MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

KC sees itself in Houston

Houston Astros starting pitcher Collin McHugh throws during baseball practice Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo. The Astros face the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the ALDS Thursday in Kansas City.
Houston Astros starting pitcher Collin McHugh throws during baseball practice Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo. The Astros face the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the ALDS Thursday in Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When the Houston Astros had recorded the final out in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, they flooded onto the field in a wild celebration, all their years of losing finally a memory.

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MLB

Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals is shown in this file photo.

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MLB

Alex Rios of the Kansas City Royals is shown in this file photo.

It looked a whole lot like the scene in Kansas City a year ago.

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals

6:37 p.m. Central today, Fox Sports 1

MATCHUPS

These teams have never met in the postseason. … The Royals were swept in Houston early in the year before winning two of three in the rematch at Kansas City, highlighted by Ventura outpitching Keuchel in a 5-2 victory July 26. That was the final game between the teams this season. … The only Royals starters expected to get the ball against Houston who pitched in the six previous games this season are Yordano Ventura and Edinson Volquez. … Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) went 1-1 against the Royals this year. Lance McCullers and Scott Kazmir also picked up victories against Kansas City.

BIG PICTURE

ASTROS Houston (86-76) made the playoffs for the first time since reaching the World Series in 2005, getting in as the second AL wild card on the last day of the season. … Under first-year Manager A.J. Hinch, the Astros made a 16-victory improvement from last year’s 70-92 record that came after three straight 100-loss seasons. … Houston led the AL West for most of the year before late-season struggles allowed the Rangers to take the division title. … Keuchel was the AL’s only 20-game winner and the first Houston pitcher to reach the mark since Roy Oswalt in 2005. Keuchel then tossed three-hit ball for six innings at Yankee Stadium on three days’ rest to lead the Astros to a 3-0 victory in the wild-card game. … Correa, the top pick in the 2012 draft, set a franchise record for home runs by a rookie despite not being called up until June 8. His 22 home runs were the most by an AL rookie and led all AL shortstops. … There are four players on Houston’s roster who were with the team for two of the three 100-loss seasons. Altuve, Castro, Keuchel and infielder Marwin Gonzalez were all with the Astros in 2012 and 2013. … Altuve didn’t commit an error in the last 51 regular-season games and led all second basemen with a .993 fielding percentage.

ROYALS Defending AL champions went 11-17 in September before holding off the Blue Jays for home-field advantage throughout the postseason. … Won the AL Central by 12 games over Minnesota for first division title since taking AL West in 1985 . … Enter playoffs without closer Greg Holland, who recently had Tommy John surgery. … The Royals’ bullpen remains among the best in baseball, with Davis a dominant closer in his own right. … Kansas City (95-67) had three players hit 20 or more home runs after having none accomplish the feat last season. … Cain was fourth in the AL in wins-above replacement (WAR) behind the Angels’ Mike Trout, Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson and the Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier. … Kansas City had third-best team batting average (.269) in baseball and 10th-best ERA (3.73).

Now, the long-suffering Astros will try to accomplish what the once-beleaguered Royals did by building on their wild-card victory over the Yankees. They visit Kansas City to begin a best-of-5 American League division series against the Royals tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

"It kind of reminds us of us last year," Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said after a light workout Wednesday afternoon, "young and hungry and out there trying to prove to everybody that we deserve to be here."

The Royals certainly accomplished that 12 months ago.

After ending a 29-year postseason drought, the plucky bunch of youngsters swept their way to the World Series, where they fell in seven games to the San Francisco Giants. But it was the Royals' dramatic, extra-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics in their wild-card game that instilled in them a belief they could play with anybody in baseball.

Much like Tuesday night in the Bronx seemed to galvanize the young Astros.

They clowned around before the first pitch, then took care of New York when it was time to get serious, before resuming their playful antics with a rousing 30-minute postgame party.

"You know, we did it in a little more dramatic fashion than they did," Royals Manager Ned Yost said of the wild-card victory. "But they played a very solid game, took advantage of mistakes, excellent pitching and defense. Both teams play with a lot of passion and energy."

In other words, both teams have a whole lot of fun.

"I don't know if anybody else picked up on that, just as a fan watching what they were doing last year," said the Astros' Collin McHugh, who will start Game 1. "You can tell they have a fun clubhouse. I think that's probably the closest similarity I can see with our team."

There are others, though. Both endured long periods of ineptitude, underscored by 100-loss seasons. Both were painstakingly built through the draft. Both clubs put a premium on speed and defense. And both have formidable bullpens and stout rotations, with the Royals sending out hard-throwing Yordano Ventura to face McHugh in the series opener.

The similarities are hardly lost on Astros Manager A.J. Hinch, who played for the Royals in the early 2000s when the organization was in the depths of despair.

"I think both teams sense the opportunity might be there to make a run in October," Hinch said. "Certainly, they've been a year or two ahead of us in this, I guess, move to the middle of relevant baseball with their run last year. But both are really good clubs."

Really young clubs, too. The average age of Houston for its wild-card game was 28 years, 343 days. The Royals were an average of 29 years, 51 days on Game 1 of last year's World Series.

"They're a young, energetic team, as we are too," said Royals outfielder Alex Rios, who is in the postseason for the first time after 1,691 games. "They're also a team that has a lot of talent, so we have to go out there and play the same game we've been playing all season."

The Astros and Royals are not mirror images of each other. Houston pounds home runs at the expense of strikeouts, while the Royals play to contact and grind out runs. The Astros greedily accept walks while Kansas City swings away, regardless of the count.

Then there is the difference in their ballparks.

Kauffman Stadium is cavernous, the kind of place where home runs anywhere else turn into routine fly balls. Minute Maid Park is a bandbox where pop flies often carry the wall.

Oh, and there is one more difference: The Royals played in the World Series a year ago. It may not be much of an edge in postseason experience, but it's at least something.

"We had a good run last year, but that was last year," Moustakas said. "This is a new season now, and the best team is going to win. We have to find a way to beat that club."

Sports on 10/08/2015

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