Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays promise plenty of fireworks in their AL Championship Series, and not just because one team features power arms and the other power bats.

The Royals and Blue Jays already have played a contentious set of games this season, including a matchup in Toronto marked by two bench-clearing incidents. And while both sides said during Thursday’s workouts that previous rancor has been forgotten, the emotionally charged atmosphere of playoff baseball means there could be some short fuses in the opener tonight.

“It’s over with. We’ve got to move forward,” insisted the Royals’ Edinson Volquez, who will start Game 1 and was arguably the biggest instigator when the teams met in August.

It was Volquez whose inside pitching drew the ire of the Blue Jays, eventually leading to the first of those bench-clearing moments. And after the game, he called Blue Jays star Josh Donaldson “a little baby” for complaining about his inside pitching.

Asked whether he intends to pitch inside again tonight, Volquez replied: “Of course.”

Royals manager Ned Yost was one word more succinct: “Absolutely.”

Even if it might mean more bad blood.

“I’m not a mind reader. I’m not a fortune teller. I don’t know if it’s going to be an issue,” Yost said. “But we’ll pitch inside aggressively. That’s a power-laden club over there. We’re going to formulate a really good game plan and try to go out and execute.”

The Blue Jays, who start Marco Estrada in the opener, won three straight elimination games against Texas to reach their first AL Championship Series since 1993. The last of those games Wednesday was as tense as they come.

After the Rangers took the lead on a fluke play, the Blue Jays stormed back thanks in part to three Texas errors. Donaldson’s blooper tied the game, and Jose Bautista capped the comeback with a long three-run homer, emphatically flipping his bat nearly as high in the air.

Bautista’s reaction wasn’t taken well by the Rangers, who essentially called it bush league, and the entire affair touched off a wide-spread debate about decorum.

“You look at all professional sports in general, everybody celebrates more so than they used to,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “In our particular sport, if it’s happening for your team, your guy gets a big hit, nobody minds it. If you’re on the other side, nobody likes it.”

It’s not just what has gone on this postseason, or even in the regular season, that makes this ALCS matchup so juicy. It’s also the history the two franchises share.

They met once before in the ALCS, with the Royals rallying from a 3-1 deficit in the first year of seven-game series. The last two wins came in Toronto, providing the Royals with so much momentum that they went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals for their only World Series triumph.

There was plenty of emotion in that series, too.

“I think you just see so much drama at times because it’s the postseason,” Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. “Obviously, that series in Toronto (earlier this year) was two competitive teams. I think that’s why we’re here right now, because it’s two teams that really take pride in doing things to protect their teammates, to show that the team has a better club.”

The two best teams in the American League go about things in different ways.

Much like that ’85 Royals team, this one is built upon pitching and defense — hard-throwing starters and relievers, and enough speed to track down just about anything that stays in their park.

That was a big reason why they were able to down the Astros in their divisional series.

“A big part of their success is they flag the ball down, because a lot of teams can’t, because the outfield is so big here,” said Gibbons, a former bench coach in Kansas City. “We’re built a little bit differently. I think a lot of it has to do with where we play.”

The Blue Jays play in hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, so naturally they’re among the best in baseball at scoring with a single swing. Bautista’s shot against the Rangers was proof, but so were the major league league-leading 232 homers that Toronto hit during the regular season.

That’s why the Royals intend to pitch the Blue Jays inside, to mitigate their power. And also why there could be some testy moments when the teams begin their best-of-seven showdown.

“We all know Toronto is a better team than Houston. They’ve got more veteran guys and more power hitters,” Volquez said. “We’re going to play our game. We’re going to stay with the plan and do it. Like I said, do our best to win the game.”

ROYALS-BLUE JAYS AT A GLANCE

A look at the best-of-seven American League Championship Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals:

Schedule: Game 1, Today, at Kansas City (7:07 p.m.); Game 2, Saturday, at Kansas City (3:07 p.m.); Game 3, Monday, Oct. 19, at Toronto (7:07 p.m.); Game 4, Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Toronto (TBA); x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Toronto (TBA); x-Game 6, Friday, Oct. 23, at Kansas City (TBA); x-Saturday, Oct. 24, at Kansas City (TBA). (All games on FOX or FS1).

x-if necessary.

Season Series: Blue Jays won 4-3.

Projected Lineup

Blue Jays: LF Ben Revere (.306, 2 HRs, 45 RBIs with Phillies and Blue Jays), 3B Josh Donaldson (.297, 41, AL-best 123 RBIs), RF Jose Bautista (.250, 40, 114), DH Edwin Encarnacion (.277, 39, 111), 1B Chris Colabello (.321, 15, 54), SS Troy Tulowitzki (.280, 17, 70 with Rockies and Blue Jays), C Russell Martin (.240, career-high 23 HRs, 77), CF Kevin Pillar (.278, 12, 56), 2B Ryan Goins (.250, 5, 45).

Royals: SS Alcides Escobar (.257, 4, 32), 2B Ben Zobrist (.276, 13, 56 with Athletics and Royals), CF Lorenzo Cain (.307, 16, 72), 1B Eric Hosmer (.297, 18, 93), DH Kendrys Morales (.290, 22, 106), 3B Mike Moustakas (.284, 22, 82), C Salvador Perez (.260, 21, 70), LF Alex Gordon (.271, 13, 48), RF Alex Rios (.255, 4, 32).

Projected Rotation

Blue Jays: RH Marco Estrada (13-8, 3.13 ERA), LH David Price (18-5, AL-best 2.45 with Tigers and Blue Jays), RH Marcus Stroman (4-0, 1.67 in 4 September starts), RH R.A. Dickey (11-11, 3.91).

Royals: RH Edinson Volquez (13-9, 3.55), RH Yordano Ventura (13-8, 4.08), RH Johnny Cueto (11-13, 3.44 with Reds and Royals), RH Kris Medlen (6-2, 4.01) or RH Chris Young (11-6, 3.06).

Relievers

Blue Jays: RH Roberto Osuna (1-6, 2.58, 20/23 saves), RH Aaron Sanchez (7-6, 3.24 in 40 games, 11 starts), RH Mark Lowe (1-3, 1.96 with Mariners and Blue Jays), RH LaTroy Hawkins (3-1, 3.26 with Rockies and Blue Jays), RH Liam Hendriks (5-0, 2.95, 71 Ks, 64 IP), LH Aaron Loup (2-5, 4.46), RH Ryan Tepera (0-2, 3.27, 1 save).

Royals: RH Wade Davis (8-1, 0.94, 17 saves), RH Kelvin Herrera (4-3, 2.71), RH Ryan Madson (1-2, 2.13), LH Franklin Morales (4-2, 3.18), LH Danny Duffy (7-8, 4.08), RH Jeremy Guthrie (8-8, 5.95), RH Luke Hochevar (1-1, 3.73).

Matchups

These teams met in the 1985 AL Championship Series, the first year the format was expanded from five to seven games. The Royals rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to win in seven games, including road victories in Games 6 and 7, and went on to beat St. Louis for their only World Series title. … When the Royals ended a 29-year playoff absence last season, they handed the distinction of longest drought to the Blue Jays (21 years). … Toronto dropped two of three at Kansas City before the All-Star break. The Blue Jays rallied from a seven-run deficit with an eight-run sixth in the series finale on July 12, only to lose 11-10. … Toronto won three of four at home from July 30 to Aug. 2, right after a busy week of trades. The benches cleared during a testy series that included pitchers throwing at hitters.

… The Blue Jays outscored the Royals 39-33 in the season series. … Price took the loss in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Rangers and has dropped six straight postseason starts. He earned a win with a three-inning relief stint in Game 4 at Texas. … Price faced Kansas City in back-to-back May starts with Detroit, going 1-0 with a 2.93 ERA. He’s 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in six career games against the Royals, including five starts. … After facing left-handers in four of their five games against Texas, the Blue Jays are likely to face mostly right-handers against the Royals. Toronto hit .266 against righties this season, tied with Kansas City for fourth-best in the majors. … Toronto lost lefty reliever Brett Cecil to a torn left calf in Game 2 of the ALDS and replaced him with Tepera. Loup missed the final two games of the ALDS because of a personal matter. His status for the ALCS was unclear.

Big Picture

Blue Jays: Toronto (93-69) was 50-51 after losing to lowly Philadelphia on July 28, the same day GM Alex Anthopoulos acquired Tulowitzki and Hawkins from the Rockies. Two days later, Price arrived from Detroit, and Anthopoulos capped a busy trade-deadline flurry by landing Revere from the Phillies and Lowe from the Mariners. The deals beefed up an already-prolific offense, overhauled the shaky bullpen and added a true ace to the top of the rotation. The Blue Jays went 43-18 the rest of the way under manager John Gibbons, erasing a seven-game deficit to overtake the New York Yankees and win the AL East by six games. … Toronto ended the longest active playoff drought in the majors, a slump that stretched back to 1993 and the second of the club’s consecutive World Series titles. … Finally back in the postseason, the Blue Jays rallied past Texas in the ALDS and became the third team to win a best-of-five series after dropping the first two games at home. The 2001 Yankees also did it against Oakland, and the 2012 Giants did it against Cincinnati. Both those clubs went on to reach the World Series. … In the deciding Game 5 at Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays took advantage of three straight Rangers errors in a wild seventh inning to overcome a 3-2 deficit. Bautista launched a tiebreaking, three-run homer that sent Toronto to a 6-3 win. Encarnacion had a tying homer in the sixth. … Toronto led the majors with 891 runs, 127 more than the next-best offense, the Yankees, who had 764. … The power-packed Blue Jays led the majors with 232 homers. Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion combined for 120, most by any trio of players in Toronto history. … Toronto finished with a 3.81 team ERA, good for fifth-best in the AL. … The Blue Jays went 15-28 in one-run games, the worst record in the majors.

Royals: The defending AL champions went 11-17 in September before holding off the Blue Jays for home-field advantage throughout the postseason. … Kansas City (95-67) won the AL Central by 12 games for its first division title since taking the AL West in 1985. Then the Royals overcame a 2-1 series deficit to beat the wild-card Astros in the best-of-five ALDS. Kansas City has rallied from four-run deficits in the eighth inning of elimination games each of the past two seasons, including Game 4 in Houston. … Even without closer Greg Holland, who recently had Tommy John surgery, the bullpen remains among the best in baseball. Davis has become a dominant closer in his own right. … Morales had three homers and six RBIs in the ALDS. Perez had two homers and four RBIs. Cueto, acquired midseason to win big games at the top of the rotation, did just that in Game 5. Brushing off his late-season struggles, he pitched eight effective innings and finished strong in a 7-2 victory. … Kansas City had three players hit 20 or more homers after none reached that plateau last season. … Cain was fourth in the AL in wins above replacement (WAR) behind the Angels’ Mike Trout, Donaldson, and the Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier. … Kansas City had the third-best team batting average (.269) in baseball and 10th-best ERA (3.73). … The Royals had seven All-Stars this season, not counting manager Ned Yost and the entire coaching staff. … After falling just short of a World Series championship last year with a Game 7 loss to San Francisco, the resilient, never-say-die Royals are trying to take this run one step farther.

Watch For

— Bad Blood. Tempers boiled over in the final regular-season meeting between the teams, a 5-2 home win for Toronto on Aug. 2. Sanchez was ejected for hitting Escobar with a pitch, leading to both benches and bullpens emptying. Toronto was upset after Volquez plunked Donaldson and later threw high and inside to the MVP contender. Madson also threw high and tight to Donaldson, and hit Tulowitzki on the arm. Gibbons and Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale also were ejected. Volquez later accused Donaldson of overreacting, calling him “a little baby.”

— Pitching In. Cueto came through in the Division Series when it mattered most, but the rest of the Royals’ rotation was merely average against the Astros, as was the bullpen outside of Davis.

— Opposites Attract. While the Blue Jays often pummel their opponents with the long ball, the Royals still rely on speed, defense and making contact at the plate. They made several dynamic fielding plays in Game 5 of the ALDS, including a great catch by Zobrist and a sliding grab in foul territory by Gordon.