Into the championship series

OK, let's try predicting the two league championship series.

I write this after Game 1 of the American League Series, won by the Cleveland Indians. But my prediction is that the Toronto Blue Jays will win the series. Cleveland's starting pitching, so strong for much of the season, has been dropping like flies. Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar are out for the season. On Friday the Indians revealed that Trevor Bauer cut a finger while repairing a drone and will be held out until Game 3.

They still have Cory Kluber, which means they still have the best pitcher in the series. But Josh Tomlin is a step or two down from Bauer, and the options behind him are worst still. If Bauer's injury makes him ineffective, Cleveland's in trouble.

Over on the NL side, it's much the same story. The Chicago Cubs are a really outstanding team. The Los Angeles Dodgers are something less than that. Despite Clayton Kershaw's short-rest heroics in the final games of their divisional series against Washington, I don't see the pitching depth need to deal with the Cubs.

I expect a Cubs-Jays World Series. That's not what I'm rooting for.