This month’s American League Championship Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals, which begins Friday night at Kauffman Stadium, almost didn't happen.

The Blue Jays appeared doomed when Rougned Odor alertly scored on a strange play in Wednesday’s do-or-die Game 5, giving the Texas Rangers a 3-2 lead and all the momentum. Not long after the play, which led fans at Rogers Centre to throw beer cans and debris on the field in protest, a few errors and a dramatic Jose Bautista home run (which preceded an epic bat flip) paved the way for the Blue Jays to move on.

In order to advance to their second-straight ALCS, the Royals had to dispatch of the surging Houston Astros, who in many ways embodied what their opposition was all about just one year ago. Houston held a four-run lead with six outs to go before Kansas City exploded for seven runs in the final two innings of Game 4. Then Johnny Cueto dominated Game 5.

Like so many playoff contenders, the Blue Jays and Royals gambled at midseason by trading away current and future assets for a top-level starting pitcher. David Price disappointed in his ALDS start against the Rangers, but he’ll have a chance to redeem himself in Game 1. The Blue Jays traded for Price knowing they’ll only have him for a few months. He’ll be a free agent this winter.

Cueto, who created quite a bit of indigestion in Kansas City over the months of August and September, was also a rental acquisition. His line from Game 5 against the Astros -- eight innings, two hits, two runs, eight strikeouts and no walks -- may have allowed him to recoup the millions of dollars he cost himself over his 13 regular season starts with the Royals (4.76 ERA with a .307/.344/.474 slash line against).

Kansas City and Toronto faced off just six times during the regular season. The Blue Jays won four of the seven games, scoring just six more runs (39-33) than the Royals. Five of the seven contests took place before the July 31 trade deadline, so both rosters were still in transition. As we already know, most regular season results don’t matter anyway.

While those games didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, there was an incident on Aug. 2 that created bad blood between the clubs. Edinson Volquez drilled Josh Donaldson in the first inning and Kansas City continued to pitch inside as the game progressed. Troy Tulowitzki was plunked later and benches cleared when Toronto reliever Aaron Sanchez hit Alcides Escobar in the leg in the later innings.

Players involved traded barbs through the media after the game, but the Blue Jays and Royals haven’t taken the field together since. The stakes are much, much higher as they reconvene more than two months later and both clubs are known to be highly emotional. A carryover isn’t out of the question.

The Blue Jays led all of Major League Baseball in runs scored (891), a total more than 100 greater than the next club on the list. Those runs often came via the home run. Donaldson, Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion combined to hit 120 long balls as each drove in more than 110 runs. The heart of Toronto’s order is daunting, but the supporting cast is dangerous as well. John Gibbons saw four other players hit at least 12 home runs.

What makes the Blue Jays more dangerous than the average home run-reliant team is their patience. They ranked eleventh among fifteen American League teams in strikeouts (Kansas City had the fewest) and no club drew more walks.

Kansas City’s bullpen isn’t as intimidating as it was this time last year and how the pitching staff handles Toronto’s powerful offense will determine the outcome of the series. The Royals had the third-lowest ERA (3.73) in the AL, but struck out more batters than just four other clubs. They’ll have to increase their strikeout rate (the Cincinnati version of Cueto can do just that) while pounding the strike zone. Toronto will take pitches to get on base for their thumpers. Only two (AL) clubs walked more batters than Kansas City.

Getting length from his starters will be vital for Ned Yost, who doesn’t have Greg Holland (injury) or the same Kelvin Herrera (an ERA that nearly doubled) he had in 2014. The bridge to Wade Davis, who Yost called the best closer in the game this week, could swing back-and-forth throughout the ALCS.

The Royals averaged 4.47 runs per game this season, a figure that increased slightly over five games against the Astros (25 runs). They are the antithesis of the Blue Jays offensively, having hit nearly 100 fewer home runs. They get on base, put pressure on the defense and hope for timely hitting. Toronto (.286) and Kansas City (.281) ranked first and second in all of baseball in batting average with runners in scoring position this season.

There will be no shortage of runs scored in this series without a Zack Greinke or Jacob deGrom on either roster. Price and Cueto are top-level talents with nine-figure contracts on the horizon, but they’ve both had issues as of late. It wouldn’t be surprising to see either toss seven scoreless one outing and allow four runs over five innings the next.   

Gibbons and Yost will have a significant influence on who represents the AL in the World Series as the second half of games turn into a chess match. Gibbons was criticized for using David Price in relief in Game 4, which made the left-hander unavailable in the deciding game, and Yost is no stranger to criticism.

Here are some matchups the skippers should be mindful of in big spots:

Josh Donaldson has just one hit and three strikeouts in 16 plate appearances against Chris Young.

Edwin Encarnacion has a .382/.450/.706 slash line in 40 PAs against Jeremy Guthrie.

Encarnacion has just two hits and six Ks in 25 PAs against Wade Davis.

Jose Bautista has hit .500/.615/.500 in 13 ABs against Danny Duffy.

Lorenzo Cain has a .364/.364/.636 slash line in 11 ABs against David Price.

Salvador Perez has six hits in nine PAs against Liam Hendriks.

The Royals were thisclose to winning a championship a year ago, but ran into a machine called Madison Bumgarner. Their task this time around is vastly different. They must contain baseball’s best offense without the same firepower they rode last postseason. The defense is still elite, but it’s hard to field a ball when it’s hit nearly 500 feet by Donaldson, Bautista or Encarnacion and six strong innings from a starter doesn’t mean certain victory anymore.

Blue Jays in Six.

This figures to be a hotly contested series, high on emotion and drama, but Toronto has the upper hand. If Price pitches to the best of his ability, it will be nearly impossible for Kansas City to win the two (maybe three) games he pitches in. Marcus Stroman has shown incredible guile for his age and Gibbons has built trust in late-inning relievers Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna.

Bautista’s epic Game 5 bat flip will be hard to top, but I’m pretty sure thirsty Toronto fans will settle for a pennant.