Orioles, Royals Sweep Opponents In AL Division Series

The Baltimore Orioles will meet the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series beginning Friday in Baltimore.

Both teams swept their opponents in the best-of-five AL Division Series on Sunday.

The Royals only needed nine innings to put away the Los Angeles Angels 8-3.

Their two previous games went 11 innings, and their wild-card game against the Oakland Athletics went 12 innings.

The Royals won with heavy hitting from Alex Gordon, who hit a bases-clearing double in the first inning. Eric Hosmer homered in the third inning, and Mike Moustakas homered in the fourth inning.

After the game, Royals manager Ned Yost said, "I've never seen this group of kids so confident on the big stage." He went on to say, according to The Associated Press, "It's really fun to see their development and watch them come into the postseason and just really take their game to the next level."

The Baltimore Orioles celebrate in the locker room after their win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, the Orioles outlasted the Tigers 2-1, but things did get a little dicey in the ninth inning. With no outs, the Tigers scored and put the tying run on second, but Orioles closer Zach Britton helped the team hang onto the lead.

Nelson Cruz also contributed to the Orioles win, he had a two-run homer in the sixth inning. Cruz had 40 home runs this season which was the most of any player — the Orioles topped baseball with 211.

The Orioles were 3-4 against Kansas City this season.

National League Divison Series Resumes Monday

It's do or die for the Washington Nationals in their series against the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants are trying to complete a three-game sweep. They beat the Nationals 3-2 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday in an 18-inning game that lasted a record-setting 6 hours, 23 minutes.

In the other NL playoff, the St. Louis Cardinals host the Los Angeles Dodgers. That series is tied 1-1.

ESPN has a schedule of game times and TV coverage.