The American League Championship Series kicks off tonight at Progressive Field when the red hot Cleveland Indians host the red hot Toronto Blue Jays. Both teams got to this point by sweeping their opponents, Cleveland taking out Boston in 3 and Toronto taking out Texas in 3. Corey Kluber will take the mound tonight for the Indians. Kluber is 19-9, with a 3.04 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, and was sharp as a tack in his last outing against Boston, yielding just 3 hits in 7 scoreless innings. John Gibbons gives the nod to Marco Estrada and he is 10-9, with a 3.73 ERA and a WHIP of 1.09. Estrada was equally sharp in his last outing, giving up only 1 run on 4 hits in 8-1/3 innings of work. Cleveland is 6-0 in their last 6 overall and 4-0 in their last 4 against the AL East. Laz Díaz is calling it tonight and the Indians are 6-1 in their last 7 when he’s behind the dish. I give the edge to the Indians tonight for having Terry Francona as their skipper, Corey Kluber as the pitcher and home field advantage.
Today’s pick:
Cleveland Indians