Seven straight playoff victories this year.
Ten straight playoff victories since 1985.
A 3-0 ALCS series lead and just one more victory standing between them and the World Series - who would have thought in April - or September even - that this is where the upstart Kansas City Royals would end up?
"We're almost there, man," said Jarrod Dyson, who scored the winning run on Tuesday night. "We're almost at the Promised Land, but we've still got to go out tomorrow and play like it's our last."
Let's start with some history.
Those seven straight playoff wins? The Royals are trying to become the first team in history to open a single postseason with eight consecutive victories.
Those ten straight playoff victories since '85? The Yankees hold the record with 12 straight, accomplishing it twice, with World Series sweeps in 1927, 1928 and 1932, and again in the 1998-99 postseasons.
And that 3-0 ALCS series lead? There have been 33 previous best-of-seven postseason series in which a team had a 3-0 lead, and only once did it evaporate. Of those, 27 ended in a sweep. Three went to a fifth game and two to a sixth game. The only time a 3-0 series reached a Game 7 was in 2004 when the Red Sox won the last four games to stun the Yankees.
"We've got to finish it tomorrow," Kansas City outfielder Lorenzo Cain said. "None of us want to leave here tomorrow with the loss. I told the guys to get ready to go, make sure your head is on right, get locked in and try to win another ballgame."
After not trailing at the end of 55 consecutive innings, the Royals found themselves behind, 1-0, in the second inning on Tuesday. It wouldn't last. The Royals loaded the bases against left-hander Wei-Yin Chen as Cain and first baseman Eric Hosmer both singled and outfielder Billy Butler walked. They were only able to plate a single run though.
"We're rolling as a team right now," said Hosmer, who also made a fine defensive play. "Stuff is going our way. People are making tremendous plays defensively, pitchers are getting it done, bullpen is getting it done. Everybody on the team is getting it done."
The last time KC trailed after a complete inning was 7-6 to the A's at the end of eight in the Wild Card game.
"We understand what's at stake tomorrow, we understand that we have a chance to do something tomorrow," the Royals' Butler said. "We understand that we have a chance to go to the World Series tomorrow. We're going to take it one pitch at a time."
Nori Aoki got the Royals started in the sixth inning against Chen with a single to left field. Dyson pinch-ran for Aoki, stayed put as Cain struck out, but took third on Hosmer's single to right.
Butler drove Dyson home with a sacrifice fly and Kansas City's bullpen pitched four perfect innings to wrap up the victory.
"You're up 3-0 and you're at home. We couldn't ask for a better scenario," said Butler.
The champagne will be ready in the home team locker room today as Game 4 will be held at 4:00 PM ET at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
The Royals will pitch Jason Vargas, who will no doubt be well-rested as he last pitched in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Oct. 2 against the Angels. Vargas atoned for a rough September (6.57 ERA in 24 2/3 innings) by holding the Los Angeles Angels to two runs in six innings in his first postseason appearance.
"I've never had this much rest, so I couldn't give you a good guideline on what I'll be looking for," Vargas said. "But I'll be ready to go and be ready to try to execute my game plan and execute pitches."
For the Orioles, they're doing their best to stay positive. It's all they really can do.
"You never know what can happen when you're playing with house money," Baltimore's Adam Jones said. "We're both franchises who weren't supposed to be here, but we're here and we're grinding it out."
Even as the Orioles face elimination, Jones said he sees no reason for the team to change its preparation for the game.
"It's going to be just like we normally are. We're going to be having some fun, playing some cards and get ready for a big league game."
Baltimore will also have a well-rested pitcher; they will tap Miguel Gonzalez as their starter. Gonzalez is seeing mound duty for the first time since Sept. 28 in Toronto; in the interim, he stayed sharp by throwing bullpens and a live batting-practice session.
"I'm excited. I'm excited to go out there and give my team a chance to win a ballgame," Gonzalez said.
Though Baltimore has only led in two of 28 innings thus far in the series, the Royals have outscored the Orioles by a margin of just 16-11.
"We have to win four games," Baltimore's Nelson Cruz said. "We need to start tomorrow."
Orioles' manager Buck Showalter echoed that sentiment.
"I always feel like the momentum can change," Showalter said. "If we can get one under the belt and get a few things to work our way, we feel like we can get it spinning the other way. Otherwise, we shouldn't show up tomorrow."
