RHP Masahiro Tanaka will start Friday's opener of the American League Championship Series against the host Houston Astros. Tanaka pitched a stellar outing in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Indians when the Yankees were facing elimination. He allowed three hits and struck out seven in seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory. Tanaka was 13-12 with a 4.74 ERA in 30 regular-season starts.

LHP Gio Gonzalez was selected as the starter for the Washington Nationals for Thursday's winner-take-all Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the visiting Chicago Cubs. Gonzalez, who was given the nod over right-hander Tanner Roark, will be opposed by Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks. The 32-year-old Gonzalez allowed three runs on as many hits in five innings of a no-decision in Game 2 on Saturday. He struck out six and walked two.

RHP Corey Kluber, who is thought to be the favorite to win his second Cy Young Award in the last four years, led the major leagues with a 2.25 ERA in the regular season. But Kluber had a forgettable postseason. In his two playoff starts against the Yankees, he had a 12.79 ERA, having allowed nine runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. In Game 5 on Wednesday, Kluber gave up three runs, including two home runs by SS Didi Gregorius, in 3 2/3 innings. "He just didn't have the normal, crisp movement on his pitches. A lot of his pitches were flat," manager Terry Francona said.

LHP Andrew Miller relieved RHP Corey Kluber in the fourth inning and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing two hits with five strikeouts and no walks. It's the third time in his postseason career that Miller has had five strikeouts in a relief appearance of no more than two innings. No other pitcher in major league history has more than one such outing.

DH Edwin Encarnacion returned to the lineup for Game 5 after missing the previous two games with a sprained right ankle. "I watched him in the cage (during Tuesday's off day), and if I wouldn't have been looking (for some sign of the ankle bothering him), I wouldn't have known that something was going on. So I thought that was a really good sign," manager Terry Francona said. Encarnacion, who hit 38 home runs with 107 RBIs in the regular season, was 0-for-4 in Game 5 and 0-for-7 in the three games he played in the Division Series.

C Roberto Perez was manager Terry Francona's choice to catch RHP Corey Kluber in Game 5, despite the fact that C Yan Gomes caught almost all of Kluber's starts during the regular season. Gomes, however, was the catcher in Kluber's disastrous Game 2 start, when he gave up six runs in 2 2/3 innings. "That was the hardest one," said Francona prior to the game, of his decision on who to start at catcher. "Roberto's actually been swinging the bat pretty well." Perez had one of Cleveland's five hits, an RBI single in the fifth inning.

SS Francisco Lindor hit a memorable grand slam in the Indians' 9-8 win in 13 innings in Game 2 of the Division Series, but Lindor otherwise struggled in the five games. Lindor was 2-for-18 with six strikeouts.

LHP Aroldis Chapman pitched two scoreless innings in Game 5 to earn his second save of the AL Division Series. He threw 6 2/3 shutout innings over three appearances in the series.

RF Aaron Judge went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in Game 5 against the Indians. He finished 1-for-20 with 16 strikeouts in the AL Division Series.

CF Aaron Hicks went 1-for-3 on Wednesday, and he has hit safely in all six of his postseason games. Hicks' six-game hitting streak to begin his postseason career is the longest by a Yankees player since Derek Jeter hit safely in each of his first nine playoff games in 1996.

LHP CC Sabathia retired the first nine batters he faced before giving up a single to SS Francisco Lindor leading off the fourth inning in Game 5 of the AL Division Series. Sabathia retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced. In 4 1/3 innings, he struck out nine and did not walk a batter. He was charged with two runs on four hits. He is the first pitcher in major league history to have nine or more strikeouts in five or fewer innings in a postseason game.

LF Brett Gardner had an epic 12-pitch at bat in the ninth inning against Cleveland RHP Cody Allen that ended with Gardner stroking an RBI single, his third hit of the game. "Just a great at-bat. A tremendous at-bat by Gardy," manager Joe Girardi said after the Yankees beat the Indians in Game 5 of the AL Division Series.

SS Didi Gregorius provided the Yankees with all the runs they needed in Game 5 of the AL Division Series, hitting a solo home run in the first inning and a two-run homer in the third. Both were struck off Cleveland RHP Corey Kluber. Coming into the game, Gregorius' career batting average against Kluber was .133 (2-for-15). "He gave us a huge lift," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Gregorius. "To give us the lead, and then to give us the 3-0 lead was even bigger." Gregorius is the first shortstop in Yankees history to have a multi-homer game in the postseason.

RHP Kyle Hendricks will start for the Cubs in Thursday's deciding Game 5 against the Washington Nationals. Hendricks picked up a win in Game 1 of the NLDS when he allowed just two hits in seven innings. Hendricks walked three and struck out six against the Nationals in Game 1 and will attempt to land the Cubs in the NL Championship Series for the third straight year.

1B Anthony Rizzo went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Wednesday's Game 4 loss to the Washington Nationals. The performance snapped Rizzo's nine-game postseason hitting streak that dates to the 2016 World Series.

RHP Jake Arrieta allowed just one unearned run in four innings in Wednesday's 5-0 loss to the Washington Nationals. Arrieta made just his second career postseason start at Wrigley Field on Wednesday when his control was off despite just allowing two hits. Arrieta walked five in the four innings and now has a 3.33 ERA in eight career playoff starts.

LHP Jon Lester made his first postseason relief appearance since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Lester took over for starter Jake Arrieta on Wednesday and retired the first 10 hitters he faced against the Washington Nationals. Lester pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed one hit, one run, struck out three and walked one. Wednesday's relief appearance was the fourth of his career.

DH Edwin Encarnacion returned to the lineup for Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees on Wednesday at Progressive Field. Encarnacion has been sidelined for the last two contests with a sprained ankle that was sustained in the first inning of Game 2.

LHP Gio Gonzalez is an option to start Thursday's deciding Game 5 against the Cubs, according to manager Dusty Baker. Gonzalez took a no-decision in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Cubs when he allowed three runs and three hits, struck out six and walked two in five innings in his last outing. Gonzalez is 3-3 in 10 career starts against the Cubs.

RHP Stephen Strasburg will start Wednesday afternoon's Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs. Nationals manager Dusty Baker said Tuesday night that Strasburg was too ill to start Wednesday's game before the dramatic reversal by the team. The Nationals made the move official a few hours before 3:08 p.m. CT starting time. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters Wednesday that Strasburg started to feel flu-like symptoms after starting Game 1, which continued the next couple of days. Rizzo said Strasburg experienced fever, chills and continued to feel poorly when he threw his bullpen session on Monday.