4.5** MLB POD Tuesday Night Wildcard #As vs. #Royals

[Pick Bot]

Royals +101 4.5* MLB POD
I will take the home team all day long despite Jon Lester being on the mound with a ton of post season experience. The A's offense really struggled down the stretch and they were not very good on the road in the second half of the season. Really since they made the trade for Lester this offense has sputtered without Cespedes in the middle of the line up and I don't see it changing here against James Shields.

Shields was dominant down the stretch 34:5 K:BB ratio over his last 6 starts alone and the Athletics line up has a .215 average with an OPS <.600 in 200 career AB against him. The A's have hit .217 over their last 15 games and ranked 28th in OPS during the month of September. I find it hard to believe this team is going to just start hitting especially when you consider that the Royals have been hitting and they also are backed by a better bullpen when you talk about the few guys they need to close out this game after Shields puts together a quality start.

Jon Lester meanwhile in 218 career AB's against Royals hitters has given up a .248 average and a .722 OPS. It will be a low scoring game as the total suggest (6.5), and a lot of times it comes down to base running and the Royals led the majors with stolen bases nearly doubling Oakland's total. Anything can happen in one game, but home field is a major advantage in a game like this and I really like how the Royals played down the stretch.