By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — James Shields led thousands of fans in a celebratory chant. Lorenzo Cain pranced along the warning track, cradling his newborn son. Ned Yost finally allowed himself to smile.

After nearly three decades spent as one of the game’s biggest laughingstocks, the Kansas City Royals are once again baseball royalty. They are headed to their first World Series since 1985, finishing a four-game sweep in the AL Championship Series with a 2-1 victory Wednesday over the Baltimore Orioles.

In a perfect postseason, the Royals are intent to relish every moment.

“It’s hard to explain,” said Cain, whose clutch hits and dramatic catches earned him the series MVP award. “We’re clicking at the right moment right now.”

There’s no doubt about that.

Now, the Royals will carry an 11-game playoff win streak into the World Series, one shy of the major league record. That includes their first eight this season, something that had never been done in postseason history. Kansas City beat Oakland in a 12-inning wild-card thriller to start things off, then swept the Los Angeles Angels in the Divisional Series.

Kansas City will open its first World Series since 1985 on Tuesday against the winner of the NLCS between the Giants and Cardinals. San Francisco leads that series 2-1.

Coincidentally, it was the Cardinals who the Royals beat for their only World Series title.

“It’s been an amazing run,” Royals outfielder Alex Gordon said. “It’s nothing better than when you win. Today, same old story: good pitching, good defense and scratch out a win.”

Same old story for the Orioles, too: Solid pitching, good defense — and just not enough offense. They managed seven hits over the last two games against Kansas City, resulting in the first sweep for the franchise in 21 postseason series.

“You saw how close the games were,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “It’s more a testament to what they did. They were playing great defensively.”

After holding the Orioles to three hits in Game 3, Jason Vargas and the Royals bullpen held them to four hits Wednesday night. Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis got the game to Greg Holland, who matched Dennis Eckersley’s record with his fourth save of the best-of-seven series.

Holland got J.J. Hardy to ground out to third base for the final out, and the Royals spilled onto the infield in a wild celebration. Fireworks shot over the crown-shaped scoreboard in center field, and a blue-clad sellout crowd that included Royals greats George Brett and Brett Saberhagen let out a roar while cars on nearby Interstate 70 honked their horns.

“That’s what you dream of as a kid,” Holland said. “Punch your ticket to the World Series, especially before your home crowd. These fans have been waiting a long time. They deserve it.”

The Orioles, meanwhile, will limp into the offseason after a 96-win season in which they overcame injuries and suspensions to several key players along the way.

“I think it’s not what we didn’t do. It’s more what they did,” said the Orioles’ Ryan Flaherty, whose home run represented their lone run. “We played good baseball.”

Making his first start in nearly two weeks, Vargas shut down the vaunted Orioles lineup in Game 4. The only damage he allowed came in the third inning, when Flaherty went deep.

By that point, the Royals had already manufactured a pair of runs.

Alcides Escobar singled off Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez to open the game, and Nori Aoki was drilled on the right knee a couple pitches later. Yost then opted to bunt with Cain, one of his hottest hitters, to advance both of the runners.

It was a questionable decision so early in the game. But like almost every unorthodox move that Yost has made, it worked out perfectly — for the first sacrifice of Cain’s career.

Eric Hosmer followed with a chopping groundball, and first baseman Steve Pearce went home with it. Escobar slid safely and the ball bounded away from catcher Caleb Joseph, allowing Aoki to follow his teammate home and giving the scrappy, small-ball Royals a 2-0 lead.

After that, it was up to their defense and bullpen.

Escobar turned a pair of double plays early in the game to help Vargas escape jams, and Gordon made a spectacular catch while crashing into the left-field wall to rob Hardy of extra bases leading off the fifth inning. In the sixth, second baseman Omar Infante was in perfect position to snag Nelson Cruz’s line drive and leave runners on the corners.

Herrera breezed through the seventh and Davis handled the eighth, just as they have all season, and Holland slammed the door on his fourth save of the series.

And set off of a raucous celebration that had been 29 years in the making.

In the midst of it all was Yost, the often-criticized Royals manager who has guided a collection of budding young stars to baseball’s grandest stage. In doing so, Yost became the first manager in major league history to win his first eight postseason games.

Now, just four more wins stand in the way of an improbable World Series championship.

“These guys are willing to play selfless baseball where all they’re concentrating on is winning the game,” Yost said. “Nobody is looking to be a hero right now, they’re just looking to win a ballgame, and they’ve done a tremendous job.”

TIGHT GAMES

The Royals’ win was the 14th decided by one run this postseason, topping the record set in 2011 and tied last year. That includes the last two games of the ALCS.

STACKING UP

Kansas City did well this season against both potential World Series opponents.

The Royals swept a three-game series from the visiting Giants in August, beating Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson and Tim Lincecum. KC hasn’t played at San Francisco since 2005.

The Royals went 3-1 against St. Louis, sweeping two games at Busch Stadium and splitting back at Kauffman Stadium.

UP NEXT

Royals: The Royals are in the World Series for the third time in franchise history. “It’s been incredible to watch,” said Saberhagen, one of the star pitchers on the ’85 title team.

Orioles: It’s on to the offseason for a team that overcame a series of injuries (Matt Wieters, Manny Machado) and suspensions (Chris Davis) to reach the ALCS. Baltimore still has not made it back to the World Series since 1983.

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Moustakas had his eye on the ball from the moment it left Adam Jones’s bat, tracking it against the bright lights of Kauffman Stadium. When it settled into his glove and he tumbled into a dugout suite, a dozen fans were waiting to pick him right back up.

Just like Moustakas has picked up his team during its perfect postseason.

The third baseman with the four playoff homers dazzled with his glove Tuesday night. And when Billy Butler drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, the long-downtrodden Kansas City Royals were on their way to a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles and a commanding 3-0 lead in their AL Championship Series.

“It really did fire up the whole stadium,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said of his teammate’s circus catch. “Hats off to the fans in the dugout suite, pick him up and put him back on the field. That was great. Moose finding ways to get it done.”

The entire team has found ways to get it done. The wild-card Royals have won 10 straight postseason games, including all seven this year, in their first playoff appearance in 29 years.

The only thing that’s slowed Kansas City so far was a rainout Monday.

“We’ve got a snowball effect going right now,” Butler said. “The confidence couldn’t be any higher. That’s when you come to the park each day, focus on the next pitch, focus on your job and just not be the guy to end the streak.”

Fresh off a combined three-hitter, Kansas City will send Jason Vargas to the mound for Game 4 on Wednesday, trying to advance to its first World Series since 1985. Miguel Gonzalez will go to the mound for the Orioles.

“It’s hard to take advantage of mistakes when they’re not making any,” Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce said. “This is tough, man. We’ve got one loss left. We’ve got to find a way to start pulling this out. We got to find somebody to get it done.”

The Orioles are the 34th team to trail 3-0 in a best-of-seven major league postseason series — the only team to come back and win was the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, STATS said.

“It’s been done before, so that gives you a chance,” Jones said. “We’ve won four games before. Obviously, not in this situation. But we’ve won four games, four games, four games. So start tomorrow, start in the first inning and get some runs on the board.”

The Royals’ Jeremy Guthrie and Orioles’ Wei-Yin Chen hooked up in a tense pitching duel for five innings Tuesday night, and the game was still 1-all when Chen gave up a leadoff single to Nori Aoki in the sixth. Eric Hosmer followed with a one-out single to put runners on the corners, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter brought in hard-throwing reliever Kevin Gausman.

Butler greeted him with a fly ball to left field for the tiebreaking run — just the latest example of Kansas City doing all the little things right.

One of the best bullpens in baseball took care of the rest.

Winning pitcher Jason Frasor breezed through the sixth, and Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis nailed down the next two innings. Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his third save of the series, setting off a wild celebration in the stands.

In all, Kansas City pitchers retired the final 16 batters.

It was the 13th game to be decided by one run this postseason, matching the record set in 2011 and tied last year. Six games have gone to extra innings, including the Giants’ 5-4, 10-inning victory over the Cardinals hours earlier in the NLCS.

“I wish I didn’t have so much stake in it,” Showalter said dryly. “I’d probably enjoy watching both teams play more than I do.”

After failing to take the lead in the first two games of the series, Baltimore managed to strike first this night, temporarily silencing a frigid, flag-waving capacity crowd.

It happened in the second inning, when Pearce and J.J. Hardy hit back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 lead. Guthrie wiggled out of the jam, though, and grinded through five innings against his former team in his first start since Sept. 26.

Chen matched him pitch-for-pitch until the fourth, when the Royals put together one of their quintessential innings: a pair of bloop singles, a walk and a tying RBI groundout.

The Royals played catch up with their gloves, too.

Moustakas made a diving grab to rob Pearce of a single in the fourth. Then in the sixth, he tracked that popup by Jones into foul territory, steadied himself at a railing near the dugout, then extended himself to catch the ball and tumbled into the stands.

“They were both tremendous plays,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

The blue-clad crowd rose to its feet to give Moustakas a rousing cheer, and many fans were still standing when Butler drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the inning.

By the time the Royals’ “Big Three” of Herrera, Davis and Holland had closed it out, the Royals were on the verge of another postseason sweep.

“We’ve got to zone in on the task at hand,” Holland said. “They’re not going to lay down. We understand that.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Orioles DH Nelson Cruz had his streak of six straight multihit playoff games end. He was 0 for 4. … Pearce had been 0 for 9 in the series before his double in the second inning.

UP NEXT

Orioles: Gonzalez has not started since his final regular-season outing on Sept. 28. “I’m going to try as best as possible to give our team a chance,” he said.

Royals: Vargas has also had a long stretch without a start, last taking the hill against the Angels in Game 1 of AL Division Series on Oct. 2. “I’ll be ready to go,” he said.