The Toronto Blue Jays are trying their best to snatch the momentum back from the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series' critical Game 4 in Toronto on Tuesday afternoon.
The Royals took a stranglehold of the series by taking care of business at home but allowed the Blue Jays to get back in it in Game 3. Toronto's bats exploded in their return home after cooling off in Kansas City, knocking home 11 runs to cut the series deficit to 2-1.
If the Blue Jays want to leave their final homestand of the series all tied up, taking care of business in Tuesday's Game 4 will be a must. Let's take a look at what to know for the game, as well as a prediction.
Game 4: Royals at Blue Jays
Date/Time (ET): Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports 1
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Game 4 Preview and Prediction
Maybe a return home was just what the Blue Jays needed.
The offense went cold in Kansas City to start the ALCS, and to the Royals' credit, much of that had to do with their shutdown pitching, which paved the way to wins in Games 1 and 2. But Monday night's Game 3 painted a different picture, thanks to the dependable Toronto bats.
Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson and Ryan Goins each jacked a home run Monday to put the Royals away in a high-scoring 11-8 affair that saw both lineups catch fire. But in the end, Toronto simply put up too much to match.
"We desperately needed that breakout," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told Gregor Chisholm and Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. "You look at how the game finished up, those runs really came in handy. It wasn't an easy game, even though we had a big lead."
While the Blue Jays overcame an 0-2 series deficit in the last round against the Texas Rangers, the Royals give Toronto extra reason for concern. However, Toronto is beginning to find its stride in the middle of the series once again.
Fox Sports Live showed the contrast between Games 1 and 2 compared to the rest of the postseason:
If the Royals are going to stymie the suddenly hot Blue Jays bats, their pitching will have to come from someone making his postseason debut—at least in a starting role. Chris Young gets the ball for Game 4 on the heels of some great late-season starts.
Toronto will have to slow down the Kansas City bats that put up eight runs of their own in Game 3. R.A. Dickey gets that responsibility. His knuckleball style and off-speed stuff should be able to fluster Kansas City's opportunistic small-ball mentality.
Meanwhile, Young will have his hands full slowing the Blue Jays in the same fashion. He'll get jumped on early, and Kansas City will be left picking up the pieces as Toronto evens in the series.
Prediction: Blue Jays 6, Royals 3
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