Yankees vs. Indians 2017 live stream: Time, TV channel, and how to watch ALDS Game 2 online

The Cleveland Indians will send ace Corey Kluber to the mound for Game 2 of their American League Division Series against the New York Yankees on Friday evening at Progressive Field (5 p.m. ET, MLB Network).

Kluber is the favorite to win the American League Cy Young this season after going 18-4 with a major league-best 2.25 ERA in his 29 starts, with 265 strikeouts. But rather than start him in the series opener on Thursday, Indians manager Terry Francona opted for Trevor Bauer, allowing Kluber to pitch Game 2 then potentially Game 5 on regular rest if needed.

“They gave their ideas for it and why they had their ideas for it, and I didn’t have a problem with it,” Kluber told reporters on Thursday. “To me, it’s not about me wanting to pitch the first game or wanting to pitch the second game. It’s about us winning three games before they do. Whichever way that happens, and if it happens and we advance, it doesn’t matter who pitches when, in my mind.”

The plan has worked flawlessly so far for Cleveland, which shut out the Yankees in Game 1 thanks to Bauer striking out eight while allowing just two hits, pitching into the seventh inning.

The Yankees will counter with CC Sabathia, who like Kluber won a Cy Young Award with the Indians. Kluber won his in 2014, with Sabathia taking the honors in 2007, his last full season in Cleveland.

“Obviously, it’s exciting to come back to Cleveland. I kind of grew up here,” Sabathia said. “To be able to pitch in the playoff game here is going to a lot of fun, even if it’s on the other side. So we’re excited, and I think it will be fun.”

Kluber can be connected through previous Indians transactions — in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon fashion — all the way back to former infielder Jerry Dybzinski, who was drafted by Cleveland in 1977. Let’s Go Tribe explains:

And now that the best season (or second best if you prefer 1995) in most of our lifetimes has completed, let’s take a quick peak as to how Mark Shapiro, Chris Antonetti, and Mike Chernoff have constructed our 2017 roster. Also, let us also give a tip of the cap to Phil Seghi, Joe Klein, Hank Peters and John Hart, who all had a hand in the Corey Kluber chain.

Corey Kluber still has the second longest active chain in MLB. And that is because David Wright is under contract to the New York Mets through 2020 ($20M in 2018, $15M in 2019 and $12M in 2020). Wright last played on May 27, 2016 with a shoulder injury. He tried to make a comeback this year, but was shut down again. It is likely he stays on the Mets roster until the contract runs out as the Mets do have an insurance policy on him (ala Albert Belle and the Orioles). But Kluber is likely to keep that chain active through 2021 as the Indians do have club options on him.

Yankees vs. Indians is a great ALDS matchup, says Jake Devin at Pinstripe Alley:

This is an absolute doozy of an ALDS, and that it’s happening so early in the postseason speaks to the incredible quality of the teams at the top of the league this year. One could argue that the Indians and Yankees were the two best teams in the league based on pure performance this year, and it’s easy to posit that each team features a roster that is particularly well-suited for October dominance.