we do."

They will begin the best-of-five series on Saturday against the New York Yankees, who are ranked first. This series has a wealth of historical significance: New York defeated Kansas City in the AL Championship Series of 1976, 1977, and 1978, and George Brett and the Royals paid them back in 1980.

A few generations of baseball ago was that. It looks like Witt might win this one.

Since RBI became an official stat in 1920, Witt is only the second player, after Jimmie Foxx in 1929, to have the game-winning RBI in each of his team's first two postseason games at the age of 24 or under.

Kansas City advanced to play the AL East champion New York Yankees after going through two seven-game losing streaks in the last month of the season. In the Bronx on Saturday is game one. The Orioles, who have finished 0–5 over their previous two swift postseason exits, were led by home run by Cedric Mullins. Ten of Baltimore's postseason games have ended in losses.

The updated appearance The Royals finished the 2015 season with 106 losses, but they improved by 30 games to return to October for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015. After Vinnie Pasquantino singled him home to tie the game, second baseman Michael Massey, who had opened with a double, said it was made possible by the front office bringing in playoff-tested veterans like Tommy Pham, Yuli Gurriel, Michael Wacha, and Will Smith.

As everyone is aware, the Orioles struggled in September, so it was always going to be difficult to anticipate that the team would magically improve once the postseason got underway. In September, the Royals experienced even greater difficulty than the O's. In the last week of the regular season, Kansas City is incapable of even hinting at a turnaround. All month long, their offense was vicious. Yesterday was also brutal, save for one at-bat from Witt. And so, here we are.

If the Orioles could provide us with some short-term excitement instead of letting things quickly descend into hopelessness and resignation, that would be nice.

Orioles lineup:

SS Gunnar Henderson

2B Jordan Westburg

RF Anthony Santander

LF Colton Cowser

Adley Rutschman, C.

DH Ryan O'Hearn

1B Ryan Mountcastle

Cedric Mullins, the CF

Ramón Urías - 3B

If the Orioles could somehow get Zach Eflin to match or nearly match the outcomes that Corbin Burnes achieved in Game 1, that would be very nice. That ought to have been sufficient for the Orioles to triumph both yesterday and today. With the O's, Eflin made nine starts and had a 2.60 ERA. These are excellent outcomes. And so is the Royals offense.

 
Royals roster:

Michael Massey, second base

Bobby Witt Jr. - SS

DH in Vinnie Pasquantino

Salvador Perez, Class C

Yuli Gurriel, 1B

Melendez, MJ - LF

Renfroe Hunter - RF

Kyle Isbel - CF

Maikel Garcia, third base