The Kansas City Royals earned their first playoff berth since 1985 with a 3-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night…but there’s still a lot on the line as they wrap up the regular season on Sunday.
The Royals trail the Detroit Tigers by one game in the AL Central Division. After failing to take advantage of a Tigers loss Saturday night, Kansas City can still tie Detroit for the division title Sunday with a win over Chicago coupled with another Tigers loss to the Minnesota Twins.
And then it gets interesting.
Should Kansas City and Detroit wind up with matching records, the teams would play a “winner take all” game Monday in Detroit, with the winner claiming the division title and the loser becoming a Wildcard qualifier. The winner of the division would head to Baltimore for a five game series with the AL East champion Orioles. The wildcard team would host either Oakland or Seattle (another potential division championship tie) on Tuesday…with the victor headed west for a series against the AL West champion Angels.
And should both Kansas City and Detroit win…or lose…on Sunday, the Tigers win the AL Central. Kansas City would then come straight home for that Tuesday Wildcard showdown with the A’s or Mariners.
In either scenario, you can hear Royals playoff games here on Newsradio 1350 KMAN, with broadcast times to be announced as they become available.
Here is the pertinent information on the Sunday games of note (all times Central):
Twins at Tigers 12:08pm
ROYALS at White Sox 1:10pm
A’s at Rangers 3:05pm
Angels at Mariners 4:10pm
