A look at the American League wild-card playoff between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics:

uSCHEDULE: Tuesday, at Kansas City (5:07 p.m.) (TBS).

uSEASON SERIES: Royals won 5-2.

uPROJECTED LINEUP

Athletics: CF Coco Crisp (.246, 9 HRs, 47 RBIs, 19 SBs), DH Adam Dunn (.219, 22, 64, 159 Ks with Oakland and Chicago White Sox), 3B Josh Donaldson (.255, 29, 98, 31 2Bs), LF Brandon Moss (.234, 25, 81, 153 Ks), RF Josh Reddick (.264, 12, 54), SS Jed Lowrie (.249, 6, 50), 1B Stephen Vogt (.279, 9, 35), C Geovany Soto (.253, 1, 11 with Oakland and Texas), 2B Eric Sogard (.223, 1, 22).

Royals: SS Alcides Escobar (.285, 3, 50, 31 SBs), RF Nori Aoki (.285, 1, 43, 17) CF Lorenzo Cain (.301, 5, 53, 28), 1B Eric Hosmer (.270, 9, 58, 4), DH Billy Butler (.271, 9, 66), LF Alex Gordon (.266, 19, 74, 12), C Salvador Perez (.260, 19, 70), 2B Omar Infante (.252, 6, 66, 9), 3B Mike Moustakas (.212, 15, 54).

uSTARTING PITCHER:

Athletics: LH Jon Lester (16-11, 2.46, 220 Ks with Oakland and Boston).

Royals: RH James Shields (14-8, 3.21).

uRELIEVERS:

Athletics: LH Sean Doolittle (2-4, 2.73, 22/26 saves, 89/8 K/BB), RH Luke Gregerson (5-5, 3.12,3 saves), RH Ryan Cook (1-3, 3.42, 1 save), RH Dan Otero (8-2, 2.28, 1 save), LH Fernando Abad (2-4, 1.57), LH Eric O’Flaherty (1-0, 2.25, 1 save), LH Drew Pomeranz (5-4, 2.35).

Royals: RH Greg Holland (1-3, 1.44 ERA, 46/48 saves), RH Wade Davis, (9-2, 1.00), RH Kelvin Herrera (4-3, 1.41), LH Brandon Finnegan (0-1, 1.29), RH Jason Frasor (3-0, 1.53), LH Francisley Bueno (0-0, 4.18), LH Scott Downs (0-2, 3.14), RH Aaron Crow (6-1, 4.12).

uMATCHUPS: These former AL West rivals met once before in the postseason with Oakland sweeping Kansas City in three games in the division round of the strike-shortened 1981 season. ... Royals won five of the seven meetings this season, taking two of three in Oakland and three of four in Kansas City in a pair of August meetings. ... Shields allowed five runs in 14 innings in two starts vs. Oakland, getting a win and a no-decision. He is 6-4 with a 3.82 ERA in 15 career starts vs. the A’s. ... Dunn has most experience against Shields, going 7 for 35 with 1 HR and 16 Ks. ... Reddick has three HRs in 22 ABs vs. Shields. ... Lester is 9-3 with a 1.84 ERA in 13 starts vs. Royals, winning all three this season — two with the A’s. ... Butler is just 4 for 28 off Lester. ... Jason Nix has 3 HRs in 26 ABs off Lester. ... Holland is 1-0 with a 1.26 ERA and 6 saves in 13 career games against Oakland. ... Holland has 9 Ks in 12 ABs vs. Dunn. ... Aoki was a thorn in Oakland’s side this season, going 9 for 22 with six runs scored in seven games. ... Crisp is batting .111 the past three seasons vs. KC.

uWATCH FOR

uBig Game James: The Royals traded a bevy of top prospects, including OF Wil Myers, to Tampa Bay to acquire Shields prior to last season. Shields is having a good September, too, pitching to a 2.31 ERA as the Royals won four of his five starts. On a team short on postseason experience, Shields can provide a bit, even though his results have been mixed. He was 2-4 with a 4.98 ERA in six playoff starts with the Rays.

uWho Strikes First: The Royals have one of the best bullpens in baseball, and games are often over if they lead after the sixth inning. Herrera typically pitches the seventh, Davis the eighth and Holland the ninth. The three of them combined to pitch more than 200 innings with a 1.28 ERA this season. Meanwhile, the A’s counter with the one bullpen that could give the Royals a run. Abad, Gregerson and Otero have been brilliant, and Doolittle has been lights-out as a closer. In other words, whoever gets the lead first could well keep it.

uWin or go home: The winner-take-all, one-game format has not been good to Oakland. The A’s lost the decisive Game 5 in six division series since 2000, including the past two years to Justin Verlander and Detroit.