The 2024 AL Wildcard is officially over. Two sweeps came out of the American League as the Royals and Tigers both advanced into the ALDS.
Detroit Tigers vs Houston Astros
The Tigers and Astros were neck and neck heading into the Top 8. With Houston holding a 2-1 lead, their $19 million closer Josh Hader entered play. Detroit’s hero of the Wildcard series, Andy Ibáñez doubled to give the Tigers the momentum needed to sweep the series.
The Tigers enjoyed an incredible regular season finale, winning 15 of their final 21 games to guarantee a postseason berth. They had not made it to the playoffs since winning the AL Central and making it to the divisional series in 2014.
Detroit will now play the second-seeded Cleveland Guardians in the divisional series after defeating the Astros in their wild-card round. There is no doubting the Tigers' momentum, and they'll try to carry it into Saturday against Cleveland, who has been among the better teams in the American League this season.
Kansas City Royals vs Baltimore Orioles
The Royals and Orioles engaged in a pitcher's duel for the second straight day. Luckily, Kansas City had the same result, as the Royals qualified for the ALDS for the first time since 2015.
After dropping 106 games last season, the Royals advanced to the American League Division Series on Wednesday night, sweeping the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles with a 2-1 victory at Camden Yards.
Bobby Witt Jr., the greatest player for the Royals and the fastest player in the game, hit an infield single in the sixth inning to drive in the winning run (Witt had scored the lone run in a 1-0 victory in Game 1).
After giving up a game-tying home run in the fifth inning, Royals starter Seth Lugo started to falter. The Royals bullpen ultimately pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings to secure the decisive victory.
The Royals will now travel to the Bronx to face the one-seeded Yankees in the ALDS. The first time since 1980 the two clubs will meet for October baseball.
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