The 2022 MLB American League Divisional Series have begun, and with it means that championship baseball is underway. 

On one side of things the Houston Astros have come out on top in their series against the Seattle Mariners. That was one side of the ALDS, the other is the New York Yankees versus the Cleveland Guardians. 

 The divisional series across the league are structured in a best three out of five configuration. The Astros were able to win the series in three games as they won the first three, the battle between the Yankees and the Guardians however has been a bit more complicated. 

The series began with the Yankees taking the first win, this unfortunately was followed by a loss to the Guardians in games two and three, game three being especially painful for Yankees fans with an absolute implosion of their bullpen in the later innings. 

All was not lost, however, as the Yankees rallied to a game four victory to even the series and force a game 5. 

These teams on to game five of the series have their game occurring at 4 P.M. ET on Oct. 18. The game was initially scheduled for the night before this, but inclement weather postponed it until today. 

This actually has come to work in the favor of each of the teams, as they can now potentially start a different pitcher who might have already played given the extended rest period. 

The Guardians opted for their same pitcher who was initially slated to pitch in game five of the series prior to the rain postponement. The Yankees on the other hand opted to switch to Nestor Cortes Jr. who had already pitched during the series and was coming off three games rest. 

This was somewhat of a gamble given that Cortes had already pitched but as of tonight it has paid off with the Yankees winning the final “winner take all” game of the ALDS. 

The strategy of tonight’s win was to hit the Guardians pitcher, Aaron Civale hard early on. The Yankees did just that scoring four runs in the first three innings of play. 

In particular Yankees fashion, all of these were in the form of home runs via Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge. This strong start aptly fits the teams nick-name, the Bronx Bombers. Now, even with all of this showing of power early on in the game, most props have to go to Cortes and the rest of the pitching staff. They were able to hold the Guardians to just one run in the entire game, keeping one of their main power hitters to 0-5 at the plate. 

With this win, they are now off to the American League Championship series as they look to take home another American League Pennant in their larger pursuit of a World Series Championship. 

The ALCS kicks off tomorrow as the Yankees are off to Houston to take on the Astros in a best four out of seven series. Lots of exciting baseball to come!