Indians and Yankees Ready for an ALDS Tussle; Schedule for Five-Game Series

The Indians finally know who they will take the field against on Thursday to kickoff the American League Divisional Series, and it’s an opponent that most Tribe fans would love to see the Wahoo’s take out – the New York Yankees.

The pinstripes will come to Progressive Field as the underdogs in the best of five series, one where somewhat of a shocking announcement was made Tuesday that Trevor Bauer, not ace Corey Kluber, will get the start against New York in game one at 7:10pm on Thursday night.

Don’t fret, Tribe manager Terry Francona knows what he’s doing, and in game two on Friday Indians fans will get to see Kluber go for the Indians, and if the Indians already have a 1-0 lead in their pocket, it looks awfully appealing for them to go to the Bronx on Sunday with a 2-0 advantage.

This is the fourth postseason meeting between the Indians and Yankees in the postseason, with the Tribe winning both divisional series’ in the past.

The Tribe topped New York back in their dramatic run to the World Series back in 1997, and in 2007 they ended the Joe Torre era as Yankees manager with an ALDS win before losing to Francona and the Red Sox in seven games in the ALCS after leading that series 3-1.

The Yankees only postseason win came back in the 1998 ALCS, winning that series four games to two as they eventually won the World Series.

Matt Vasgersian and John Smoltz will be on the call the AL Division Series, along with reporters Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal.

The first game on Thursday, and the final three games of the series if necessary, will be televised by FS1, with MLB Network broadcasting Game 2 on Friday.

As far as the 2017 season series went, the Indians won it 5 games to two, sweeping New York August 28th to the 30th (including a double header) in the Bronx as part of their 22-game winning streak.

The two teams split a four-game set in Cleveland earlier in the year, the Indians winning the first two games, but New York bouncing back to win the next two to earn the split.

Here’s the slate for the five-game set kicking off Thursday in Cleveland.