American League Championship Series Viewers Guide
The two best teams in the American League meet up in the playoffs for the third time this decade with a World Series berth on the line
Cleveland Guardians (92-69) vs New York Yankees (94-68)
Best-of-7 series, Yankees host games 1-2 and 6-7
The Fall Classic Awaits
The Guardians are in the ALCS for the first time since losing the 2016 World Series to the Cubs and for the sixth time in franchise history.
Cleveland has a 3-2 series record in the ALCS and a 17-13 (.567) win-loss record in the ALCS. Only the Yankees have a better series record and no one has a better winning percentage among 11 teams with at least five ALCS appearances (every current AL team except the Rangers, White Sox, Mariners and Rays).
Cleveland is looking to end MLB’s longest active World Series drought with its first title since 1948. It’s lost the World Series four times since then, including Game 7 losses in its last two appearances in 2016 and 1997.
The Yankees are in their 19th ALCS, the most all-time and most LCS appearances in MLB history, and their third under seventh-year manager Aaron Boone.
The Yankees have an 11-7 ALCS series record and with a win would have twice as many ALCS series wins as any other team (the A’s and Red Sox each have six).
They’re looking to extend their record with a 41st World Series appearances, potentially 20 more than the Dodgers in second (currently 21 appearances).
They’re 50-44 (.532) in ALCS games — the Red Sox (32-36) are the only other team to have either 30 wins or losses in the ALCS.
If the Yankees fail to win the ALCS, Aaron Boone will have matched Ralph Houk (who lasted exactly seven seasons from 1967-73 without a postseason appearance) for the longest tenure for a Yankees manager without a World Series appearance. Boone and Houk are the only Yankees managers in the last 100 years to make it even five seasons into their tenure without a World Series appearance.
ICYMI
Cleveland took Games 4 and 5 facing elimination to escape the pesky Tigers in the ALDS, beating presumptive AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in the clincher.
The Guardians scored 12 runs in the final two games of the series after being shut out in both Games 2 and 3. The 12 runs were their most in consecutive games since the end of August and the consecutive shutouts were a first for Cleveland this season.
Cleveland had lost an MLB-record 11 straight potential elimination games dating back to the 1997 World Series before fighting off the Tigers twice in a row. Four of the losses in that streak came against the Yankees, ending Cleveland’s season in the 1998 ALCS and 2017 ALDS as it looked to avenge World Series losses, as well as its last two postseason appearances in 2020 (Wild Card) and 2022 (ALDS).
The Yankees allowed just three runs in two games in Kansas City while finishing off the Royals in four games in the ALDS.
They didn’t score all that many either, winning the final two games 3-2 and 3-1. It’s the first time the Yankees have scored six or fewer total runs while winning consecutive playoff games since 2001 (World Series Games 3 and 4).
The Yankees hit just .220 with three homers as a team in the ALDS, the first time they’ve won three out of four playoff games while batting under .230 with that few homers since Games 2-5 of the 2003 ALCS against the Red Sox.
Who’s Hot At the Right Time
Steven Kwan was a menace at the top of the Guardians lineup in the ALDS, Lane Thomas hit the grand slam that sent the Tigers into the offseason and the bullpen remains among the best in MLB history despite Emmanuel Clase taking a loss in the ALDS.
Kwan went 11-for-21 in the ALDS and added a couple walks for good measure. He had only one extra-base hit in the series (a double), but it’s really hard to argue with a leadoff hitter getting on base 56.5% of the time even if it’s always first base. He enters the ALCS with three straight three-hit games, looking to become the first player in MLB history with four straight three-hit games in the playoffs (currently tied with 2020 Tim Anderson and 1968 Lou Brock at three straight).
Thomas had a strong ALDS beyond just hitting a pivotal grand slam off the best starting pitcher in the sport. He picked up hits in four of five games including 4-for-8 over the final two, homered in two of Cleveland’s three wins in the series and drove in a run in all three wins including. He had as many hits in Games 4 and 5 of the ALDS as he had in the final seven games of the regular season (4-for-23 in that span).
Emmanuel Clase sports a 6.35 postseason ERA after the ALDS, but saved Games 4 and 5 including the final six outs in the clincher. Even with the blowup in Game 2 and another run allowed while saving Game 4, it bears repeating that Clase finished the regular season with an ERA+ of 674, best ever for a pitcher with 70+ innings. He’s joined by Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin to form the only quartet of pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA in 70+ innings in MLB history.
Giancarlo Stanton is the only Yankee who had an OPS over .900 in the ALDS or drove in more than three runs. The lineup didn’t have to do much with a bullpen that posted a 0.00 ERA in 15.2 innings this postseason headlined by Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver, who both pitched in all four games.
Stanton hit .375 (6-for-16) in the ALDS with a couple doubles, one of the Yankees’ three homers and a team-high four RBI. He had as many hits and doubles in the four-game series as he had in nine playoff games in the Yankees last playoff appearance two years ago, when he hit .188 (6-for-32).
Holmes has 10 straight outings without allowing an earned run dating back to the regular season, his best streak since starting the season 19 of them in a row. He posted a 5.08 ERA with nearly as many blown saves (12) as successful ones (16) in 39.0 innings across 52 appearances between the two streaks.
Weaver’s streak is 12 straight outings without an earned run allowed dating back to his first appearance in September. It’s the longest streak of outings without giving up an earned run in his career, one-upping an 11-game streak in April/May of this season.