Camden Yards will see home games in the ALCS for the 1st time since the 1997 season.  Buck Showalter has a decisive edge in the managerial department over the Royals skipper Ned Yost.  The O’s are the new owners of home field advantage all the way throughout the postseason now, as the top seed left in the American League.

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The Dog Days Of October

The 4 teams in the League Championship Series were all underdogs in the last round.

When you also factor the Wild Card Games were both won by the Giants and Royals, (both not being the favorite), it marks the 1st 6 rounds of this postseason go to the “Dogs”.

Baltimore defeating the Tigers was probably the least surprising as the other clubs winning against their opponents.  Again via a sweep of the 3 straight Cy Young Winners is impressive though.

The Nationals and Cards losing to the Giants and Cardinals had a lot to do with playoff pedigree with the teams moving on, as they handled the pressure better than the two upstart clubs.

They are undefeated in their last 7 playoff games (+4 series) dating all the way back to 1985. They have the longest odds to win their LCS matchup.

The Royals came back from a 7 – 3 deficit in the bottom of the 8th versus Jon Lester and the A’s first, before winning 2 more extra inning games.

KC’s 4 game winning streak to start this year’s playoffs has to the biggest story of all.

The Higher seed Baltimore Orioles are favored over the Kansas City Royals by a -140, to +120 margin respectively.

I like the AL East winner to win this ALCS matchup, and they pay 71.42 cents for every $1 wagered.

The Cardinals are in their 9th NLCS in the last 14 years. They are 4 – 4 in this round so far in the 1st 8 years. They led the Giants 3 – 1 in 2012 before they lost the last 3 two years ago.

In the National League, the Cards are a slight favorite at -130, to the Giants +110.  With the 2 teams being equal in just about everything, my head says to go with the better odd.

San Francisco has won 8 straight playoff series, going back through their 2010 and 2012 title runs, coupled with their NL Wild Card win and LDS series win versus the Nats last night. The last time the Giants lost a playoff series was 2003. Including the 2002 playoffs, SF is  10 – 2 in their last 12 rounds.

If you are wishing to bet the St. Louis squad, I would wait for a series deficit 1st before throwing money down on them.

Please note that it is illegal in most U.S. States to gamble

Odds are courtesy of www.bet365.com

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A Big thanks goes out to our chief writer Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s feature post.

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