IT'S GAMEDAY. According to ESPN the New York Yankees will play History & Tradition tonight at 7:08pm in a game that just happens to be at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
*The Yankees will start Masahiro Tanaka in G1 against Dallas Keuchel. Luis Severino will face Justin Verlander in G2, with CC Sabathia and Sonny Gray going in Games 3 & 4. Tanaka started ALDS G3 in which he and the Yankees bullpen shutout the Indians on their way to a 1-0 win. Girardi:
He's had some really big starts, his last two starts have been outstanding. And there's a lot of times that he really gets on a roll and he puts a bunch of them together and we're going to need a good one from him tomorrow.
*The roof will be closed for Games 1 & 2. Hinch:
So bring your earplugs. Be ready. It's a pretty loud environment.
*Phil Garner will throw out the first pitch.
*NY Post's Ken Davidoff notes Jose Altuve's speed, and his history in Houston. Ed Wade, on the Astros' "Express Lane" of rushing players to the Majors:
We were concerned not so much about how they would handle moving up as we were about how they would deal with getting moved back down if things didn't work out. Jose had the makeup and desire to make us think he was someone we could challenge.
*Three of the five NY Post baseball writers picked the Astros to win the Pennant.
*NY Post's Joel Sherman says the Yankees have a blueprint to beat the Astros, it's just hard to follow.
*The New York Daily News gave Didi Gregorius the edge over Carlos Correa.
*Now that the Yankees have set their pitching staff for the first four games (the Astros have only named Keuchel/Verlander), FiveThirtyEight gives the Astros a 57-43 edge in their ALCS simulations. G1 simulated out to an Astros win 56% of the time, and G2 59%.
*FanGraphs updated the Astros' simulations to a 59.3% ALCS win.
*Tyler Clippard, on video game versions of Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve:
It's different spectrums. It's like when you're playing a video game: Do you grow the guy all the way up or shrink him all the way down and give him all this power and all this speed? And then you've got those two players.
*Mike Axisa: The Indians showed the Astros how to shut down Aaron Judge.
*Toronto Star's Richard Griffin says the Astros have the offense to hold off the Yankees.
*LA Times' Pedro Moura, on Dallas Keuchel and the Yankees.
*Mike Lupica writes about how the Astros have a chance to do something no team has ever done before: beat the Red Sox and Yankees in the same postseason.
*Jenny Dial Creech notes how important Yuli Gurriel has been to the Astros. Hinch:
I didn't know he was going to get multiple hits in every game in the postseason. But I think his ability to handle the stress and anxiety that comes with the situations is not surprising. He's been on the international stage. He's been the central sports figure of a country where baseball is beloved, so I think his personality that has come out this year, his exuberance, his overall consistent play has been something we've expected. It's nice to see it play out.
*Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann saw the resurgence of the Yankees' youth movement first-hand.
*Hunter Atkins: Is it weird for managers (like Hinch) to alter their bullpen usage so drastically?
*Carlos Beltran is (obviously) hopeful this is the year he gets a ring.
*Kyle Tucker was 1x2 with 2BB and Yordan Alvarez was 2x5 yesterday in the Arizona Fall League.
*Oh the Braves are screwed.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
