Royals secure postseason home-field advantage with 6-1 win over Twins to end regular season

MINNEAPOLIS _ The road to the World Series will go through Kauffman Stadium, as the Royals secured home-field advantage throughout the postseason with a 6-1 victory Sunday over the Minnesota Twins in the final game of the regular season.tmpplchld Hunted down by the Toronto Blue Jays in September, the Royals (95-67) reclaimed the best record in the American League by ripping off a five-game winning streak to end the regular season. The Royals will play the winner of the wild-card game on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium in the American League Division Series. Their opponent will either be the Astros or Yankees, to be determined Tuesday.tmpplchld Facing a lineup of Minnesota reserves, Alex Gordon roped an RBI double in the second inning and Alex Rios followed with a two-run double of his own. Salvador Perez mashed a two-run shot, his 21st homer of the season, in the third. Johnny Cueto provided five innings of one-run baseball in his final outing before a game two start. Cueto gave up six hits and four walks.tmpplchld The Royals ended weeks of hand-wringing about their playoff seeding. With 27 games left in the regular season, the Royals held a five-game advantage on Toronto. A lead of that size is not insurmountable, but to surrender it is a statistical unlikelihood. Yet Kansas City skidded to an 11-17 record in September and let the Blue Jays claim first place in the league.tmpplchld For fans, a flashpoint occurred on Sept. 25, the day after the Royals clinched their first division title since 1985. Manager Ned Yost utilized a lineup of backups, Indians starter Carlos Carrasco pitched a one-hit shutout and the lead over Toronto fell to one game. Yost defended resting his starters, insisting they had earned the privilege after a long summer of success, even as the Blue Jays soon vaulted ahead in the standings days later.tmpplchld On Sept. 30, in the first game of a doubleheader, Toronto secured the American League East for their first division title since 1993. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons rewarded his regulars with a game off in the nightcap. He did the same in the next day’s game. Toronto lost both, and entered the season’s final weekend tied with Kansas City.tmpplchld As he drowsed on Saturday evening, Yost received a text message from catching coach Pedro Grifol. “Walkoff,” the message read. Yost got up and checked the score of Toronto’s game with Tampa Bay. The Rays executed a ninth-inning comeback to put the Royals in charge of their own fate, up one game heading into No. 162.tmpplchld Major League Baseball configured its schedule so every game on Sunday began at the same time. A logjam in the American League West created the potential for a Game 163 on Monday. Yost was aware of the possibilities, but disinclined to favor any outcome.tmpplchld “I don’t root,” Yost said. “I just stay focused on what we do. I take it for what it is. I’m not rooting for this scenario, or that scenario.”tmpplchld As the Royals played on Sunday, the Blue Jays removed little doubt about the seeding. Tampa Bay blitzed veteran Mark Buehrle and scored nine runs in the first inning on their way to a 12-3 victory. At Target Field, Kansas City claimed a three-run lead in the second.tmpplchld Now Kansas City enters October occupying the top spot in the playoff bracket. They excelled as underdogs in 2014. Now they get a chance to follow through on their pledge to return to the World Series _ this time, as overlords.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)tmpplchld Visit The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) at www.kansascity.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld