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AL Wild Card GameThread: Oakland A's at Kansas City Royals

The Oakland A's and Kansas City Royals are playing one game to decide which team will move on to face the Anaheim Angels in the ALDS. Jon Lester vs James Shields. AL Wild Card Game. 8:00 PM. Who's watching?

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Jon Lester vs "Big Game James" Shields in Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium. Who wants to play the LA Angels?

The Oakland A's and Kansas City Royals are playing one game tonight to decide who goes on the face the AL West Champs on Thursday night in Angel Stadium.

Since joining the Athletics at the Trade Deadline in a deal with the Boston Red Sox, Lester is (6-4) in 11 starts with a 2.35 ERA, 16 walks (1.88 BB/9) and 71 Ks (8.33 K/9) in 76 ⅔ innings pitched in which he's held opposing hitters to a .232/.273/.359 line.

James Shields, acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in December of 2012, went (14-8) in his second season in Kansas City with a 3.21 ERA, 44 walks (1.74 BB/9), 180 Ks (7.14 K/9) and a .256/.298/.404 line against in 227 IP.

In 14 second-half starts, Shields is (5-3) with a 2.62 ERA, 17 walks (1.59 BB/9) and 70 Ks (6.54 K/9) in 96 ⅓ IP in which he's held opposing hitters to a .235/.273/.359 line, but he's winless in his last three starts with a 4.12 ERA in his last 19 ⅔ IP.

Lester is (3-2) in five September starts with a 2.00 ERA, eight walks (2.00 BB/9), 34 Ks (8.50 K/9) and a .235/.282/.386 line against in 36 IP over the last month.

They meet up at 8:00 and one team is going (or staying, I guess) home after that.

Here are the lineups:

Today's Lineups

OAKLAND A'S KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Coco Crisp - CF Alcides Escobar - SS
Sam Fuld - LF Norichika Aoki - RF
Josh Donaldson - 3B Lorenzo Cain - CF
Brandon Moss - DH Eric Hosmer - 1B
Josh Reddick - RF Billy Butler - DH
Jed Lowrie - SS Alex Gordon - LF
Stephen Vogt - 1B Salvador Perez - C
Geovany Soto - C Omar Infante - 2B
Eric Sogard - 2B Mike Moustakas - 3B
Jon Lester - LHP James Shields - RHP

• Shields vs the A's:

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP missG
Adam Dunn 40 35 7 0 0 1 5 5 16 .200 .300 .286 .586 0 0 0 0 0
Coco Crisp 29 28 6 0 0 0 0 0 5 .214 .241 .214 .456 0 0 0 1 0
Alberto Callaspo 26 24 6 0 0 0 2 1 5 .250 .269 .250 .519 0 1 0 0 1
Jed Lowrie 22 21 3 0 0 0 1 0 7 .143 .136 .143 .279 0 1 0 0 0
Josh Reddick 22 22 7 1 1 3 5 0 2 .318 .318 .864 1.182 0 0 0 0 0
Nick Punto 18 14 4 0 0 0 0 4 3 .286 .444 .286 .730 0 0 0 0 1
Brandon Moss 14 14 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 .214 .214 .214 .429 0 0 0 0 1
Sam Fuld 12 10 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 .200 .333 .200 .533 0 0 0 0 0
Josh Donaldson 9 9 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 .222 .222 .556 .778 0 0 0 0 0
Geovany Soto 9 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .111 .111 .111 .222 0 0 0 0 0
Derek Norris 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 .167 .000 .167 0 0 0 0 0
Stephen Vogt 6 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0 0 0
Eric Sogard 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Jonny Gomes 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .500 .667 .500 1.167 0 0 0 0 0
Total 221 204 44 1 1 5 14 14 53 .216 .267 .304 .571 0 2 0 1 3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/30/2014.

• Lester vs the Royals:

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP missG
Billy Butler 33 28 4 1 0 0 1 5 11 .143 .273 .179 .451 0 0 0 0 1
Alex Gordon 28 25 4 2 0 0 2 1 10 .160 .214 .240 .454 0 1 0 1 0
Josh Willingham 26 20 3 1 0 0 2 5 7 .150 .346 .200 .546 0 0 0 1 1
Omar Infante 22 20 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .150 .190 .150 .340 1 0 0 0 1
Alcides Escobar 21 17 6 2 0 0 2 3 0 .353 .429 .471 .899 0 1 0 0 0
Lorenzo Cain 17 16 5 3 0 0 0 1 6 .313 .353 .500 .853 0 0 0 0 1
Eric Hosmer 17 13 4 0 0 1 1 3 3 .308 .471 .538 1.009 0 0 0 1 0
Raul Ibanez 15 15 5 2 0 1 1 0 6 .333 .333 .667 1.000 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Moustakas 15 12 3 0 0 0 3 3 2 .250 .400 .250 .650 0 0 0 0 0
Nori Aoki 10 9 4 0 0 0 2 1 0 .444 .500 .444 .944 0 0 0 0 0
Salvador Perez 9 6 3 1 0 0 2 2 1 .500 .556 .667 1.222 0 1 0 0 0
Jarrod Dyson 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Erik Kratz 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0 0 0
Christian Colon 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 0 0 0 0 0
Total 220 188 46 12 0 2 17 25 50 .245 .338 .340 .678 1 3 0 3 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/30/2014.

Who's watching the AL Wild Card Game?