alds preview
toronto vs. texas
Game 1: 3:38 p.m. Thursday (TBS); Toronto RHP Marco Estrada (9-9, 3.48 ERA) vs. Texas LHP Cole Hamels (15-5, 3.32)
The skinny: This is a rematch of the 2015 ALDS that Toronto won in five games, including the wild clincher when Jose Bautista hit the go-ahead homer as part of a disastrous seventh inning for the Rangers. They made errors on three consecutive plays.
About the Blue Jays (89-73): Toronto captured the top AL wild card by winning its regular-season finale in Boston. Then they beat division rival Baltimore 5-2 at home in the wild-card game Tuesday on Edwin Encarnacion's three-run homer in the 11th inning. … The Blue Jays averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs per game in September and October, a full run off their season average of 4.70. … Their starters were strong down the stretch, allowing no more than one earned run in 12 of the final 17 games.
About the Rangers (95-67): The West champions led the AL in wins and winning percentage (.586) for the first time in franchise history. … The Rangers have a pair of aces in their starting rotation in Hamels and Yu Darvish (7-5, 3.41). Hamels has a 3.03 ERA in 15 career postseason games, including two last October for the Rangers. Darvish is a three-time All-Star from Japan. … Third baseman Adrian Beltre hit .300, with 32 homers and 104 RBI.
Boston vs. clevelAND
Game 1: 7:08 p.m. Thursday (TBS); Boston RHP Rick Porcello (22-4, 3.15 ERA) vs. Cleveland RHP Trevor Bauer (12-8, 4.26)
The skinny: The Red Sox and Indians meet in playoffs for the fifth time since 1999. They split the four previous matchups. This series features the two highest-scoring teams in AL, with Boston racking up 878 runs and Cleveland 777.
About the Red Sox (93-69): David Ortiz, 40, has had one of the best farewell campaigns in baseball history. He hit .315 with 38 homers and 127 RBI. … The Red Sox won 11 straight games in September to open a cushion in the AL East, then lost five of their last six to blow a chance at home-field advantage.
About the Indians (94-67): Indians manager Terry Francona led Boston to two World Series championships (2004, 2007). … The Indians are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, when they lost the wild-card game to Tampa Bay 4-0. … Cleveland's strong starting rotation was decimated by injuries. Corey Kluber recently injured his quadriceps, bumping him back to Game 2.
