Yost names Guthrie Royals' Game 3 starter, plus other K.C. quotes

This afternoon, Kansas City manager Ned Yost announced that former Oriole Jeremy Guthrie will start Game 3 on Monday night in Kansas City and he said Jason Vargas would "probably" start Game 4. Guthrie had a strong finish to the regular season with a 2.40 ERA in September and he went 13-11 with a 4.13 ERA in 32 starts for the year. He has not pitched yet this postseason. His last start was Sept. 26, when he threw seven scoreless innings against the White Sox. Yost is not concerned about the long layoff for Guthrie. "He threw really good during a (simulated) game, and I mean command and action on his pitches," Yost said. "He had a tremendous side (session) yesterday. He's ready to go." Yost was asked if the Royals have become a team of destiny at this point. "I like the fact I have a bunch of gamers on my team, guys that stay after it," he said. "Even last night when we had bases loaded and no outs (and didn't score), the attitude was, 'Let's go, let's D up and come back and do it again.' They were going to get three outs and make it happen again." The Royals hit just one extra-inning homer during the regular season and now they have four in the postseason. "We knew we could hit home runs, but it wasn't a part of our game because we play in a big stadium for half our games," Yost said. "We have guys that can hit home runs and they are turning it up at the right time." Today the Orioles have to face right-hander Yordano Ventura (14-10, 3.20 ERA). This is the pitcher with probably the best velocity in the game, as he averages 96.6 mph on his fastball. I asked Yost if Ventura's success is mostly due to the high-end velocity. "You know, all of it," Yost said. "When you throw a 101 mph fastball, which he's done, and a 96 mph two-seamer with tremendous action on it. A 96 mph cutter, nice changeup and a curveball. He's got three plus pitches that he can throw for strikes. Couple that with his confidence and his ability to compete and that makes him a special guy." Guthrie was asked about facing the Orioles. "I think this is very serendipitous that I leave a franchise that I was part of for five years that had a long drought of being in the playoffs, but a storied history. And I end up on a team with another rich history, but an even longer drought," Guthrie said. "To be in the playoffs with Kansas City is very exciting and to come back and play against a team I played with before makes it even more interesting and ironic." Guthrie was asked if having played with some of the hitters he will face Monday night will help him against the Orioles. "I was traded three seasons ago, but I had the chance to compete against the Orioles four starts now. Each pitcher uses his experience from the past as well as competing against those players to develop a game plan," he said. Having faced the O's in those starts will take some emotion out of facing his former team, Guthrie said. "Yeah, I think the emotion will come from it being a playoff game," Guthrie said. "History will be put, not even on the back burner, but some rotating kitchen Lazy Susan or something. We are both preparing to face a good team. Whether there is history or not, I think each player, myself included, has put that on the Lazy Susan for the time being."