Volquez sharp as Royals beat Blue Jays 5-0 in ALCS opener

Obviously we were putting a few balls in play. Both teams boast strong bullpens, but the Royals have a little more depth with Cecil out.

Volquez (1-1) ramped up his fastball to 97 miles per hour to slice through a potent Blue Jays offense, never allowing a runner past second base over six innings. The Cubs lost Game 1 to St. Louis and won the next three, culminating in Tuesday’s 6-4 win at Wrigley. However, this was only possible by a shocking turnaround in Game 4, where the Astros held a 4-run lead entering the eighth inning and seemed all but certain to advance. The last of those games Wednesday was as tense as they come.

(AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi). Members of the New York Mets celebrate a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of baseball’s National League Division Series on Thursday, October 15, 2015, in Los Angeles.

R.A. Dickey won the NL Cy Young award and 20 games as a Met in 2012 and was traded following the season to the Blue Jays in the deal that brought Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud to Queens. However, that always comes with a caveat, as Price has continued his playoff woes and was Toronto´s worst pitcher against the Rangers.

Volquez averaged 95.3 m.p.h with his fastball, his fastest in any start this season, topping out at 97. Dislikable teams admonish their opponents for overexuberance and insist on doing things “the right way”. This flexibility gives manager John Gibbons a good chance to mix and match accordingly for every matchup. It was a series of strikeouts: the two teams combined for 111 in the series. Toronto hosts the Royals for Games 3-5 of the ALCS starting Monday.

For Edinson Volquez, the key to pitching can be found underneath the bill of his cap. His poor outing on September 26 prompted the Jays to skip his last scheduled regular-season start, and as a result, he started Game 1 of the Division Series on 11 days’ rest.

Basically emptying his tank over six rugged innings, Volquez continually stymied the Blue Jays and finally left a victor with the Royals recording a workmanlike 5-0 victory to draw first blood in the ALCS.

“He’s not going to make a mistake”, Royals manager Ned Yost said.

While Estrada was over the plate a little too much, Royals starter Edinson Volquez avoided the middle of the zone just enough.

Chris Young, who is a candidate to start Game 4 for the Royals, was a Met in 2011-12 and appeared in 24 games. This also does not take into consideration the fact that WAR year to year is as hard to predict as any statistics, especially with veterans (because their production can drop significantly at any moment) who comprise the majority of the free agent pool due to the MLB’s CBA. But in facing a Toronto team that just snapped a 21-year playoff drought, the Royals, who snapped a 29-year drought of their own past year, find themselves in the odd position of not being the underdogs for a change. The righty has allowed only one run over 20.2 playoff innings as a reliever, and is coming off back-to-back seasons of an ERA below 1. “We knew he was good”. On one hand, we have the mighty and powerful Blue Jays, who led the league in runs, slugging, and homers, and flexed their muscles in the ALDS. He struck out four of them.

Kansas City added to the lead an inning later with a Salvador Perez home run that he crushed to left field. “They hit, they pitched”. Alex Gordon led off with a double, Escobar sent an RBI double down the right-field line, and Cain’s two-out single helped Kansas City – so accustomed to playing from behind – to a 2-0 lead. Kansas City overcame multiple-run deficits in all three of their wins. He definitely has made his mark to get the team this far. “But did we see him as being the opening-game starter in an ALCS?” The season series between the Mets and Cubs was not almost as competitive. As much as the Royals have accomplished over the past two seasons, their rotation looks a bit shaky even with a revamped Cueto. Justin Smoak is the only other Toronto hitter with more than one hit off Ventura, and he’s 2 for 8.