If the National League Championship Series offers a pair of unlikely contestants staffed by a refreshing cast of stars, then the American League Championship Series will deliver something traditionalists can savor. For the third time in six seasons, the Houston Astros will host the New York Yankees in this round. As before, the Astros will look to extend their run of dominance in the American League. As before, the Yankees aim to end a drought of World Series appearances that stretches back to 2009.

When these clubs met in 2017, the Astros won in a seven-game thriller. Two years later, Houston eliminated the Yankees on Jose Altuve’s electrifying Game 6 walk-off home run. For the Yankees, the defeats stung. So did the revelations, in the months after the 2019 playoffs ended, about the Astros’ illegal sign-stealing apparatus and its potential role in delivering a title to Houston — and keeping one out of The Bronx.

The Yankees have not yet forgotten what the commissioner’s office found to have happened in 2017. Even if the cast of both clubs has almost completely turned over since then, that knowledge will serve as the backdrop when the two teams meet. The Yankees are tired of hearing about the World Series drought. Dusty Baker is still missing a championship from his Hall of Fame managerial resume. As always, when these two teams meet, much is at stake.

GO DEEPERYankees return to familiar stage, looking to topple Astros to reach World Series

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