With Kansas City beating Toronto 4-3 in Game Six the Royals reached the World Series for the second year in a row. They came up one win short last year of hoisting the trophy, falling to the San Francisco Giants in seven games.
The online sportsbooks view this series as a virtual coin flip, having the Mets as a small -125 favorite to win the World Series despite Kansas City having home field advantage. Remember, in the World Series the format for home field advantage has KC at home for Games 1, 2, 6, and 7.
Game One’s pitching matchup sees New York sending Matt Harvey to the hill against the Royals Edinson Volquez. Harvey has done a great job at home this season going 8-3 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 appearances (13-6 team start record), including two wins in two starts against the Dodgers and Cubs this postseason.
The National League has already locked up all five teams for the postseason. The Mets and Dodgers have wrapped up their divisions, while St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Chicago have already punched their playoff tickets.
While the Cardinals have not yet clinched the NL Central and overall home field advantage through the NL Playoffs, they are up four games on Pittsburgh with just five games to play, so that is merely a formality at this point.
In the American League, Toronto and Kansas City have locked up their playoff appearances, but there is still much to be decided in terms of the AL West winner and the two Wild Card spots.