The American League post season has been a complete shocker for most. Let’s be honest, how many of you thought that the wildcard Toronto Blue Jays would sweep the team with the best record in the American League this season, the Texas Rangers? The Indians proved equally shocking when they dispatched the Boston Red Sox in 3 games.

And now, these two surprising teams are set to meet in the American League Championship Series starting this Friday in Cleveland. The Indians won the home field advantage in this series simply because they had a better regular season record, they went 94-67 while the Blue Jays finished with 89-73.

An interesting fact is how good the Cleveland Indians were at winning games at home, they were 53-28 at home versus 41-39 on the road, so starting the series at home is a great advantage for them. Toronto on the other hand, performed almost as good on the road as they did at home; their away record finished at 43-38 while their home record ended at 46-35. This means that they could pose a serious threat to the Indians in Cleveland.

Neither team has been to the fall classic in almost 20 years, the Toronto Blue Jays have not been to the World Series since 1993 when they became champions two years in a row; the Cleveland Indians haven’t been in the finals since 1997 and they have not won a title since 1948.

This year Toronto has distinguished itself for being a very strong offensive team, however, they have pitched incredibly well so far this post season especially against the Rangers; turning them into a real danger for the Indians. Now, the Cleveland Indians are a well-rounded team that performs well offensively as well as defensively and should not be taken lightly. They have been known to make good teams look bad during this season and the Blue Jays know this very well.

These non-division rival teams played against each other in seven different occasions in 2016, with four games having been played in Toronto and three in Cleveland. The Indians won four out of those seven games, but the Blue Jays creamed the Indians in two of those games back in July, most notably in the July 3rd game in Toronto where the Blue Jays won 17-1. This will be the first time in the history of both franchises that they will face each other in the post season.

After sending the Rangers home, the Toronto Blue Jays are now favored to win the American League Championship. For a complete list of series odds make sure to visit Ace Sportsbook. There are several reasons why the Blue Jays are the favorites in this series, aside from having won against the Rangers, the Indians have two of their best pitchers Carrasco and Salazar on the disabled list, now, this didn’t stop them from beating the Red Sox, but it does mean that they will have to win the two games where Kluber is expected to pitch.

My prediction

The Blue Jays will move on to play the World Series for the first time in 23 years, but it will not be a sweep, this series will go to six games with Toronto winning 4-2.