The Royals are in a strong position heading back to Kauffman

On Monday night in the Bronx, the Royals defeated the New York Yankees after a strong night out of the bullpen following Cole Ragans' shaky start. Two days after missing a golden opportunity to steal game one, Kansas City tied the series. Now the team returns home as Kauffman Stadium prepares to host postseason baseball for the first time since Game Two of the 2015 World Series. The fans are ready as numerous chants of “Let’s go Royals” were heard during the Chiefs-Saints game on Monday Night Football.

The team is also ready. Pro Ragans:

“I’m looking forward to getting back to the K and seeing the fans there. It will be fun to have playoff baseball in Kansas City again. The division here is huge. Basically it’s like a brand new series when we get to the K.”

He's right – the split in the first two games is huge, and now the Royals have a golden chance to win this series. What started as a best-of-five series for the Yankees has effectively turned into a best-of-three series with Kansas City retaining home-field advantage. The Royals did what they had to do by playing an away game and could now finish the series without having to return to New York. The Yankees are undaunted by the hostile crowd, as they posted a 50-31 road record in the regular season, significantly better than their home record of 44-37. But the Royals were four games better at home (45-36) than on the road (41-40) and got a confidence boost from playing in front of a friendly crowd for the first time this postseason.

History is also on the Kansas City side. Since the introduction of the 2-2-1 Division Series format in 1995, there have been 44 series that ended in a 1-1 draw after two games. In 29 of those, or 66%, the team hosting games three and four won the series. If the Royals win the third game, they would be in a dominant position. The teams are 25-6 when playing at home in the Divisional Series at 2-1.

Kansas City has the lead in the third game. Seth Lugo will stare down a lineup he tormented with seven shutout innings a month ago. He will be supported by a relief corps that has posted a 2.16 ERA so far in the postseason. The Yankees will counter with Clarke Schmidt, who has been limited to 16 starts this season due to injury. He posted a 2.85 ERA, but his peripherals were significantly worse, and he will now make his first career postseason start in a hostile environment.

After spending most of September in the doldrums, Kansas City's offense woke up in this series, scoring nine runs while hitting .282/.325/.366. Perhaps most surprisingly, they did this while getting absolutely nothing from their two best batsmen. Bobby Witt Jr. wasn't a factor on offense as he went 0-for-10 with four strikeouts while also chasing everything below the strikeout zone. Vinnie Pasquantino similarly struggled, going 0 for 9 with five K's. The offense came from unlikely sources. Garrett Hampson has reached base in all four of his plate appearances, Yuli Gurriel has scored all four times he has reached, and Michael Massey and Maikel Garcia have each reached five times. If Witt and Pasquantino got their bats going, New York's pitching would be in trouble.

The pressure is on the Yankees. The 2009 World Series title is fading into obscurity, and if they lose here they will go 15 straight seasons without a pennant. That's a lifetime in Yankeeworld. They went into this DS feeling good and holding the top spot without the Astros, Rays or Red Sox standing in their way. After two games they suddenly find themselves in a precarious position.

Meanwhile, the Royals are playing with house money. No one outside their clubhouse realistically expected them to be here. But similar to where they were a decade ago, they might as well win.