Post-season Gameday Thread, #12: ALCS opens

1:08 pm - Nationals @ Cards (1-0)

It’s worth looking at the Vegas odds for the World Series, before any games were played in either CS. The BEST odds for either of the NL teams was the 4-1 given to the Nationals, while the Cardinals were the outsiders, at 5-1. And one or other of those is going to end up in the World Series. In contrast, the Astros were 13-10 favorites, while the Yankees were 5-2. I do think the Nats pitching rotation would give them a better shot: they have four (as we saw last night) starters who can, on any given day, shut down an opposition offense effectively. The problem is, the word is “can”. For the Astros, it’s closer to “probably will,” and that’s why this series will likely determine who loses the World Series on behalf of the NL.

5:08 pm - Yankees @ Astros (0-0)

As for who will face them, the Astros are 10/17 favored, with the Yankees at 3/2, so not much value to be found there. The series going 6 and 7 games is seen as equally likely (2/1), with Houston in six the outcome with the lowest odds, at 7/2. You can get 7/1 odds against a sweep by either team, which sounds like it might be worth a flutter. If that Astros rotation gets going, it could end up being a steamroller, even given the Yankees’ and their much-vaunted offense. We’ll see if Zack Greinke can stand up to the national spotlight a bit better than his last post-season start. If he does, then this could conceivably be over before the NLCS, despite starting a day later.