The Yankees (103-58) start Game 1 of the ALDS against the Minnesota Twins (101-61) on Friday at 7:07 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.

Yankees notes

The Yankees begin the hunt for their 28th World Series title when they take on the Twins in the ALDS. Lefty James Paxton will start in his first career playoff game, and was even called "the best left-handed pitcher in the game" by teammate Aaron Judge. He'll face a powerful Twins offense that had the MLB's best road record at 55-26. They even edged out the Yankees in total team home runs for the regular season, hitting 307 homers compared to 306 HRs by the Yanks. Gary Sanchez (groin) and Edwin Encarnacion (oblique) both had been dealing with injuries in September, but will be in the starting lineup on Friday night. As will slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who batted .286 with two home runs over 28 at-bats in September, after being out since June. It's the first time the Yankees will be starting a lineup with these nine players.

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Twins	Yankees
Mitch Garver, C	DJ LeMahieu, 1B
Jorge Polanco, SS	Aaron Judge, RF
Nelson Cruz, DH	Brett Gardner, CF
Eddie Rosario, RF	Edwin Encarnacion, DH
Miguel Sano, 3B	Giancarlo Stanton, LF
Max Kepler, CF	Gleyber Torres, 2B
Marwin Gonzalez, LF	Gary Sanchez, C
C.J. Cron, 1B	Didi Gregorius, SS
Luis Arraez, 2B	Gio Urshela, 3B

Who is starting for the Yankees?

LHP James Paxton (15-6, 3.82 ERA) makes his postseason debut, after having a strong second half of the season. He's 10-0 with a 2.51 ERA since Aug. 2, and has struck out 69 batters in just 61 innings... while holding opposing hitters to a .177 batting average over that time frame. Paxton also has a 3.35 ERA at home this season, compared to a 4.33 ERA on the road.

Who is starting for the Twins?

RHP Jose Berrios (14-8, 3.68 ERA) will make his first postseason start, however, it won't be his playoff debut. The righty pitched three innings of relief during the 2017 Wild Card Game against the Yankees, allowing three runs -- two from an Aaron Judge homer -- and striking out four in the loss. He's 4-2 with a 4.85 ERA over his last seven starts in the regular season, striking out 45 batters over 42.2 innings of work.

Upcoming schedule

The Yankees play Game 2 of the ALDS against the Twins on Saturday at 5:07 p.m. at Yankee Stadium. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (11-9, 4.45 ERA) starts for the Yankees, while the Twins are yet to announce a starting pitcher.

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