Baseball Probable Pitchers

Greinke started the year strong, posting a 1.84 ERA in his first five starts, but he had a 5.73 ERA over his final seven outings of the regular season. The veteran right-hander went 0-2 with a 4.68 ERA in five starts for Houston in the 2019 postseason.

Maeda finished 2020 as MLB's qualified WHIP leader (0.75) and would have been a Cy Young Award front-runner in most years with his 2.70 ERA and 80 strikeouts. He'll make his first playoff start since 2016.

Giolito’s playoff debut also marks the right-hander’s first career start in Oakland. He last pitched on Wednesday in Cleveland, where he threw a career-high 119 pitches and struck out 11.

Luzardo gets his first playoff start after an electric postseason debut of three shutout innings out of the bullpen in last year’s Wild Card Game. The electric left-hander finished second among rookies with 59 strikeouts, flashing brilliance at times in an up-and-down campaign that ultimately finished with a 4.12 ERA over 12 games (nine starts).

The surprise Game 1 starter, Shoemaker was held out of his last regular-season start to keep him fresh for this moment. Shoemaker won't go deep into the game, but the Blue Jays will have a bullpen plan in place to pick up where he leaves off. That plan could include No. 1 prospect Nate Pearson.

Snell allowed two runs over 7 2/3 innings in two starts against the Blue Jays this season. In 13 career starts against Toronto, Snell has posted a 2.81 ERA. This will be the first Game 1 start of Snell's career.

Cole is coming off a regular season in which he paced the Yanks in wins, starts, complete games, innings and strikeouts. Cole has pitched to a 2.60 ERA in 10 postseason starts, holding opponents to a .175 average. He was 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA last autumn.

Bieber was slated to start Game 4 of the 2018 American League Division Series, but he never toed the rubber after the Indians were swept in three games. Now he'll have his chance after owning an MLB-best 1.63 ERA with 122 strikeouts this year.