MLB Playoffs 2017 Schedule: Yankees-Astros, Dodgers-Cubs Dates, Start Times, Channels

Major League Baseball couldn’t have asked for two better matchups in the championship series of the 2017 playoffs. The New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are all fighting to reach the World Series, representing the four largest cities in the United States.

The ALCS schedule starts Friday night when the Astros host the Yankees in Game 1. Game 1 of the NLCS is scheduled to begin Saturday when Chicago visits Los Angeles.

The NLCS is a rematch of last year. The Cubs beat the Dodgers in six games on their way toward winning the franchise’s first championship in 108 years. Neither the Yankees nor Astros reached the playoffs in 2016, but they did face off in the 2015 AL Wild-Card Game.

Both the Yankees and Cubs are the underdogs, though they’ll be heading into their respective series with plenty of momentum. New York came back from a 2-0 series deficit in the ALDS, beating the Cleveland Indians on the road in a deciding Game 5. Chicago also won a winner-take-all Game 5 on the road two nights before the start of the championship series, defeating the Washington Nationals Thursday.

Houston will be playing for the first time in four days. The Astros needed four games to beat the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS, closing out the series Monday afternoon at Fenway Park.

The Dodgers didn’t have any trouble with the Arizona Diamondbacks, completing their sweep of the NLDS Monday night. Game 1 against the Cubs will mark their first action in five days.

L.A. was the best team in baseball for most of the season. Even with Cleveland’s 22-game win streak and the Dodgers’ late-season struggles, Los Angeles still finished with an MLB-best 104 wins. They’ve got home-field advantage through the World Series.

The Yankees are the only team that has no chance of getting home-field advantage in the Fall Classic, regardless of their opponent. They made the playoffs as the first AL Wild-Card team.