The 2014 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Baltimore Orioles against the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and the right to play in the 2014 World Series. The Royals won the series four games to zero. The series was the 45th in league history with TBS airing all games in the United States. Even as the Royals swept the series, each game was decided by two runs or fewer. To reach the 2014 ALCS, the Orioles (East Division champions, 96–66) defeated the Tigers (Central Division champions, 90–72) in the ALDS, 3 games to 0. The Royals (Wild Card, 89–73) defeated the Oakland Athletics in the AL Wild Card Game and then defeated the Angels (West Division champions, 98–64) in the ALDS, 3 games to 0. It was the first-ever postseason meeting between the two teams. It was the first ALCS since 2005 not to feature the Yankees, Red Sox, or Tigers. The Royals would go on to lose to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Matchup Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals *: postponed from October 13 due to rain Game summaries Game 1 The Royals drew first blood in a back-and-forth opener that featured high offensive output from both teams. After hitting just three home runs in the regular season, Alcides Escobar hit a one-out homer to left to give the Royals a 1–0 lead. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Alex Gordon hit a broken bat, looping fly ball that dropped just fair inside the right-field line to plate all three runners. Suddenly, it was 4–0 Kansas City. Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the inning on Adam Jones' RBI-single, but it could have been more had it not been for a great diving catch by Gordon in the left-center field gap, robbing Steven Pearce of a hit. In the bottom of the fifth, after the Royals added a run in the top of the frame, the Orioles finally got to James Shields. Nelson Cruz added to his postseason legacy with an RBI-double and Ryan Flaherty delivered a two-run single to make it a one-run game, 5–4. In the sixth, after a walk to Jonathan Schoop and a flare single to right by Nick Markakis, Alejandro De Aza hit a high chopper past the pitcher's mound that shortstop Escobar had no play on; Schoop