We all knew the stakes here. A four-game set against a direct Wild Card opponent? The Guardians and White Sox - two other direct competitors - free-falling? The chance to pull ahead of the Angels even more? Don’t have to tell me twice that this is the biggest series of the year.
And yet, the overall mood before game time was fraught with trepidation, for lack of a worse word. With the series from hell that was the five-game set against Anaheim pretty fresh in our craw, many had their guard up. Can’t say I blame them, either.