Yost on windy conitions, Vargas on Game 4 start

KANSAS CITY - The Orioles and Royals will play Game 3 of the American League Championship Series tonight amid windy and blustery conditions, which figure to impact the game. At his pregame press conference earlier, Royals manager Ned Yost was asked how the wind might make a difference tonight. He doesn't seem to feel it favors his team even though it has played in these home conditions before. "The wind plays the same for both teams," Yost said. "It will probably knock balls down in left and left-center field and even into center field. But our guys have a pretty good idea. And you know what, these guys, even Baltimore, who hasn't played here that much, their outfield is outstanding. "They'll get out there during batting practice and take balls and understand what the wind is doing, too, in a matter of about 10 minutes. You just go play the game." Yost named left-hander Jason Vargas his starter for Game 4 tomorrow afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, electing not to bring Game 1 starter James Shields back on regular rest. "The thought process, (Jeremy) Guthrie has had a bunch of rest, Vargy has had a bunch of rest. We thought it beneficial to give Shields an extra day and (Yordano) Ventura an extra day," Yost said. "I think being up two games helps us do that. If it was tied 1‑1, it might have been a different decision. But we just felt it was best to line it up that way, give everybody as much rest as we can and go get it." Yost was asked how his lineup matches up with tonight's Orioles starter, left-hander Wei-Yin Chen. "OK. I mean, I like the way our lineup has matched up against anybody here lately," Yost said. "You look at normally during the course of the season Mous (Mike Moustakas) struggled against lefties, but he's been really, really good for the most part against lefties in the playoffs. "But our lineup has been doing extremely well. We've had a lot of guys getting on base at the top of the order, a lot of production from the middle of the order." A reporter asked Yost about Kansas City's pitch selection during at-bats, saying it was an issue for the team earlier, but has been better lately. Yost agreed. "Yeah, it just clicked and they figured it out. Those are all things we talk about every day," Yost said. "When you're going good, that's why you're going good, because you're getting pitches to hit and you're not missing them. Something just clicked and all of a sudden they're locked in at the plate, all of them." Vargas went 11-10 with an ERA of 3.71 in 30 regular season starts. He last pitched on Oct. 2 in Game 1 of the AL Division Series, when he gave up three hits and two runs over six innings against the Angels. So he'll be pitching on 12 days rest when he takes the mound Wednesday. "I don't know, I've never had this much rest," Vargas said. "So I couldn't give you a good guideline on what I'll be looking for. But I'll be ready to go and be ready to try to execute my game plan and execute pitches. "I'm sure I'll have a lot of anxiousness, just like I did in the other playoff game. It might not seem like it on the outside, but there's a lot of adrenaline going. And definitely in that first one, you get up there, and your body feels a lot different than it normally does. "We'll prepare the same way, and when we get out there, we'll see what it feels like again."