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PITTSBURGH -- Have arrived in Pittsburgh and ready for Wednesday's game! The weather's great here -- mid 70s and sunny, supposed to be just as nice tomorrow, though a little bit cooler. Should be very pleasant baseball weather.
In the meantime, there's another wild-card game to watch tonight!
First of all, it feels weird to even see this matchup. The Astros were the Cubs' division rival for many years in the National League Central, an N.L. team for 50 years, and have been an American League club for just three seasons.
Meanwhile, the mighty Yankees have been synonymous with dominance in the American League for nearly a century. Since their first title in 1921, the Yankees have won 40 A.L. pennants -- that's 42.5 percent of all the A.L. titles in the 94 seasons since then -- and 27 World Series.
And yet, here they are, playing one game for the right to go on in this fall's tournament. The Yankees are making their first playoff appearance since 2012; before they missed the postseason the last two seasons, they hadn't spent October at home two years in a row since 1993-94.
The Astros, making their first A.L. playoff appearance, last appeared in the postseason 10 years ago, when they were swept in the World Series by the White Sox. It's their first winning season since 2008.
This appears to be a mismatch, even though the teams were separated by just one game in regular-season record (New York, 87-75; Houston, 86-76). The Astros had the worst road record not only among any of the 10 playoff teams, but of any American League team this year: 33-48. On the other hand, the Astros won the season series from the Yankees four games to three, and took two of three in Yankee Stadium only a few weeks ago, including this 15-1 demolition on August 25.
Dallas Keuchel, who threw seven shutout innings in that August 25 game and who is one of the leading contenders for the Cy Young Award, will go for the Astros. Here are all his numbers.
Masahiro Tanaka, who battled injuries again this year and who's made just one start since September 18, will go for the Yankees. The Astros hit him pretty hard in the only start he made against them this year, June 27 in Houston. All you need to know about Tanaka is here.
Game time: 7 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN. Announcers: Dan Shulman, John Kruk, Jessica Mendoza and Buster Olney.
This will be the only thread for tonight's game. Enjoy, and discuss amongst yourselves.