Orioles & Royals Win On First Day Of ALDS Play

The Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals picked up wins on the first day of play in the American League Divisional Series on Thursday.

In Baltimore, the Orioles defeated the Detroit Tigers, 12-3.

Baltimore jumped on the scoreboard first, courtesy of a two-run home run by Nelson Cruz in the bottom half of the first inning:

Detroit came right back to tie the game, 2-2, in the top half of the second inning, after Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back homers:

The Orioles scored a run in the bottom half of the second to regain the lead, 3-2, and the score stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Baltimore shortstop J.J. Hardy homered to left-center, giving them a 4-2 advantage:

Miguel Cabrera got Detroit to within a run, 4-3, with a solo home run in the top half of the 8th inning:

The Orioles put things completely out of reach in the bottom half of the 8th inning however, plating eight runs:

After the game, Hardy and Cruz, along with teammates Adam Jones and Nick Hundley, as well as manager Buck Showalter, discuss the win, and the home field advantage:

Meanwhile Detroit manager Brad Ausmus, along with J.D. Martinez, Victor Martinez, and Max Scherzer, discuss the game one loss:

In Anaheim, Mike Moustakas clubbed a go-ahead solo home run in the top half of the 11th inning to help lift the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels:

The Moustakas home run was obviously big, but Kansas City helped themselves out with some great defense too, as Lorenzo Cain made a pair of terrific catches early, with Nori Aoki coming up big with the glove later on, helping to get the Royals out of jams.

Below, Kansas City Ned Yost and the Royals talk about the win:

Game two of the Tigers/Orioles series will begin at 11:07 am (central daylight time), while the Royals and Angels will play the second game of their series on Friday night, beginning at 8:37 (cdt).

Previews of the respective series' are below: