Indians prepare for Judge, Yankees.
They ran away with their division again, and streaked to history, 102 wins and home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs. The Cleveland Indians have had a special season.
A new one, the only one, is about to begin.
Heartbroken after coming up short last year against the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland figured to make it to October for another swing at ending a World Series drought stretching back to 1948.
The Indians are back, but Aaron Judge is standing in their way.
On the same field where their magical 2016 postseason ended on Nov. 2 in a light rain and extra innings, the Indians will open the division series on Thursday night against Judge and the New York Yankees.
Unaffected by a larger stage, Judge hit a two-run homer in his playoff debut as the Yankees overcame a 3-0 deficit in the first inning and won their first postseason game in five years to earn a bestof-five matchup against the defending AL champions.
And while fans across the country are excited about watching the colossal Judge, who blasted 52 homers as a rookie, face Indians ace Corey Kluber and baseball’s deepest pitching staff, Cleveland manager Terry Francona isn’t as thrilled.
“He’s good for Major League Baseball,” Francona said of Judge. “He’s bad for the teams you’re playing against.”
Francona is taking a gamble in the opener and starting Trevor Bauer, a 17game winner during the regular season, in Game 1 instead of Kluber, who will start Game 2.
Red Sox-Astros: Houston manager A.J. Hinch loves that Justin Verlander, his starter for Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, has a ton of postseason experience.
Hinch, however, is plenty concerned about Red Sox starter Chris Sale despite this being his playoff debut.
“I don’t think Sale is going to back down,” Hinch said. “I don’t think he’ll be spooked by not having experience.”
After eight years in the majors, Sale said that finally getting a chance to pitch in the postseason is “pretty fulfilling.” But he’s trying to control his emotions about the opportunity.
The AL East champion Red Sox are in the playoffs for the second straight year. The West champion Astros return for the second time in three years.
Cubs announce rotation: Kyle Hendricks is among the most anonymous players on the Chicago Cubs.
He also is the Game 1 starter for the defending World Series champions.
Joe Maddon also announced Jon Lester will start Game 2 on Saturday in Washington, followed by Jose Quintana in Game 3 at Wrigley Field and Jake Arrieta in Game 4, if necessary.