The New York Yankees and the Oakland A's will get the American League

postseason started Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.That game will determine who plays the Boston Red Sox in one of the American League Division Series.The other series has been set http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-greinke-jersey , seemingly for weeks. The Cleveland Indians and the Houston Astros, the last two American League participants in the World Series, will meet for the right to go to the American League Championship Series.The Indians lost the 2016 Series in heartbreaking fashion, dropping the seventh game in extra innings to the Chicago Cubs. The Astros won last year's championship, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. Indians vs. Astros ScheduleFriday, October 5: Indians at Astros, Game 1, TBSSaturday, October 6: Indians at Astros, Game 2, TBSMonday, October 8: Astros at Indians, Game 3 Randy Johnson Jersey , TBSTuesday, October 9: Astros at Indians, Game 4*, TBSThursday, October 11: Indians at Astros, Game 5*, TBS*If necessaryAll postseason games can be live-streamed atMLB.TV.Even though the Red Sox led all of baseball with 108 wins, both the Indians and the Astros are powerful teams that could represent the AL in the World Series once again.The Indians have explosive power bats in the middle of their lineup whoare capable of devastating any pitching staff. Jose Ramirez led the Tribe with 39 home runs and he also had 106 RBI and a .555 slugging percentage. Shortstop Francisco Lindor tallied 38 home runs, scored 129 runs, drove in 92 and had a .519 slugging percentage. Edwin Encarnacion delivered 32 home runs and knocked in a team-high 107 runs.Former Blue Jay Josh Donaldson could turn out to be an X-factor in the series. Donaldson was traded to Cleveland at the trade deadline, and while he played in just 16 games this year due to injuries and had three home runs and seven RBI, he is capable of getting hot and driving the ball consistently in big situations.The pitching staff has largely been responsible for Cleveland's success, and Corey Kluber is once again the ace of the staff with a 20-7 record A. J. Pollock Jersey , 222 strikeouts, a 2.89 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. He is joined by starters Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer.The Indians are hoping that their once-formidable bullpen can dominate in the postseason.Cleveland manager Terry Francona believes the preparation in leading up to Friday's series opener is a big key."I think the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (before the playoffs) are way more important than your last couple of games," Francona said, per Joe Noga of Cleveland.com. "I think the way you handle those off days is how you create momentum going into the playoffs."The Astros won the World Series a year ago largely because of their ability to come through with clutch at-bats. While they don't have quite the power that the Indians do from their top sluggers, the Astros are a confident team that has an excellent chance to repeat last year's postseason success.Alex Bregman had a brilliant year with a 31 home runs to lead the team, along with 103 RBI and a .532 slugging percentage. George Springer is one of the team's triggers as he belted 22 home runs and scored 102 runs.Jose Altuve battled through injuries this season but appears healthy for the playoffs. The 2017 MVP hit .315 with 13 home runs and scored84 runs in 137 games.The Astros may have the best starting pitching of any team in the postseason with Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton. All four started 30 or more games, and Verlander is the ace of the group with a 16-9 record http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-greinke-jersey , 290 strikeouts and a 2.52 ERA.These are two brilliant and experienced teams, and it would be somewhat surprising if the series does not go five games. CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs had hoped to use the past four days to maintain or pad their lead in the National League Central, but the weather certainly didn’t cooperate.Heading into a pivotal three-game series against the second-place Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs will attempt to again create some distance. The series opens a day after Chicago’s scheduled series finale against the Washington Nationals was washed out by rain, which was a constant throughout the weekend.The Cubs will attempt to bounce back after being swept in a Saturday doubleheader that was forced after Friday’s scheduled game was rained out as well.Article continues below ...“The bright side is just getting through (the weekend),” Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters Sunday, according to the Chicago Tribune. “We’ve done really well through this stretch. I’ve been really pleased with it and it’s not easy to do what we’ve been doing over the past couple of weeks and how well we’ve actually played.”Despite losing their past two games, the Cubs are 4-4 in their last eight games, which had allowed the Cubs to maintain their cushion over the Brewers. But the margin has been trimmed to two games after Milwaukee completed a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants on Sunday with a 6-3 victory.The Brewers will enter Monday’s series opener having won eight of their past 10 games and captured two of three from the Cubs last week. Now, with the Cubs within reach, the Brewers head to Chicago with the front-runners in their sights.“Something we’ve been talking about (is) ‘Don’t think about the wild card — think about the division,” said Brewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin, who will take the mound Tuesday. “We have the chance this week. It feels really important now.”Jon Lester will take the mound as the Cubs attempt to get back on a winning track after the wet weekend in Washington.Lester (15-5 Shelby Miller Jersey , 3.53 ERA) has won three of his past four starts but hasn’t pitched since Sept. 2. Lester threw six scoreless innings in his last outing against the Philadelphia Phillies when he scattered six hits and struck out seven.Lester was scheduled to pitch Friday, but when the game was rained out, it allowed the Cubs ace to open the series against Milwaukee on Monday rather than pitch Wednesday’s series finale.Lester is 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA in seven career starts against the Brewers.Milwaukee will counter with Wade Miley (3-2, 2.12) as the Brewers attempt to continue to close the gap. Miley has won just won of his six previous starts but shut down the Cubs last week when he allowed just one earned run in six innings while allowing just three hits and striking out five. Miley is 5-2 with a 4.13 ERA in eight career starts against the Cubs.Miley has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his 12 starts with the Brewers and, like the rest of his teammates, believe that catching the Cubs and capturing the division title is well within reach.“Why wouldn’t it be? Heck, yeah,” Miley said after his last start, according to the Brewers’ official website. “I don’t think you quit thinking about it until you can’t think about it no more. I think that’s the way to go about it.”