USA TODAY Sports' Ted Berg breaks down five story lines for the American League Championship Series.
Alex Gordon shocks the fans with a leadoff home run in the 10th inning to give the Royals 6-5 lead.(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY Sports)
BALTIMORE – Breaking down the American League Championship Series Game 1 from Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Box score: Royals 8, Orioles 6 (10 innings), Royals lead series, 1-0.
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The final: For the fourth time in five postseason games, the Royals found themselves in extra innings. That experience clearly paid off as Alex Gordon's solo home run in the top of the 10th inning gave Kansas City the lead and Mike Moustakas followed it up with a two-run blast to secure a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Early on, the two teams took on the other's mentality. The speedy Royals went ahead early on a home run and the power-hitting Orioles came back with bloop hits and aggressive baserunning.
But in the end, Game 1 came around full circle to the bullpen battle almost everyone expected. And as they've done all postseason, the Royals got a late power surge to propel them to victory.
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State of the Series: After taking the series opener on the road, the Royals will send rookie flamethrower Yordano Ventura (14-10, 3.20 ERA in the regular season) to the mound Saturday in Game 2. Ventura faced the Orioles twice during the regular season, tossing eight shutout innings at Camden Yards on April 25 and allowing two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings at home in May.
Bud Norris is the Orioles Game 2 starter. He was 15-8 with a 3.65 ERA during the regular season and is coming off tossing 6 1/3 shutout innings in the Orioles' ALDS-clinching victory over the Tigers last Sunday.
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Man of the moment: In addition to the game-winning homer late, Gordon gave the Royals an early lead with a broken-bat, three-run double in the top of the third.
Billy Butler beat out an infield single to load the bases with two outs and Gordon's looper down the right-field line cleared them off to put K.C. up 4-0.
Then in the bottom of the frame, he made yet another signature play on defense.
The Orioles had already cut the lead to 4-1 and were looking to extend the inning. Steve Pearce ripped a first-pitch fastball from Shields that looked like it would split the gap for extra bases. But the three-time Gold Glover took away a sure-fire RBI double with a sliding catch to end the inning.
Gordon was sixth in the major leagues during the regular season in Wins Above Replacement on the strength of his all-around game. He showed why in Game 1 with three hits, including the 10th-inning homer, four RBI and his stellar defensive work.
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Game 1 pivot point: Relievers Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland have been the strong point for the Royals all season. With the orange-clad crowd at Camden Yards singing The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" and the Orioles mounting a comeback to tie the game, the bullpen trio put a halt to the momentum train.
Herrera and Davis did not allow a single base runner in four innings as they completely shut down the Orioles offense from the sixth inning on.
Herrera got out of a tricky no-out jam in the sixth with a pair of ground balls. Davis struck out four in two innings of work to get the win. And Holland, though he allowed a run in the tenth, was able to close things out for the save.
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Manager's special: Knowing time was running out before the rested Royals bullpen was ready to pounce, the Orioles mounted a rally in the bottom of the fifth against starter James Shields. Nelson Cruz ripped an RBI double off the left-field wall to cut the deficit to 5-2, and Steve Pearce to load the bases with one out.
Royals manager Ned Yost had said before the game that going to the bullpen early, particularly seventh-inning man Kelvin Herrera, even earlier than normal was "something we'll definitely do."
But the bottom of the fifth was a little too early. After a meeting on the mound with Shields (who had thrown only 80 pitches), Yost decided to stick with his starter.
Shields got a called third strike past J.J. Hardy for the second out. With lefty Brandon Finnegan warming in the bullpen and left-handed-hitting Ryan Flaherty at the plate, Yost again stuck with Shields. This time, Flaherty lined a two-run double into the right-field corner to score two runs and cut the margin to 5-4.
Shields did get the final out on a liner to second, but not before the Orioles were able to claw their way back into the game.
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Needing a mulligan: The Royals didn't fold in extra innings, even though they had a great opportunity to go ahead in the top of the ninth.
With the score tied 5-5, Kansas City loaded the bases with no outs when Orioles closer Zach Britton, who had been so steady all season long, suddenly couldn't find the plate.
During the regular season, the lefty with the 1.65 ERA never walked more than one batter in any appearance. But he walked the bases loaded, throwing 12 consecutive balls out of the strike zone.
Britton got lefty-swinging Eric Hosmer to ground into a fielder's choice with the O's getting the out at the plate. The bases were still loaded with one out and righty-swinging Billy Butler up, but he grounded into a double play to get the Orioles out of the inning unscathed.
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What you missed on TV: Although the weather was a question mark, the first pitch was delayed a couple minutes past the 8:08 start time because the TBS pregame set beyond the left-center field wall still had their lights on.
The Oriole Park sound system didn't miss a beat, filling the delay with the song "Lights" which begins with the line: "When the lights go down in the city …"
Is it too early for omens? The song is by the band Journey, which calls San Francisco home.
GALLERY: ALCS -- ORIOLES vs. ROYALS
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