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The undefeated Kansas City Royals hit the road on Friday night for the opener of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a rematch of the 2014 American League Division Series. The Royals and Angels split six regular-season meetings a year ago, but Kansas City swept AL West-champion Los Angeles out of the ALDS in three games en route to its first World Series appearance since 1985.
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Though the Royals came up short in losing to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, they are off to a quick start in 2015. Kansas City opened the season by outscoring the Chicago White Sox 21-7 in a three-game home sweep.
The Royals claimed Thursday's finale, 4-1, as Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer and Edinson Volquez hurled eight innings of one-run ball to win his Kansas City debut.
Lorenzo Cain and Kendrys Morales each knocked in a run for the Royals, who are off to their first 3-0 start since 2008.
"If each man does their own individual job and picks each other up, we're going to be successful," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Left-hander Jason Vargas toes the rubber tonight after logging a reliable 30 starts for the Royals last season. He went 11-10 with a career-best 3.71 earned run average, then posted a 1-0 mark and 3.52 ERA in three postseason starts.
The 32-year-old is 5-4 with a 3.02 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) versus the Angels, who he pitched for in 2013. Vargas is 9-3 with a 2.86 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) lifetime at Angel Stadium.
Los Angeles counters with Hector Santiago, who spent his first three major league seasons with the White Sox before going 6-9 with a 3.75 ERA in 30 games (24 starts) with the Angels a year ago.
The 27-year-old lefty is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 10 games (4 starts) against the Royals, giving up just three runs over 30 innings while striking out 29.
The Angels will enjoy their home opener after defeating the hosting Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Wednesday. Albert Pujols set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning of Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma.
L.A. won the last two games of the series after falling 4-1 in the opener.
"We were able to get to (Iwakuma) early," Pujols said. "Honestly, every time you can get to a tough guy like that, it's always a plus."
Angels righty Matt Shoemaker earned the win despite giving up homers to Brad Miller and Kyle Seager. Last year's AL Rookie of the Year runner-up allowed three runs on six hits and no walks in six innings while striking out five.
Mike Trout and Erick Aybar also each drove in a run.
[SportsNetwork.com]
