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          Wild-card key stats, projections

          The A's and Royals, featuring starters Jon Lester and James Shields, square off Tuesday night. Getty Images
          • Dan Szymborski, Special to ESPN.comSep 29, 2014, 10:58 PM ET
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            • Creator of ZiPS projection system
            • Founder of Baseball Think Factory
            • Contributed to ESPN since 2010
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          Oakland Athletics at Kansas City Royals

          Key stats, trends and matchups to watch

          • Oakland went a combined 22-33 in August and September.

          • Jon Lester set career bests for innings (219 2/3), ERA (2.46) and FIP (2.80) this season. Also worth noting: Yoenis Cespedes was traded for Lester on July 31. If you were to put Cespedes' triple-slash line for the Red Sox (.269/.296/.423) on the A's instead of Lester's 2.35 ERA, the A's would have missed the playoffs.