TBS’s presentation of the first game of the American League Championship Series Game drew just under 6 million viewers.

The network's exclusive coverage of the Kansas City Royals' 8-6 win in 10 innings over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards drew 5.92 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. That delivery was up 9% from the 5.45 million who watched the comparable telecast, the opener of the 2013 National League Championship Series matching the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. 

The Oct. 10 telecast netted a 3.6 U.S. household rating, up 3% from the 3.5 generated by Cards-Dodgers last year.

Friday night's telecast – peaking with a 4.2 rating and 6.88 million viewers from 12-12:15 a.m. (ET) – led TBS to win the night across all of cable television.

The upticks came despite a disparity in home market size. Baltimore stands as DMA No. 26, while Kansas City ranks 31st among the 56 metered markets, last among junior circuit teams with 923,000 housewholds.

Turner officials point out that this year’s market sizes for the ALCS are 70% smaller than the network’s comparable coverage of the NLCS in 2013 based on available TV households: 2.02 versus. 6.75 million.  LA alone is nearly triple the size of the combined markets this year -- 5.52 million vs. 2.02 million --  or 63% larger when compared with 2014.