Division Series Open Thread: Four Games!

ALDS GAME 1
INDIANS AT ASTROS
COREY KLUBER (20-7, 2.89 ERA) VS JUSTIN VERLANDER (16-9, 2.52 ERA)
11:05 AM, TBS

This is probably the best pitching matchup you’re gonna get in the Division Series, so this game has that going for it. No team has repeated as World Series Champions since the 1998-2000 Yankees (Not 2001 though, right? Woo!) Will the Astros buck the trend? Maybe. I dunno.

NLDS GAME 2
ROCKIES AT BREWERS
TYLER ANDERSON (7-9, 4.55 ERA) VS JHOULYS CHACIN (15-8, 3.50 ERA)
1:05 PM, FOX SPORTS 1
BREWERS LEAD 1-0

The Brewers walked it off yesterday, which is good because in a bullpen game, extra innings probably blows the whole thing up for you for a few games afterwards. For the Rockies, Adam Ottavino was a bright spot in a, shall we say, fluctuating bullpen. During the season hitters were 0 for 36 against him when the count went 0-2. This week alone he gave up the tying run in the 8th in the Wild Card Game to Javy Baèz, and the winning run to Mike Moustakas yesterday.

ALDS GAME 1
YANKEES AT RED SOX
J.A. HAPP (17-6, 3.65 ERA) VS CHRIS SALE (12-4, 2.11 ERA)
4:32 PM, TBS

Do these teams know each other? It’s hard to tell, nobody will talk about it. On paper, this should be a fun series to watch, as both teams will absolutely murder the ball, and both have amazing to watch players on both sides. The problem is, when it happens that those players are on the Red Sox and Yankees, we’re not gonna get a lot of commentary about the present. We’re going to get a lot of waxing rhapsodic about The Babe, or Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson dueling with pistols at dawn, or the time Derek Jeter gave an expressionless look at Nomar Garciaparra once. Watch this one on mute.

NLDS GAME 2
BRAVES AT DODGERS
ANIBAL SANCHEZ (7-6, 2.83 ERA) VS CLAYTON KERSHAW (9-5, 2.73 ERA)
6:37 AM, FOX SPORTS 1

Here’s a fun thing to think about: There’s a nonzero chance that Clayton Kershaw opts out of his contract this offseason. That would be a fun time.