ALDS Bracket 2020: TV Times, Live-Stream Schedule for Each Series

Two sets of divisional rivals will square off in the American League division series. 

The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees play each other, while the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics square off.

The main difference from the 10 regular-season meetings between the clubs is the ALDS games will occur in bubbles in California. 

San Diego will play host to the Rays and Yankees. The pair of AL West foes will face off at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. 

Tampa Bay and Oakland won their respective regular-season series, but it will not be easy for either team to replicate that success given how well New York and Houston performed in the wild-card round.

ALDS Bracket

No. 5 New York Yankees vs. No. 1 Tampa Bay

No. 6 Houston vs. No. 2 Oakland

ALDS Schedule

Monday, October 5

Game 1: Houston vs. Oakland (4:07 p.m. ET, TBS)

Game 1: New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay (8:07 p.m. ET, TBS)

Game 2s: Tuesday, October 6 (Times TBD, TBS)

Game 3s: Wednesday, October 7 (Times TBD, TBS)

Game 4s (if necessary): Thursday, October 8 (Times TBD, TBS)

Game 5s (if necessary): Friday, October 9 (Times TBD, TBS)

Games can be live-streamed on TBS.com.

Previews

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The most intriguing matchup in the AL East battle features Tampa Bay's pitchers against New York's power bats. 

The New York lineup looked unstoppable in the wild-card round, as it put up 22 runs on Cleveland's top pitchers. 

Ten Yankees recorded a hit, and six different players hit a home run. They had a team OPS of 1.062 and a batting average of .307.

Gaining that confidence at the dish is vital for New York's approach against a Tampa Bay team that did not allow many runs in their 10 meetings. 

The Rays went 8-2 against the Yankees, and New York scored more than five runs in one of those contests. 

New York's best offensive game against the Rays occurred in Game 1 of an August 8 doubleheader, when it produced four of its eight runs against Tyler Glasnow, who lasted 2.2 innings. 

Glasnow responded to that by limiting the Yankees to a pair of earned runs over 11.2 innings in two additional August appearances. 

In fact, the August 8 game was the last time the Rays lost a game that Glasnow started. The winning streak was extended to nine with a Game 2 victory over Toronto. 

If the Rays employ the same pitching rotation, Glasnow could shift the momentum of the series in Game 2, no matter what happens in a potential duel between Blake Snell and Gerrit Cole. 

Tampa Bay will also turn to Charlie Morton at some part of the series. Morton conceded a single earned run in his two postseason starts a year ago. 

If Snell, Glasnow and Morton limit the damage done by the Yankees' power hitters, they could set up their bullpen for a few strong innings to close out games. 

Tampa Bay's relievers allowed one run over 6.1 innings of work behind Snell and Glasnow in the two wins over the Blue Jays.

If Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and others are unable to touch up the Rays pitching staff in the first two games, the Yankees could be in bad shape with Morton looming in Game 3. 

The Yankees have some decent pitching pieces to follow Cole and Masahiro Tanaka, but none of them have the postseason experience, or success, that Morton possesses. 

Houston vs. Oakland

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

The AL West showdown will likely be the lowest-scoring series in the ALDS. 

The 10 regular-season games between the Astros and A's averaged 6.3 runs per game, and five of those contests went below the mean. 

Houston held Minnesota to two runs and Oakland limited the power of the Chicago White Sox by conceding no more than four runs in each of the three wild-card games. 

An argument can be made that both teams have more starting-pitching depth than the Rays and Yankees. 

Houston flaunted that in the wild-card round by using Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier in relief outings behind Zack Greinke and Jose Urquidy. The Astros also have a fresh Lance McCullers Jr. to call on.

Oakland used Chris Bassitt, Jesus Luzardo and Mike Fiers as starters, had Frankie Montas throw in relief and saved Sean Manaea for the ALDS. 

If the first two rounds were played in quick succession, Houston may have had the advantage since it used so few pitchers, but every arm should be fresh after multiple days off. 

If the hurlers control the series, it may take one or two game-changing moments at the plate to alter the complexion of the matchup. 

The star shortstops on each roster may be the best candidates for that role. Carlos Correa had the best splits of any Houston player and hit the ballclub's only home run against Minnesota. Marcus Semien had three hits, two runs, a pair of RBI and a home run vs. the Chicago White Sox. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference.