Royals Beat Angels 8-3, Sweep ALDS

The Royals beat the Angels 8-3, and advanced to the ALCS for the first time since 1985.

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Complex Original

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The ALCS matchup is set, as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Los Angeles Angels 8-3 to sweep their American League Division Series and move on to play the Baltimore Orioles for the right to go to the World Series. It marks a tremendous turnaround for the Royals, who are back in the playoffs for the first time since they won the World Series in 1985.

Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas both homered twice in the series, and the Royals got highlight-reel defense from Lorenzo Cain and Nori Aoki to hold off the team with MLB’s best regular season record. The Angels got a terribly disappointing performance from stars Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton, who combined to go 1-for-25 in the series.

The return to the top has been a long time coming for the Royals, who won two titles in six years in the 1980s before falling on hard times beginning in the late 1990s. From 1995 through 2012, the team had exactly one winning season and seemed hell-bent on trading away any player who looked like he might blossom into a star. That’s all changed now, however, and they meet an Orioles team that will be equally hungry to reach the Fall Classic.

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