Ah, the sweet smell of playoff baseball, only matched by the unmistakable scent of the hot dog vendors in Yankee Stadium. Setting the stage tonight are two teams who have definitely seen their fair share of action this year - the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees. This is the first taste of the American League Divisional Series, so let's take a look at what we've got.
First off, the mound duel tonight will be between Gerrit Cole for the Yankees and Michael Wacha for the Royals. Now, last season, Cole was an absolute force. We're talking about a solid 2.657 ERA, 1.010 WHIP, and roughly about 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings over 31 appearances. On the other hand, Wacha, in his 22 appearances, put out a decent show with his 3.436 ERA and 8.9 K/9. But it's postseason now, the stats are all set back to zero, and anything can happen.
Historically, head-to-head match-ups lean in the Yankees' favor. Although they lost to the Royals back on June 13, ever since then, the Yankees have the upper hand in the last three out of four games. And speaking of history, not relevant at all but a fun fact, Babe Ruth once hit a potato thinking it's a ball in this very stadium. Those were the days.
Before we dive into the prediction, let's take a quick glance at the home advantage in Yankee's favor. And this is not any ordinary home advantage. We're in the heart of the Bronx, where the burgers are as big as the home runs. The Yankee Stadium does give a slight nod towards its pitchers though, so that could play into the arms of Gerrit Cole.
And if we look over to recent results side of thing, Royals seems to be grinding out low scoring wins, while the Yankees have been a bit of all over the place. But hey, what's baseball without a healthy dose of unpredictability.
So, after digesting all of this, let's jump straight to the prediction. And remember, this isn't one of those mass-produced fortune cookie predictions, but a pure, meticulously crafted prediction based on my years of sleepy Sundays spend in baseball parks.
Albert’s Prediction: New York Yankees by 2