How the Angels and Royals match up

P

KANSAS CITY

AVG.

HR

RBI

COMMENT

SS

Alcides Escobar

.285

3

50

31 for 37 on stolen base attempts

RF

Nori Aoki

.285

1

43

Caught fire in September with a .379 average

CF

Lorenzo Cain

.301

5

53

Hits .423 on the first pitch

1B

Eric Hosmer

.270

9

58

Missed all of August with hand injury

DH

Billy Butler

.271

9

66

Finally heated up in last week with .400 average

LF

Alex Gordon

.266

19

74

Leads team in runs, RBIs, home runs and OPS

C

Salvador Perez

.260

17

70

Average dropped 54 points in second half

2B

Omar Infante

.252

6

66

Has a .268 on-base percentage in second half

3B

Mike Moustakas

.212

15

54

Bats .163 when behind in the count

P

ANGELS

AVG.

HR

RBI

COMMENT

RF

Kole Calhoun

.272

17

58

Among the top 10 run scorers in the AL

CF

 Mike Trout

.287

36

111

 AL leader in runs, RBIs and third in homers

1B

 Albert Pujols

.272

29

105

 Lifetime .330 hitter in the postseason

2B

 Howie Kendrick

.293

7

75

 Red-hot in September with a 1.016 OPS

3B

 David Freese

.260

10

55

 Hit .397 during his magical 2011 postseason

SS

 Erick Aybar

.278

7

68

 Cooled off in September with .228 average

LF

 Josh Hamilton

.263

10

44

 At-bat-per-homer rate is lowest of his career OR .294 career average against Oakland with 18 homers

DH

 C.J. Cron

.256

11

37

 Batting .385 with RISP and two outs

C

 Chris Iannetta

.252

7

43

 Bats .320 with RISP

P

KANSAS CITY

AVG.

HR

RBI

COMMENT

C

Erik Kratz

.218

2

3

Hitting .579 on first pitch

INF

Christian Colon

.333

0

6

Returned from disabled list (broken finger) on Sunday

OF

Jarrod Dyson

.269

1

24

Stole 36 bases and plays solid defense

OF

Josh Willingham

.215

14

40

Has 14 home runs in 297 at-bats this season

OF

Raul Ibanez

.167

5

26

Pinch-hitter has been clutch in playoffs past

OF

Terrance Gore

.000

0

0

Was successful on 168 of 185 steal attempts in minors

P

ANGELS

AVG.

HR

RBI

COMMENT

C

Hank Conger

.221

4

25

2-for-37 Two for 37 in late and close situations

INF

 Gordon Beckham

.226

9

44

 Has gone 0-for-5 Is hitless in five pinch-hitting chances this season

OF

 Collin Cowgill

.250

5

21

 Defense has saved 14 runs above average this year

1B/OF

 Efren Navarro

.245

1

14

Can play outfield or first base in a pinch

KANSAS CITY

W-L

ERA

COMMENT

Jason Vargas

11-10

3.71

Has a 6.10 ERA in two starts against Angels

YordanoVentura

14-10

3.20

Opponents bat .169 when behind in the count

James Shield

14-8

3.21

Has averaged 233 innings over last four seasons

Danny Duffy

9-12

2.53

Breakout pitcher had shoulder inflammation but rebounded well

ANGELS

W-L

ERA

COMMENT

Jered Weaver

18-9

3.59

Angels are 22-12 when Weaver starts

Matt Shoemaker

16-4

3.04

Will he stay sharp after left rib-cage strain?

C.J. Wilson

13-10

4.51

Throws nearly 18 pitches per inning

KANSAS CITY

W-L-S

ERA

COMMENT

Greg Holland

1-3-46

1.44

Went Was 46- for- 48 in save opportunities

Wade Davis

9-2-3

1.00

Dominated with 1.00 ERA

Kelvin Herrera

4-3-0

1.41

The third reliever with a sub-1.50 ERA

Aaron Crow

6-1-3

4.12

Ned Yost prefers to use Crow in the sixth inning

Jason Frasor

4-1-0

2.66

Acquired in a trade to bolster middle relief

Scott Downs

0-4-1

4.97

The only true left-handed reliever

Brandon Finnegan

0-1-1

1.29

2014 draftee has dazzled in seven big- league innings

Jeremy Guthrie

13-11-0

4.13

Could be an emergency starter, if needed

ANGELS

W-L-S

ERA

COMMENT

Huston Street

1-2-17

1.71

Has nine earned runs in nine postseason nine innings

Joe Smith

7-2-15

1.81

Maintained a 0.712 WHIP in the second half

Kevin Jepsen

0-2-2

2.63

ERA is 1.76 runs better on the road

Jason Grilli

1-3-1

3.48

Allowed no Didn’t give up any postseason runs as Pirates’ closer in 2013

Fernando Salas

5-0-0

3.38

19 postseason innings pitched leads the team

Mike Morin

4-4-0

2.90

4.24 ERA after returning from foot injury in August

Cory Rasmus

3-2-0

2.57

Long reliever has a 2.57 ERA this year

Vinnie Pestano

0-1-0

2.89

Has allowed given up one earned run since joining the Angels

Hector Santiago

6-9

3.75

Had a 6.20 September ERA