CLEVELAND -- This was the series the Indians wanted. They wanted it last year, when they were a best-record-in-the-American-League-earning, 22-game-win-streak-creating machine. And they wanted it this year, when the poor quality of competition in the AL Central made the 162-game schedule feel like extended Spring Training.
In the Astros, Cleveland's players recognized an opponent structured similarly, with homegrown stars, stud starters and a certain swagger. But their meant-to-be matchup with Houston in last year's AL Championship Series never came to be, because they let a 2-0 lead to the Yankees wither away in the AL Division Series.