ALDS schedule, start times drop as KC Royals advance to face Yankees

For the fifth time in MLB history, the Kansas City Royals will face the New York Yankees in the postseason, starting Saturday night with Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium. The two teams met in the ALCS four times in five years from 1976 to 1980, with Kansas City sweeping New York to win the 1980 AL pennant after three straight Championship Series losses in '76, '77 and '78. Now, for the first time since 1980, the Royals and Yankees will face off again.

On Wednesday, the Royals finished off a two-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card Series at Camden Yards, earning a date with the AL's top-seeded team this weekend. Since the Yankees ended the regular season with the best record in the AL, they received a bye from the first round of the playoffs, immediately advancing to the Division Series.

Within hours of the matchup confirmation, Major League Baseball announced the dates and times of the first two games of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium, which includes an off day on Sunday. TBS will broadcast each game of the series.

The schedule is as follows:

Game 1: Kansas City at New York, Saturday, Oct. 5, 5:38 p.m. CT, TBS

Game 2: Kansas City at New York, Monday, Oct. 7, 6:38 p.m. CT, TBS

Game 3: New York at Kansas City, Wednesday, Oct. 9, TBA

Game 4: New York at Kansas City, Thursday, Oct. 10, TBA (if necessary)

Game 5: Kansas City at New York, Saturday, Oct. 12, TBA (if necessary)

KC Royals vs NY Yankees in the 2024 regular season

Although the Royals lost the regular-season series to the Yankees, 5-2, they did have a chance to win their three-game match-up in the Bronx in mid-September. After losing Game 1, Kansas City shut out New York in the second game of the series, 5-0. The series finale went 11 innings, with the Yankees eventually escaping with a 4-3 victory.

The Yankees finished the regular season with 94 wins, eight more than the Royals (86). Still, if the rivals' September series is anything to go by, as well as Kansas City's recent winning performance against the Orioles, the upcoming ALDS is likely to be close.