The 2014

American League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

were two best-of-five-game series to determine the participating teams in the

2014 American League Championship Series The 2014 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Baltimore Orioles against the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and the right to play in the 2014 World Series. The Royals won the series four ...

. The

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and Detroit Tigers (divisional winners, seeded 1–3 based on regular season record) as well as the Wild Card game winning Kansas City Royals played in the two series. TBS carried all the games. These matchups were: * (1)

(West Division champions, 98–64) vs. (4) Kansas City Royals (Wild Card winner, 89–73): Royals win series 3–0. * (2)

(East Division champions, 96–66) vs. (3) Detroit Tigers (Central Division champions, 90–72): Orioles win series 3–0. This was the first postseason played under the current divisional alignment, going back to 1995, in which neither the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

nor the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

competed in an ALDS. It was also the Royals' first appearance in the current version of the ALDS, as their last previous postseason appearance had come in 1985, prior to its conception (although the team had played in one of the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

ALDS necessitated by that year's player strike and the resulting split season). It was also the Orioles' first ALDS win since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. Both the Angels and the Royals, and the Tigers and the Orioles, met for the first time in the postseason. The Royals went on to defeat the Orioles in the ALCS, then lost the

2014 World Series The 2014 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2014 season. The 110th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants and the Ameri ...

to the National League champion

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

Matchups

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Kansas City Royals

Baltimore Orioles vs. Detroit Tigers

Los Angeles vs. Kansas City

Game 1

Mike Moustakas Michael Christopher Moustakas (; born September 11, 1988) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds. Moust ...

, who is a native of Los Angeles, hit a home run deep into right field in the 11th inning to give the Royals a 3–2 victory in Game 1. Closer

Greg Holland Gregory Scott Holland (born November 20, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington N ...

, who arrived during the 4th inning following a trip to North Carolina for the birth of his son, pitched a perfect bottom half of the 11th to seal the Royals victory.

Alcides Escobar Alcides Escobar () (born December 16, 1986), is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder who is currently a free agent. He previously played in MLB with the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals and Washington Nationals, and the Tokyo Ya ...

had an RBI double in the third inning, allowing Moustakas to score, and

Omar Infante Omar Rafael Infante n-FAHN-tay(born December 26, 1981) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Miami ...

's sacrifice fly allowed

Alex Gordon Alexander Jonathan Gordon (born February 10, 1984) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Prior to playing professio ...

to score in the fifth. The Angels' only scores were home runs from

Chris Iannetta Christopher Domenic Iannetta (, ; born April 8, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbac ...

in the third and

David Freese David Richard Freese (born April 28, 1983) is an American former professional baseball Infielder, infielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was a key player during the 2011 Major Leag ...

in the fifth. This game also started a string of postseason games in which the Royals defense would make a number of highlight reel defensive plays. Outfielders

Lorenzo Cain Lorenzo Lamar Cain (born April 13, 1986) is an American professional baseball center fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and the Kansas City Royals. The Brewers drafted him in the ...

and

Nori Aoki is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Toro ...

each had a pair of great catches, which slowed down the Angels' high powered offense.

Game 2

Eric Hosmer Eric John Hosmer (born October 24, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, and the Boston Red Sox ...

hit a two-run homer and

Salvador Pérez Salvador Johan Pérez Diaz (born May 10, 1990), nicknamed "Salvy", is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball catcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a seven-time MLB All-Star, five-time Gold Glove Award wi ...

recorded an RBI infield single in the 11th inning, as the Royals won Game 2, 4–1. Kansas City scored first on

's RBI single in the second, but the Angels tied the game in the sixth with Albert Pujols' RBI single. Kansas City again came up with a timely defensive gem. In the bottom of the 8th with no outs and pinch runner

Collin Cowgill Collin Brannen Cowgill (born May 22, 1986) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current major league coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Los Angeles ...

at second base, Jarrod Dyson caught a fly ball to left-center field off of

, and then threw picture perfect strike to

at third to double-up Cowgill, who tried to advance on the play.

Game 3

The Angels' took their only lead of this series with a one out home run by Mike Trout in the top of the first off of James Shields, but

C. J. Wilson Christopher John Wilson (born November 18, 1980) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional baseball pitcher. Wilson pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers from 2005 to 2011 and the Los Angeles Angel ...

gave up a triple in the bottom half to

and was immediately knocked out of the game.

would add his second home run of this series, a two-run home run in the third off of

Hector Santiago Hector Santiago or Héctor Santiago may refer to: * Hector Santiago (baseball) (born 1987), American professional baseball pitcher * Héctor Santiago (playwright) (born 1944), Cuban playwright See also * Héctor Santiago-Colón {{Human name di ...

, to make it 5–1 Royals. The Angels cut it to 5–2 in the fourth on Albert Pujols's home run, but in the bottom of the inning, Mike Morin allowed a one-out home run to

, then two singles to put runners on first and third before

's sacrifice fly made it 7–2 Royals. They made it 8–2 in the sixth off of

Kevin Jepsen Kevin Martin Jepsen (born July 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers. Professional care ...

's RBI single that scored

from second. The Angels scored the last run of the series in the eighth off of Wade Davis on

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from to , most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won two consecutive Americ ...

's groundout with runners on second and third as the Royals completed a three-game sweep to punch their ticket to the 2014 ALCS. The defense again showed up for Kansas City. The highlights of the game included back-to-back diving catches in the 5th inning by

with runners on base. This is the Angels’ most recent postseason appearance to date.

Composite line score

2014 ALDS (3–0): Kansas City Royals over

Baltimore vs. Detroit

Game 1

Nelson Cruz Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez Jr. (born July 1, 1980) is a Dominican-American professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas ...

's two-run home run in the bottom of the first started the scoring for the Orioles. The Tigers tied the score in the top of the second on back-to-back home runs by Victor Martinez and J. D. Martinez, but Baltimore pulled ahead on an RBI single by

Nick Markakis Nicholas William Markakis ( ) (born November 17, 1983) is a Greek-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves. Markakis was the Orioles ...

in the bottom half. The score remained unchanged until Baltimore scored in the seventh on a home run from J. J. Hardy to make the score 4–2. In the top of the eighth,

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler ( he, איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for ...

singled off of

Darren O'Day Darren Christopher O'Day (born October 22, 1982) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Oriole ...

, but was doubled off of first on a line drive by

Torii Hunter Torii Kedar Hunter (; born July 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Detroit Tigers from 1997 ...

. The play proved to be critical as the next batter,

Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed "Miggy", is a Venezuelan professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Since his debut in 2003 he has been a two-t ...

, homered. In the bottom half, after a one out double by

Alejandro De Aza Alejandro Alberto De Aza Ceda (born April 11, 1984) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, C ...

Joba Chamberlain Justin Louis "Joba" Chamberlain (''né'' Heath; ; born September 23, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and Cleveland ...

relieved starter

Max Scherzer Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, and L ...

and a crucial error by

Andrew Romine Andrew James Romine (born December 24, 1985) is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and Chicago Cubs. ...

allowed De Aza to score and Adam Jones to reach base. Jones stole second, then scored on

's single.

Joakim Soria Joakim Agustín Soria Ramos (born May 18, 1984) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Milwa ...

relieved Chamberlain and a single and intentional walk loaded the bases before

Ryan Flaherty Ryan Edward Flaherty (born July 27, 1986) is an American professional baseball coach and former infielder. He is an advance scout and development coach for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Baltimore O ...

's single and

Nick Hundley Nicholas John Hundley (born September 8, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and current front office executive. He is currently a special assistant to the general manager for the Texas Rangers. He played in Major League Ba ...

's groundout scored a run each, then

Jonathan Schoop Jonathan Rufino Jezus Schoop ( ; born October 16, 1991) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball second baseman for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesot ...

's double scored two more.

Phil Coke Phillip Douglas Coke (born July 19, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Baseball c ...

relieved Soria and threw a wild pitch that moved Schoop to third, then walked

before De Aza, in his second at-bat of the inning, doubled to score both men. Baltimore scored a team postseason record and LDS record eight runs in the inning. This record would be tied the next day in the Cardinals/Dodgers NLDS series. With the game out of reach,

Tommy Hunter Thomas James Hunter, CM, O.Ont (born March 20, 1937) is a Canadian country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman". Career In 1956, he began performing as a rhythm guitarist on the CBC Television show, '' Country Hoedown''. ''T ...

came on and pitched out of a bases loaded jam to seal the game.

Game 2

Nick Markakis' two-run home run off Tiger starter

Justin Verlander Justin Brooks Verlander ( ; born February 20, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. From Manakin-Sabot, ...

in the third put the Orioles on the board. But in the top of the fourth,

singled, Cabrera doubled him to third, Victor Martinez singled to score Hunter, J. D. Martinez homered to put Detroit on top 4–2 and Nick Castellanos homered to push the lead to three runs before the first out was recorded. After the next two outs were recorded,

Rajai Davis Rajai Davis (; born October 19, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Clevel ...

singled and chased Baltimore starter

Wei-Yin Chen Wei-Yin Chen (; born July 21, 1985) is a Taiwanese professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played in the Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins, and in the NPB for the Chunichi ...

in the process.

Kevin Gausman Kevin John Gausman (born January 6, 1991), nicknamed "Gaus", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, a ...

came on and got the final out of the inning without further damage to keep the score 5–2. A two out RBI single by J. J. Hardy cut the score to 5–3 but Verlander escaped without another run crossing the plate. The score stayed at 5–3 until the top of the eighth when Victor Martinez doubled home Hunter to push the lead back to three runs. But for the second straight day Baltimore would fight back against the Tiger bullpen in the bottom of the eighth.

came on and got De Aza to ground out, but Adam Jones was hit by a pitch, Nelson Cruz singled Jones to second, and Steve Pearce singled in Jones to make it a 6–4 game.

came on in relief of Chamberlain and walked Hardy to load the bases for former Tiger

Delmon Young Delmon Damarcus Young (born September 14, 1985) is an American professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League. He played in Major League Baseball for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Ray ...

. Young unloaded the bases with a go-ahead three-run double to put the Orioles back on top 7–6.

Zach Britton Zackary Grant Britton (born December 22, 1987), known professionally as Zach Britton until February 2019, is a professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles an ...

came on and pitched a perfect ninth to send Baltimore to Detroit up two games to none.

Game 3

Adam Jones' single and Nelson Cruz's two-run home run that just stayed fair down the right field line off of David Price in the sixth broke a scoreless tie and the backs of the Tigers as Baltimore completed a three-game sweep. The Tigers got back-to-back leadoff doubles from Victor Martinez and J. D. Martinez in the ninth to pull within a run. After Bryan Holaday struck out, an intentional walk to Nick Castellanos put the winning run on base. Britton got Hernan Perez to ground into the game-ending, series-ending double play, sending the Orioles to their first ALCS appearance in 17 years. With the loss, the Tigers lost their first ever ALDS. In their previous four appearances they advanced to the ALCS every time. This is their last postseason appearance to date.

Composite line score

2014 ALDS (3–0):

over Detroit Tigers

References

External links

2014 MLB postseason schedule at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:2014 American League Division Series

American League Division Series Baltimore Orioles postseason Detroit Tigers postseason Kansas City Royals postseason Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim postseason

21st century in Anaheim, California 2010s in Baltimore 2014 in Detroit Sports competitions in Detroit 2010s in Kansas City, Missouri