Royals set ALDS rotation; Vargas to start Game 1

It's become clear how the Kansas City Royals plan to contain baseball's top offense.

Left-hander Jason Vargas will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday, and will be followed in the rotation by right-handers Yordano Ventura and James Shields, reports MLB.com.

Vargas, who signed a four-year, $32-million deal with Kansas City in the offseason was strong in his first season with the Royals, pitching to a career-best 3.71 ERA over 187 innings. He'll now face his former team in the postseason, which scored a major league-leading 773 runs in 2014.

Ventura, meanwhile, will get a chance for some redemption after getting thrown into the fire during the Royals' 9-8 extra-inning win over the Oakland Athletics in the AL wild-card game. The rookie starter relieved ace James Shields in the sixth inning and promptly served up a three-run homer to designated hitter Brandon Moss, which temporarily gave Oakland the lead.

TBS analyst and former pitcher Pedro Martinez took to Twitter and scorched Royals manager Ned Yost for turning to Ventura in that situation. Ventura, whose average fastball velocity ranked second among qualified big-league starters, according to Fangraphs, had a 3.20 ERA over 183 innings. 

Shields will start Game 3 after tossing five innings of four-run ball in Tuesday's win over Oakland. The Royals' workhorse placed fourth in the AL during the regular season with 227 innings pitched. 

Lefty Danny Duffy will reportedly throw out of the bullpen and is an option to start Game 4.