UPDATE - Friday Oct. 7, 2016: The Cleveland Indians won Game 1 against the Boston Red Sox in the opening clash of their ALDS to go 1-0 up. The teams will meet again in Game 2 on Friday with the Red Sox sending out star pitcher David Price to try and get them back into this series and split things before they head back to Boston for Game 3.
Game 2 between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox has a scheduled start time of 4.38 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the TBS network, or online through live stream via the link provided on the Game 2 page by CLICKING HERE.
The Red Sox managed to secure an excellent road record during the regular season, and they will need to call upon that road form to win here today. However, amazingly David Price has yet to win a postseason game as a starting pitcher, and that leaves questions over whether he will be able to get the Red Sox over the line today and get them back to 1-1. If Boston falls to 0-2 then even though they head back home for Game 3 it will be a long way back for them if they are to steal this series and progress in the postseason.
--------------------------
The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians will clash on Thursday in Game 1 of their AL Division Series, and it will be the Indians that have pressure on to ensure they keep home field advantage with a win today. The game has a scheduled start time of 8.08 p.m. ET and takes place from Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The game can be watched on TV on the TBS network or online through live stream via the link below.
Boston will be sending out Rick Porcello to the mound for today's Game 1, hoping that he can lead the team to the win to get their noses in front early on.
Porcello has had a great season, and comes into the postseason with a 22-4 record and 3.15 ERA. He had only one start against the Indians this season and won that game, allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings on May 22.
At Progressive Field he has an overall record of 5-3 with an impressive 2.84 ERA across 12 starts.
Opposite him today will be Trevor Bauer who has a record of 12-8 this season with a 4.26 ERA. Bauer has arguably had the best season of his career so far this year, and that has allowed him to get the nod to start this game. But across his three games against Boston in his career (two of which were starts) he has only a 12.91 ERA in 7 2/3 innings.
Today's game has an added interest level as it was of course Terry Francona 12 years ago who led the Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years. However, even though he is down as a legend in Boston for what he helped achieved, he will be lining up against the Red Sox today at the helm of the Cleveland Indians.
Francona is this season attempting to replicate his achievements at Boston by leading the Indians to their first World Series title in 68 years.
Francona said, "The one thing I think I need to be cognizant of is the players have worked so hard -- both sides -- to get to this. So, whatever my feelings are need to remain my feelings, and let the players [have the spotlight]."
Today's game will be the fifth time these two teams have met in the postseason, with the most recent encounter coming back in 2007 where the Boston Red Sox came out on top in the AL Championship Series, winning 4-3 after performing a storming comeback from 1-3 down in the best of seven series.
That year of course the Red Sox went on to win their second World Series title in four years to truly end their championship drought.
Porcello has said ahead of the game: "They have some different guys and some different looks, but the core guys are still the same. They do a bunch of different things to come at you. We have to prepare for that and be ready to counter."
Boston come into today's game having had the highest scoring offense in the MLB this season, and against the Indians this year they averaged an impressive 5.2 runs per game through their season series. Boston won four of the six games between the teams this regular season and that should ensure they come into today's match up with confidence and ready to impose themselves on the series.
David Price, who is expected to start Game 2 in this series, has said, "I feel like this team is very comfortable on the road. We've played really good baseball on the road, especially the past month and a half or two months and that's something we kind of relish."
Today's big MLB ALDS 2016 Game 1 between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians has a scheduled start time of 8.08 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the TBS network or online through live stream by clicking here.
